On 21 July 1969, American Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.

Eagle landing craft.

As he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep.

Take off

On 16 July 1969, the Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 into the sky from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The Crew

Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Michael Collins

The Lunar Module

To land on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin used a lunar module nicknamed Eagle.

When they landed Neil sent the following message back to Earth

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Everything is achievable

A remarkable achievement especially as no human being had ever been in space prior to 1961. Within a short space of only 8 years, we had learned not only how to send someone into space but also to land safely on the moon.