Who Took the First Step On the Moon?

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”

In September of 1962, John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States, spoke these words. A year earlier on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot, became the first person to fly to space. Hearing of this, President Kennedy set out to break a new space record and worked with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to make it happen.

Scientists knew about the Moon — that it was dusty, hot, and unfortunately not made of cheese! But up until then, humans had never walked anywhere besides Earth. A Moon landing sounded surreal, and people worldwide caught word and became quite excited. True to the President's word, in 1969, three brave astronauts would fly to the Moon and make history.

HOW DID APOLLO 11 REACH THE MOON?

Apollo 11, as the mission was called, consisted of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. These three astronauts had experience, as they had all flown to space before. On July 16, 1969, they departed in a rocket ship called Saturn V.

Four days later, they reached the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin then entered the lunar descent module, named Eagle, and carefully flew it down to the surface. Meanwhile, Michael Collins stayed in the command module, named Columbia, in orbit. He conducted important preparations for the flight back to Earth.

WHO STEPPED ON THE SURFACE FIRST?

Once the Eagle landed, Neil and Buzz were supposed to stay inside the spaceship and sleep for a few hours before stepping outside. But they were too eager to explore, and made the decision to go outside. Neil, going first, descended the Eagle's ladder. With more than 600 million people watching in black-and-white, he reached the bottom and placed his foot down. Then came the famous words: “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Soon after, Buzz would join him. Together, the two astronauts explored the moon’s surface for more than two hours! They scooped up dirt to take back to Earth and even rode a Moon buggy — a specially built rover for driving on the moon’s surface.

Neil and Buzz took 17 pictures before flying back up to Michael. Thanks to the dirt samples brought back, scientists have learned more about the Moon than ever previously imagined.

WHO'S BEEN TO THE MOON SINCE?

Ten other astronauts have stepped on the Moon as a part of other Apollo missions. Alan Shepard, an Apollo 14 astronaut, even got to hit a few golf balls into orbit!

Since Apollo 17 reached the Moon in December 1972, no astronaut has been back. But a new NASA mission, the Artemis Program, aims to return to the Moon. If it succeeds, Artemis will land the first woman and person of color on the Moon, creating a new “first” moment in space exploration.