Apollo 11 was the first ever mission to land on the moon. This all started with the space race. The space race was a race between the U.S.S.R and the U.S.A to land on the moon first. After their second attempt the U.S.S.R dropped out because their launch blew up destroying their technology, launch pads, and ship. The U.S.A was racing themselves. 3 men were chosen for this historic mission. Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin were chosen as the crew. These men would pilot Apollo 11 to the moon and back. Apollo 11 is a Saturn V Rocket. It has three stages all to get the ship into orbit. Apollo 11 also has a lunar module and return capsule. The rocket is 36 stories tall and ways an amazing 5.8 million lbs! Apollo 11 was launched on July 4th, 1969 at 9:32am. Millions of people watched this extraordinary moment ether from the beaches of Florida or from TV. The ship gave out an outrageous roar as it shot into the air. The ship gave out 7.5 million lbs of thrust that could be herd for miles around. 102 hours into the mission Apollo 11 reached the moon. After Neil and Buzz suit up and enter the lunar module it separates. The lunar module became “the eagle” and the rest of Apollo 11 became “Columbus”. Upon entering the moons atmosphere the computers failed on the eagle and Neil Armstrong had to take manual control. Ass the descent continued he noticed they were headed for huge boulders and had to steer to safety. As descent continued the eagle began to run out of fuel and men at mission control in Houston began to worry. With 5 seconds of fuel left Neil Armstrong safely landed on the moon. “Houston, tranquility base here, the eagle has landed” said Neil over the radio. Cheers from all over the world rang out from these words; men have landed on the moon. After final checks Neil and Buzz open the hatch and climb down the ladder. “That is one small step for man, one giant leap for man kind” said Neil over the radio as he steps foot on the moon. Buzz observed the surface as a soft powder. The men take men samples and explore the moon for hours before returning to the eagle. Once they returned to the eagle they fired up their ascent engines and returned to the Columbus. July 24th roughly 300 hrs into the mission Apollo 11 reaches earth’s orbit and begins splashdown descent. Apollo 11 landed in the Pacific Ocean safe and sound. After being recovered the crew spent 2 weeks in quarantine to kill off any diseases brought back from the moon. Apollo 11 has safely landed on the moon and returned home and marked many historic days in history.