Apollo 11: The Eagle Has Landed

The mission's statement -- land on the moon and return -- was simple. Executing that mission was a much different matter.

The counterculture moment was in full swing. The Vietnam War was heating up. Nixon was president. And humans landed on the moon … in 1969.

The Saturn V was a three-stage liquid-fuel rocket used to launch the lunar mission into orbit. This rocket model was used a total of 13 times in NASA history.

There were just three astronauts on board the ship. They were Neil Armstrong, Eldrin Aldrin and Michael Collins.

Michael Collins stayed behind and remained in control of the command module. Armstrong and Aldrin zoomed towards the cratered surface of the moon.

Aldrin and Armstong were on the moon for 21 and a half glorious hours. They were only outside the lander for about two and a half hours, though.

As Aldrin and Armstrong descended in Eagle, Collins remained onboard the Columbia Command Module. It was 10 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter.

The lunar module was heading straight for large boulders, so he had to maneuver to avoid them. He had just over 20 seconds of fuel left when they finally landed.

The plan called for them to eat and then take a five-hour nap because they'd already executed a lot of hard work. But neither man could sleep, so they immediately prepared to leave the module.

None of the men were exactly hardened spacefarers. They each had one previous space flight.

With his life support gear strapped onto his back, Armstrong had a hard time wriggling through the module's door. Both men found this seemingly simple task to be strenuous … and stressful.

Aldrin privately took communion (including a tiny bit of wine) before leaving the module. Due to a lawsuit over previous religious acts, NASA could not officially be a part of the communion.

NASA scientists were dying to get their hands on moon rocks. The astronauts brought back just under 50 pounds of the precious material.

Immediately after touching down, the excited men began preparations for their moonwalk. About six and a half hours later, they exited the craft and made history.

NASA scientists were adamant that they get samples of the moon's surface. So in the event that something went wrong with the moonwalk, they instructed Armstrong to bag samples of lunar dust before starting any other tasks.

During their stroll on the moon, the men received a phone call via their helmet radios. It was President Nixon looking to congratulate them for their achievement.

The Moon's gravity is 1/6 of Earth's gravity, meaning that the men could easily walk around even with their heavy equipment. They tested the gravity by jumping from time to time.

There were a few dozen messages from world leaders -- not hundreds. The astronauts left behind other notable items, such as a gold pin shaped like an olive branch and, of course, an American flag.

As the lunar module blasted off, the force from the rockets toppled the flag … meaning the flag only stood for a few hours.

Aldrin and Armstong landed in Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility. Two previous (unmanned) NASA craft had already visited the area before the astronauts landed.

In addition to the three astronauts, U.S. President Nixon also signed the plaque, ensuring that centuries from now, aliens will be familiar with Tricky Dick.

Aldrin inadvertently damaged a circuit breaker … the one that activated the main engine. Whoops. Fortunately, they were able to use a felt-tip pen to push the breaker back into the correct position.

Armstrong and Aldrin were undoubtedly elated that mission control gave them 15 extra minutes to wander and collect samples. In all, the two spent about two hours and 40 minutes on the moonwalk.

NASA scientists thought the moon's surface would be relatively soft, but they were wrong. The men struggled to drive the flagpole into the moon's hard crust.

Nixon was indeed prepared to announce their deaths. "These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice."

The men threw a jumble of equipment out the door and onto the Moon's surface. The idea was to lighten the load for takeoff.

From scientists to engineers to construction workers, there were roughly 400,000 people involved in the project. Their purpose? To beat the Russians to the moon.

The soil samples yielded three new minerals. They were pyroxferroite, tranquilityite and armalcolite, which was named, of course, for Neil Armstrong.

Jim Lovell was Neil Armstrong's backup. He wound up flying a later mission -- Apollo 13 -- that nearly ended in complete disaster.

Apollo 11 was the first, but it wasn't the last. Between 1969 and '72, NASA landed a total of six crews on the moon. No other country has landed a manned mission on our rocky little neighbor.