The Year Men Walked on the Moon

On July 20, 1969, astronauts aboard NASA’s Apollo 11 lander became the first human beings to set foot on another world. Years of effort, dangerous experiments, and bold missions led up to the Moon landing, an event watched on live television by millions around the world. Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin left the Earth on a Wednesday, landed on the Moon on that Sunday, spent a bit more than two hours walking on its surface, deploying experiments and collecting samples, then splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean the following Thursday, after 8 days off-planet. Collected here are 45 images of that historic mission, a "giant leap for mankind."

Read more
Hints: View this page full screen. Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.

Most Recent

  • Angela Weiss / AFP / Getty

    Photos of the Week: Snowy Elmo, Mogul Run, Sea Goddess

    A visit with Punxsutawney Phil, a funambulist in Italy, a rocket explosion in Texas, flooding in France, dogs at play on a frozen lake in Turkey, and much more.

  • Finnbarr Webster / Getty

    Vaccine Centers in Cathedrals, Stadiums, and Parking Lots

    Some of the venues and clinics where the early stages of a global COVID-19 vaccination effort are taking place

  • Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

    Photos: A Second Weekend of Protests in Russia

    Scenes of unrest from the streets of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladivostok, and other Russian cities this weekend

  • Jeff Pachoud / AFP / Getty

    Photos of the Week: Space Bubbles, Frozen Falls, Mountain Movies

    Giraffes in the Netherlands, bison in the United Kingdom, the arrival of President Biden’s dogs at the White House, tug-of-war practice in Ireland, and much more