Eighteen Apollo 11 Facts You’ve Never Heard Before

Published July 20, 2015
Updated July 24, 2019

Source: NASA

The world’s first pictures of Pluto and its icy mountains arrived just days before the 46th anniversary of what is surely history’s most momentous outer space occasion. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin made history as the first humans to land on the moon. The mission’s third astronaut, Michael Collins, continued in lunar orbit while his comrades made history.

Even though the moon landing was a profound technological and scientific achievement as well as an unparalleled symbol of national pride, there are still plenty of details that most people don’t know…

Apollo 11 Facts Earth

Apollo 11 Facts Aldrin

Apollo 11 Facts Armstrong

Apollo 11 Facts Collins

Apollo 11 Facts Quarantine

Apollo 11 Facts Command

Apollo 11 Facts Moon

Apollo 11 Facts Homecoming

Apollo 11 Insurance

Apollo 11 Landing

Apollo 11 Publicity

Apollo 11 Pen

Apollo 11 Columbia

Apollo 11 Lunar

Apollo 11 Mission

Apollo 11 Nixon

Apollo 11 Michael

Apollo 11 Bootprint

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins traveled 240,000 miles in just a little over three days (76 hours to be exact) to reach the moon’s lunar orbit. As the lunar module separated from the command module and began its descent to the moon, people from all over the world stopped what they were doing to tune into live coverage of the landing. To see the original broadcast, watch below (skip to minute 20 for the live coverage from the moon):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E96EPhqT-ds

For more info sure to make you the smartest person in the room, check out these interesting facts about the world!

author
Kiri Picone
author
Kiri Picone holds a B.A. in English and creative writing from Pepperdine University and has been writing for various digital publishers for more than 10 years.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of interest include modern history and true crime.