Dateline: 4:17 p.m. EDT, Friday, July 20, 1969, southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility, the moon.

With the terse factual observation, “The Eagle has landed,” U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong announced an unprecedented human achievement, courtesy of the brightest minds on earth working with less computing power than exists in the average desktop computer.

The Apollo 11 mission was fraught with danger and unknowns. The spaceship’s rockets contained enough fuel to catapult shrapnel three miles if they exploded, so NASA’s VIP spectators were seated three and a half miles from the Kennedy Space Center, built specifically for the Apollo program.

The module containing Neil Armstrong (who commanded the mission), Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins launched at 9:32 a.m. EDT on July 16. Averaging more than 3,100 m.p.h., Apollo 11 entered the moon’s orbit 76 hours later.

The lunar module, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module with a resounding “pop” (the cabin had not fully depressurized). The force of the separation threw the landing module four miles beyond its intended landing target to a boulder-strewn area of the lunar surface.

Looking for a suitable place to touch down, the crew used all but the last 20 seconds of fuel before gently landing in the Sea of Tranquility.

At 10:56 p.m. July 20, 1969, Armstrong set his left foot on the moon’s surface and said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” (Garbled transmission truncated the “a” before “man”).

He and Aldrin spent about two and a half hours on the moon, taking photographs, collecting rocks, running scientific tests, speaking with President Nixon by phone and planting a U.S. flag (which was toppled by the module’s engine thrust upon takeoff).

Only twelve men, all from the Apollo program (1969-1972) and all in pairs, have walked on the moon. Behind them they have left over 100 tons of jetsam on the moon’s surface, including lunar overshoes, a moon-landing step, cameras and several golf balls.

Also left by the original moon walkers: a commemorative plaque that states: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon — July 1969 A.D. — We came in peace for all mankind.”

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