Who were the first men to land on the surface of the moon?
First MEN YO LAND ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON
The first MEN YO LAND ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON were Neil Armstrong, mission commander of the American Apollo XI, and Col Edwin Aldrin, pilot of the lunar module Eagle, who touched down on the Sea of Tranquility at 9.18 p.m. BST on 20 July 1969.
Neil Armstrong stepped on to the lunar surface at 3.56 a.m. BST the following day. Aldrin followed him out of the module 20 min later, and the two astronauts spent a further 1 hr 44 min carrying out their assigned tasks, which included collecting soil and rock samples, installing a special laser-beam reflector, planting the US flag, and unveiling a plaque. The words on the plaque were read out aloud by Armstrong, and heard by an estimated radio and television audience of 500 million people: ‘Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon A.D. 1969 We came in peace for all mankind.’
