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Interesting US History
A Website Devoted to Interesting Events in U.S. History

 

 
 

 

ON THIS DAY IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

July 16, 1969

The First Manned Space Mission
to Land on the Moon Launches

On this day in 1969, the first manned space mission to land on the moon begins with the launch of the Apollo 11, spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center

The astronauts on the mission were Commander Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Eldrin, Jr. Each of these men had made previous space flights which make this the first to include all veteran pilots.

The success of the Apollo 11 mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960's. A goal he set on May 25, 1961.