20. July 1969
57 years ago
For the first time, humans stood on another world — and a fifth of humanity watched it live on television.
On 20 July 1969 the spacecraft Apollo 11 swung in toward the Moon. While Michael Collins stayed behind in the command module Columbia, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin crossed into the lunar module "Eagle" and began their descent toward a world no one had ever set foot on.
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The descent turned dramatic. The computer threw alarm after alarm — "1202" — and mission control in Houston had seconds to decide whether to press on. Armstrong saw the autopilot steering them into a boulder-strewn crater and took manual control to find a safer spot.
With only about 25 seconds of fuel left, Eagle settled onto the Sea of Tranquility. "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." For the first time, a craft from Earth stood on another world.
A few hours later Armstrong climbed down the ladder, pressed his boot into the grey dust and spoke the famous words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." His footprint is still there — there is no wind to erase it.
Aldrin followed, they planted the American flag and gathered rock samples while the Earth hung like a blue marble in the black sky. Around 600 million people watched on television — a fifth of humanity at the time. They left a plaque behind: "We came in peace for all mankind."