Portal:Spaceflight/Selected article/Week 12 2007

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Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth manned spaceflight of the Apollo programme, and the third manned flight to the moon. Launched on 16 July 1969, it carried Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin. On 20 July, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first men to land on the Moon, while Collins remained in orbit.

The mission fulfilled US President John F. Kennedy's goal of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth" by the end of the 1960s.

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