Britannica
Sources used in this answer
Who were the first people to walk on the Moon during Apollo 11?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Moon
(Left) Near side of Earth's Moon, photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on its way to Jupiter. (Right) Far side of the Moon with some of the near side visible (upper right), photographed by the Apollo 16 spacecraft.
The first people to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.12
On July 20, 1969, Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface, followed shortly thereafter by Aldrin. While they explored the surface, the third crew member, Michael Collins, remained in the command module Columbia orbiting the Moon.231