For several years after President John F. Kennedy’s famous call to land a man on the moon the U.S. worked diligently in laying the groundwork to try just that. Spacecraft went into orbit to scan its surface, landers probed the conditions on the ground on site of the proposed landing site, and finally a crew was chosen: Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, Command Module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module pilot.

On this day, July 16, in 1969, the Apollo 11 mission, on its way to land the first men on the moon, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Seventy-six hours after launch, the spacecraft reached orbit around the moon. The crew rested for around a day, and then prepared to detach the lunar module for landing. They touched down on the moon, had the first ever meal on the moon inside the lander, and then prepared to step outside. Armstrong stepped out first, his progress recorded by the lunar module camera, saying “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”