Which astronaut was not on the apollo 11 mission

The lunar module came to be known as Spider. Meanwhile the command module was named Gumdrop. This was because of the shape, and the blue wrapping it arrived in both being similar to the sweet.

Find out more about spacecraft call signs. The crew did however complete two space walks, or EVAs extra vehicular activities. On one of these, Schweickart used the new Apollo spacesuit. Up until then spacesuits had remained connected to the spacecraft by a kind of umbilical cord tether.

This new spacesuit had its own life support system built into it — it was essentially a mini spacecraft. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the far side of the moon and back, and in March Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit.

That May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At a. Armstrong, a year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling , miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July The next day, at p. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at p.

At p. As he made his way down the module's ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation. Aldrin joined him on the moon's surface 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.

By a. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at p. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon—July A. Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here. By Reuters Staff 7 Min Read. Apollo 11, launched forty years ago today on July 16, , carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, who was the Mission Commander and the first man to step on the moon, Aldrin, who was the Lunar Module Pilot, and Michael Collins, who was the Command Module pilot.

Armstrong was the photographer for this image. We will miss you. May you Rest In Peace. Born in Rome in to a US army officer serving as military attache there, Collins went on to become a fighter pilot and test pilot with the air force. But he is best known for being a member of the Apollo 11 mission when, on July 20, , his crewmates Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their giant leaps for mankind.

Ultimately, Apollo 11 was a success and after the crew splashed down in the Pacific, they embarked on a worldwide tour, at the end of which they were all awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.