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Landing of Apollo-11 The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from Cape Kennedy at 13:32:00 UT on July 16, 1969 . After 2 hr and 33 minutes in Earth orbit, the S-IVB engine was reignited thus accelerating the spacecraft to the required velocity to escape the earth's gravity. Lunar orbit insertion took place after 75 hrs 50 min (ground elapsed time GET). Photographs were taken from lunar orbit for studying lunar geology. The lunar module, eagle, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Aldrin was undocked from the command service module at 100:14 GET. At 101:36, the lunar descent engine was fired and approximately 29 seconds later on descent to lunar surface began. Eagle landed on the Moon 102 hr, 45 min and 40 sec after launch. Immediately after landing on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared the LM for liftoff as an emergency measure. For the first lunar landing, Mare Tranquilitatis (sea of tranquility) was the site chosen because it is a relatively smooth and level area. The Apollo 11 LM landed approximately 400 meters west of West crater and 20km southwest of the crater Sabine D in the southwestern part of Mare Tranquilitatis. The lunar surface at the landing site consisted of fragmental debris ranging in size from fine particles to blocks about 0.8 meters wide. Astronaut Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first. While descending, he released the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) on which the surface television camera was stowed, and the camera recorded mankind's first step on the Moon at 109:24:19 GET. The crew of Apollo 11 conducted various experiments on the surface of moon. Let us have a look at these experiments to know more about the lunar surface.
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