This is Neil Armstrong.
He was the first person ever to walk on the Moon.
As he stepped onto the Moon, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Watch: The first astronaut on the Moon
Hey there. I’m Neil Armstrong.
These are my buddies Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
We’re descending at 17,500 miles per hour, temperatures of 3000 degrees surround this tiny metal capsule and to my rear is the terrifying vacuum of space.
So, why are we up here?
Well, there are two real powerful countries on Earth doing all they can to look better than the other.
The Soviet Union put the first person into space, so President Kennedy of the United States of America set a challenge.
We will go to the Moon! Not because it is easy but because it is hard.
A trip to the Moon means flying, and boy was I good at flying.
So the US government asked if I wanted to become an astronaut.
After seven years the guys on NASA’s Apollo mission were ready to shoot me to the Moon.
The force of take off was intense.
But when we made it out into space we became weightless.
Now there was nothing holding us back.
After four days travelling, we were close.
Michael stayed in orbit while Buzz and I approached the Moon in our lander, ‘Eagle’.
Our computer was leading us into a crater full of rocks.
I quickly took control.
With just 30 seconds until we ran out of fuel, I found a smooth landing site… touch down.
That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth.
Boy, is it worth taking care of.
This is mission control, we have you on our screen.
Welcome home Apollo 11. Hope you brought us a present.
Err… We got Moon rocks!
What was the Space Race?
After World War Two, there were two superpowers: USA (America) and USSR (Russia and some neighbouring countries). They were competing to be the best.
In 1957 the USSR put a dog called Laika into space, in a spacecraft called Sputnik 2.
In 1961 the USSR sent a man into space, Yuri Gagarin.
The USA promised to be first to put a person on the Moon. They did this in July 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission.
What did Neil Armstrong do?
- Neil Armstrong loved flying. He flew fighter planes for the American Navy and later tested rocket-powered planes. He did all this before he became an astronaut.
- On the 20 July 1969, he became the first person to walk on the Moon.
- The astronauts approached the Moon in a landing vehicle called ‘Eagle’.
- The second person to walk on the Moon was Buzz Aldrin.
- Neil and Buzz's footprints will be on the Moon for millions of years, because there is no wind to blow them away.
- No astronaut has been back to the Moon since 1972.
Watch: What does the Moon look like?
See Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon in this clip from KS2 Bitesize Science.
Narrator: While the Earth goes round the Sun, the Moon goes around the Earth.
It orbits the Earth.
The Moon is a huge ball of rock in space.
There are mountains on the moon, and also flat areas called seas.
They’re called seas because people used to think that’s what they were.
However there are no seas, because on the Moon, there’s no water at all.
The Moon’s surface is covered in craters made by meteorites.
They’ll always be there, as the Moon has no weather to wear them away.
Astronaut: ‘It’s one small step for man…one giant leap for mankind.’
[SINGING] I was strolling on the moon one day…
Narrator: For the moment, it’s the only place apart from the Earth that we’ve stood on.
Astronaut: [SINGING] Much to my surprise…
Narrator: The Moon does not give off any light of its own. We only see the Moon when light from the Sun falls on it and is reflected back to Earth.
Did you know?
- Neil Armstrong got his pilot's licence when he was just 16, before he could even drive a car!
- Only 12 people have ever walked on the surface of the Moon.
- A typical tablet or mobile phone has many more times the memory and power than the computers that put Apollo 11 on the Moon.
- The first British person in space was Dr Helen Sharman. Find out more about her at Newsround.
Activity – Neil Armstrong quiz
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