Flight Commander Neil Armstrong

Colonel Edwin Aldrin

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Collins

The First Lunar Landing, 1969

Inducted in 1969

Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, bound for the moon. The crew consisted of Flight Commander Neil Armstrong, destined to be the first man on the moon; Air Force Colonel Edwin Aldrin, who accompanied Armstrong to the lunar surface; and Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Collins, who remained in the command module "Columbia" during the final stages of the mission.

Five hundred feet above the moon's surface, Armstrong assumed manual control of the lunar module "Eagle" in reaction to a computer malfunction. He had only two minutes to choose between landing or aborting the mission. The anxious moments ended when he reported "Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed."

On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and spoke the famous words "that's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind." Indeed, one of humankind's oldest dreams had been realized.