Apollo 11 Lunar Soil, 1969

Close-up of lunar soil collected by Apollo 11, displaying particles at 500-1000 microns. This is part of sample 10084. Lunar soil, or regolith, is made up of fine particles of moon rocks, weathered and melted by meteorites and solar winds. Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two people on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent 21.5 hours on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit

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Apollo11 Basaltic Dirt Eleven Fragments Geologic Geological Geologically Grains Lunar Magnification Magnified Microscopic Missions Nasa Particles Petrology Planetary Regolith Soil Weathering

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