Saturn Apollo Program

A technician is barely visible performing a last minute task atop the white room next to the Apollo 11 spacecraft a few hours before launch at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch complex 39. The spacecraft is perched atop the massive Saturn V rocket, developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Wernher von Braun. Liftoff occurred at 9:32 am on July 16, 1969, carrying man to the Moon for a first successful lunar landing. Aboard the spacecraft were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module (CM) pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module (LM) pilot. The crew safely splashed down into the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. With the success of Apollo 11, the national objective to land men on the Moon and return them safely to Earth had been accomplished.