Moon Landing 45th Anniversary: Experience Apollo 11 Moonwalk As It Happened

It's Been 45 Years Since The Eagle Landed
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Man first walked on the Moon in the early hours of the morning (UTC) on 21 July 1969.

That's 45 years ago.

Apollo 11 was launched on 16 July atop a Saturn V rocket, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Millions followed the progress of the crew as they travelled to the Moon over a period of four days, as then as astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong descended to its surface in the Lunar Module.

Command spacecraft pilot Michael Collins remained alone in orbit as his two crewmates looked down on the Moon's cold, dusty landscape, and landed at 20:18 UTC. Then they suited up and eventually climbed out onto the ladder separating them from history.

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At 02:56 UTC Neil Armstrong stepped down from the ladder and onto the surface of Earth's only natural satellite and - live on television - uttered the famously mis-spoken words:

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Man had walked on the Moon.

After 21.5 hours on the Lunar surface Armstrong and Aldrin returned into orbit and joined up with Collins, before beginning the long return journey to Earth. They would be picked up safely in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July, effectively ending the space race.

Watch how it happened in the video above, and see our favourite Apollo 11 pictures below.