LIFE - Apollo 11: The World Watches

Waiting for History

Wed, 01 Jan 1969 03:00:00 EST

On July 16, 1969, countless Americans crowded the highways and beaches near Cape Canaveral, millions more were glued to their TV sets, and President Richard Nixon watched from the Oval Office as astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin prepared to rocket into space on the first manned mission to the moon.

Beach With a View

Wed, 16 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

The crowd gathered in Florida for the Apollo launch looks skyward -- a perfect emblem for the Apollo program and for NASA in the 1960s. A mere nine years before, President John F. Kennedy asserted before a joint session of Congress, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.... But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon. If we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there."

Let the Show Begin

Wed, 01 Jan 1969 03:00:00 EST

Haphazardly parked cars and barefoot teens sleeping outdoors beneath blankets would soon evoke an entirely different sense of history when, in August, hundreds of thousands of music fans made their way to a festival on a 600-acre farm not far from the town of Woodstock, New York. But on July 16, 1969, the biggest show on the face of the Earth was about to blast off from the Florida coast, with three clean-cut family men squarely in the spotlight.

The Moment Arrives

Wed, 01 Jan 1969 03:00:00 EST

Vice President Spiro T. Agnew (right), and Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson watch the launch of Apollo 11. In an era when America seemed to be splitting apart at the seams over the war in Vietnam, racial unrest, and countless other issues, the sheer audacity of sending human beings into space to walk on the moon galvanized the nation. "If we can do this," the Apollo mission seemed to suggest, "surely we can get together to resolve our earthly worries."

We Have Liftoff!

Wed, 16 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

The Saturn V rocket blasts off, carrying the Apollo 11 astronauts to their destiny.

The Armstrongs Watch the Apollo 11 Launch

Wed, 16 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

From the deck of a boat, Jan Armstrong and her sons Mark and Ricky watch the launch of NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon, commanded by her husband, astronaut Neil Armstrong. This photo, by LIFE's Vernon Merritt III, is poignant evidence of LIFE's special and long-standing relationship with the astronauts and their families. For more, see exclusive photos by LIFE photographer Ralph Morse in the gallery Up Close With Apollo 11.

Proud Spouse

Wed, 16 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Jan Armstrong looks skyward during the launch of NASA's Apollo 11.

Following the Flight as Long as Possible

Wed, 16 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Jan Armstrong shields her eyes as she follows the contrail of Apollo 11.

Picture This

Sun, 20 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

A cameraman shoots images of a model of the moon's surface for CBS News in preparation for the network's coverage of the moon landing.

High Hopes

Tue, 01 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Jan Armstrong holds a news conference outside her home in El Lago, Texas, during her husband's historic mission, July 1969.

Stop the World

Sun, 20 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

People are transfixed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport as they watch a large screen television that broadcasts the Apollo 11 moon landing.

More Important Than Money

Tue, 01 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

The tables at the Dunes Hotel in Vegas go silent during the moon shot.

The View From Paris

Mon, 21 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Parisians watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon.

Walter Cronkite Watches

Sun, 20 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

TV news anchor Walter Cronkite lets the images speak for themselves as NASA's Apollo 11 lunar module touches down, July 20, 1969.

Central Park, July 20, 1969: Watching the Landing

Sun, 20 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Read All About It

Wed, 01 Jan 1969 03:00:00 EST

Pianist Artur Rubinstein reads the headlines at an outdoor cafe in Paris after the Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the moon.

Exhaustion, Pride, Relief

Tue, 01 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

In Houston, Joan Aldrin (in white) expresses releif as she watches the television broadcast of her husband's successful mission to the moon.

Joan Aldrin Applauds

Tue, 01 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Joan Aldrin claps as she sees her husband, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, splash down at the end of the mission, back on Earth.

Houston, We Have a Celebration

Thu, 24 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

July 24, 1969: Staff at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, celebrate the successful return to Earth of the Apollo 11 crew.

Time to Let Loose

Tue, 01 Jul 1969 03:00:00 EDT

Janet Armstrong and astronaut Jim Lovell celebrate the successful splashdown in the Pacific.