To reach the moon, Congress funded a series of space missions called the Apollo Program. The crew of Apollo 11 Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.—followed this minute-by-minute timetable to make the first manned moon landing on July 20, 1969.
Records of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Archives and Records Administratio
Apollo 11 Flight Plan, July 16–24, 1969
Race to the Moon
In the 1950s the United States and the Soviet Union both began programs for manned and unmanned scientific missions into space. Spurred by the Soviets’ successful 1957 launch of the unmanned Sputnik 1 satellite, Congress initiated the U.S. civilian space program. Winning the space race became a political, scientific, and security priority, intensified after President John F. Kennedy and Congress set a national goal of being first to send an astronaut to the moon.
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.
- President John F. Kennedy, “Urgent National Needs” Speech, May 25, 1961
To reach the moon, Congress funded a series of space missions called the Apollo Program. The crew of Apollo 11 Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr.—followed this minute-by-minute timetable to make the first manned moon landing on July 20, 1969.
Records of National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Archives and Records Administratio
