A moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both manned and unmanned missions. The first human-made object to reach the surface of the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2 mission on 13 September 1959. The United States Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon on 20 July 1969. There have been six manned U.S. landings between 1969 and 1972 and numerous unmanned landings. A race was on to put a man on the moon. President Kennedy had challenged the nation. It was the mission of Apollo 11 to land two men on the moon, then return them safely to Earth. It was one of the most historic events. It demonstrated what man can do with effort and ingenuity.
President Kennedy challenged the nation to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 launched from the Kennedy Space Centre. On July 20, 1969, Commander Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon. He said the historic words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
The crew spend a total of two and a half hours on the moon's surface. While on the moon's surface, the performed a variety of experiments and collected soil and rock samples to return to Earth. An American flag was left on the moon's surface as a reminder of the accomplishment. In later moon landings, the astronauts used the Lunar Rover vehicle to help explore more of the moon's surface.
After re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, parachutes opened to safely lower the Columbia into the Pacific Ocean. After landing in the Ocean, the crew were retrieved by a helicopter and taken to the recovery ship, the "USS Hornet." The Command Module "Columbia" returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Apollo 11 had successfully completed its mission. President Kennedy's objective to land men on the moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.
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