NASA has released new photos of the Apollo 11 moon landing

Half a century ago, while those on Earth were enjoying a lazy Sunday in the summer of '69, some 384,000 km away, two men were climbing down the steps of their spaceship – onto the surface of the moon.

Those men were then 38-year-old Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin. A third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained on the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility region.

Armstrong's first step was watched by 600 million back on Earth. His now-famous quote is transcribed by NASA as, "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind", because, in one the world's most famous misquotes, Armstrong always insisted that's what he actually said.

He spent 19 minutes standing on the moon, before Aldrin joined him – and he photographed Aldrin coming down the ladder of the lunar module Eagle. The pair spent more than two hours gathering moon rocks before returning to the Eagle.

Here, shared by NASA for the first time, is a unique glimpse of that extraordinary day in the history of humanity.

Down the ladder

Footprints in moondust

Dark side of the moon

Back to Earth