Neil Armstrong was the flight's commander. He was a test pilot. And he had flown in space before on one of the two-person Gemini flights. Armstrong was a calm person, a man who talked very little. Edwin Buzz Aldrin was the pilot of the moon lander spacecraft, named Eagle. He also had flown on a Gemini flight. And he also was a quiet man except when he talked about space. Michael Collins was the pilot of the command spacecraft, Columbia. He would wait in orbit around the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin landed and explored the surface. Collins, too, had flown in space before. He was popular and always ready with a smile.

Halfway to the moon, the astronauts broadcast a television program to Earth. The broadcast showed how astronauts move and work in the weightlessness of space. The broadcast also showed the Earth behind Apollo-11. And it showed the moon growing larger in the blackness ahead.

The days passed. The pull of the moon's gravity grew stronger. As Apollo-11 neared the moon, it was moving at 6,500 kilometers an hour. The astronauts fired rockets to slow the spacecraft enough to put it into moon orbit. Apollo-11 circled the moon while the crew prepared for the landing. Finally it was time to separate the lander spacecraft, Eagle, from the command spacecraft, Columbia.

Armstrong and Aldrin moved through the small opening between the two spacecraft. Then they moved Eagle away from Columbia. As Armstrong reported, "The Eagle has wings." Humans were about to land on the moon.

On Earth, all activity seemed to stop. President Richard Nixon gave federal government workers the day off to watch the moon landing on television. Most state and local governments and businesses also declared the day a holiday. Around the world, 500-million persons watched the television report. Millions more listened to their radios.

Armstrong and Aldrin fired the lander's rocket engine. This slowed the spacecraft and sent it down toward the landing place, an area known as the moon's Sea of Tranquility. A computer guided Eagle toward the airless surface of the moon. Then 140 meters from the surface, the astronauts took control themselves.

Here on Earth, we listened to the voices of Aldrin and Armstrong—their short messages and commands—as they flew Eagle away from a dangerous rocky area and then, gently, down to Tranquility Base: "Forward. Forward. Good. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."