Moon Landing: Intimate Photos Of The Astronauts And Their Families

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Joan Aldrin, overcome by emotion, lets out a sob of joy and relief as she learns of the successful completion of her husband's mission.

Houston, Texas. July 1969.Lee Balterman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Back onboard after taking his first steps on the moon, Neil Armstrong gets ready for the journey home.

Apollo 11. July 20, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Jan Armstrong watches Apollo 11 launch skyward.

Cape Canaveral, Florida. July 16, 1969.Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Down below on Earth, Joan Aldrin, Buzz's wife, lies on the floor, unable to watch the television screen.

Houston, Texas. July 1969. Lee Balterman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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The astronauts head off to the launch site.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Jan Armstrong, wife of Neil, crosses her fingers for good luck during the mission.

El Lago, Texas. July 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Mission Control passes out cigars and American flags to celebrate the mission's successful completion.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 24, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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Apollo 11 astronauts (from left) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin talk before their historic journey into space.

Houston, Texas. March 1969.Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Jan Armstrong during her husband's mission.

El Lago, Texas. July 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Buzz Aldrin exits the Lunar Module to become the second human to set foot on the moon.

July 20, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Jan Armstrong peers past the sun to watch her husband as he blasts off into space.

Cape Canaveral, Florida. July 16, 1969.Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Neil Armstrong aboard Apollo 11.

July 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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The astronauts, in quarantine after their trip into space, greet their wives for the first time since touching down.

USS Hornet. July 1969.SSPL/Getty Images

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Jan Armstrong and her sons, Mark (left) and Ricky, watch Apollo 11 take off from the deck of a boat.

Cape Canaveral, Florida. July 16, 1969.Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Former President Lyndon Johnson and current Vice President Spiro Agnew watch the launch.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon.

July 20, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Jan and Ricky Armstrong watch the reports come in.

El Lago, Texas. July 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Mission Control erupts in celebration after the crew returns to Earth.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 24, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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Jan Armstrong watches from a distance as her husband, Neil, discusses the preparations for the Apollo 11 launch with his fellow astronauts.

Houston, Texas. March 1969.Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Apollo 11 waits on the launch pad.

Merritt Island, Florida. May 1969.NASA/Flickr

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The three astronaut's wives, Joan Aldrin, Patricia Collins, and Jan Armstong, stand together the day before the launch.

Houston, Texas. July 18, 1969.Bettmann/Getty Images

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Mission control waits in tense anticipation for the countdown to begin.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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A crowd gathers to watch the launch.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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The crowd at John F. Kennedy International Airport stop what they're doing to watch televised coverage of the moon landing mission.

New York City, New York. July 20, 1969.CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

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Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins on their way to a launch countdown test.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 1969.SSPL/Getty Images

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A tense NASA administrator George Mueller stands in the mission control room on the morning of the launch.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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Apollo 11 blasts off.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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Michael Collins at work inside Apollo 11.

July 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Buzz Aldrin aboard Apollo 11.

July 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Apollo 11 looks down on Earth from up among the stars.

July 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Jan Armstrong and family watch the news reports from home, unable to do anything but pray as Neil soars into space.

El Lago, Texas. July 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Jan Armstrong looks over documents on the Apollo 11 mission as she waits to hear from her husband.

Houston, Texas. July 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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The Lunar Module touches down on the moon.

July 20, 1969.Wikimedia Commons

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Patricia Collins and her daughters, Kate and Ann, excitedly watch the mission on TV.

Houston, Texas. July 1969.Bob Peterson/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

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The launch control center begins to relax shortly after Apollo 11's successful takeoff.

Merritt Island, Florida. July 16, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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A proud Pat Collins gives a press conference outside her home, shortly after the Apollo 11 crew lands on the moon.

Houston, Texas. July 20, 1969.Bettmann/Getty Images

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Jan Armstrong (center) and Apollo 11 backup commander Jim Lovell celebrate the mission's successful completion.

El Largo, Texas. July 24, 1969.John Olson/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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The crew of the USS Hornet help the astronauts get out of the Command Module.

Pacific Ocean (900 miles southwest of Hawaii). July 24, 1969.NASA/Flickr

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The ecstatic astronauts peer out of the window of the quarantine facility.

USS Hornet. July, 1969.LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Nail Armstrong, from inside quarantine, talks to his son.

Ellington Air Force Base, Texas. July, 1969.NASA/Getty Images

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A proud Jan Aldrin holds up a newspaper that reads, "Apollo Reaches the Moon."

Houston, Texas. July 1969.Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Michael and Pat Collins enjoy breakfast together, in their home amid the preparation phase before the launch.

Houston, Texas. March 1969.Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Neil Armstrong watches his wife and son play at home before the launch.

Houston, Texas. March 1969.Ralph Morse/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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A relieved Joan Aldrin applauds as she watches the coverage of Apollo 11's return to Earth.

Houston, Texas. July 24, 1969.Vernon Merritt III/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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The Apollo 11 Mission Through The Eyes Of The Astronauts And Their Families

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The Apollo 11 moon landing was a moment of pride and excitement for the U.S. and the world — but for three women, it was also likely the most agonizing and terrifying eight days of their lives. Jan Armstrong, Joan Aldrin, and Pat Collins could do nothing but sit, watch, wait and pray while their husbands risked their lives to become the first humans on the moon.

It’s a part of the story that rarely gets told. We’ve all heard the moon landing as a story of heroism and human accomplishment — but for the people who loved the men onboard Apollo 11, it was something else altogether. The men they’d dedicated their lives to were on the verge of earning their eternal place in history — or of being wiped out in the dark chasm of space.

At the time, there was no guarantee that Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins would come home alive. President Nixon already had a speech prepared in the event that he had to tell the nation that the Apollo 11 crew would never come home.

The crew left home and blasted off on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 a.m. The whole world stopped. Crowds gathered near the launch site to catch a glimpse of the proceedings. People around the world stopped what they were doing to watch the news. And, on a small boat off the coast of Florida, Jan Armstrong and her sons, Mark and Ricky, watched Neil blast off into history.

They could do nothing but pray that he and the others would make it back safely. For them, this was a historic event, but also a human moment — a simple moment of worrying about someone they loved.

Over the next eight days, as Apollo 11 soared through space, every moment of the tension and the anguish and, finally, the relief of the families back on Earth was captured by LIFE Magazine photographers.

These photos — and those captured of the astronauts just before, during, and after the mission — reveal that the moon landing was more than just a moment in history, and it was more than just a moment for a nation. For both the people who knew Neil, "Buzz," and Michael, as well as the astronauts themselves, it was a personal, human moment where there was more than just progress and patriotism on the line: There was family.

After this look at the moon landing, check out these images of the first animals in space and see exactly why so many people think that the moon landing was faked.