What time did Apollo 11 land on the Moon? 20 July 1969, 20:17 UTC

Short answer: Apollo 11's lunar module *Eagle* landed in the Sea of Tranquility at 20:17:40 UTC on 20 July 1969. In Houston, where Mission Control was, it was 16:17 Eastern Daylight Time. The minute on the UTC record is 1969-07-20 20:17.

The descent

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin separated from Michael Collins in the command module *Columbia* and began their powered descent. Computer alarms interrupted the approach, and Armstrong took manual control to fly past a boulder field.

20:17

With about 25 seconds of fuel left before an abort call, the probes touched the surface. Armstrong reported: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The *Eagle* has landed."

Landing is not the first step

The landing and the first step are two different minutes, more than six hours apart. Armstrong stepped onto the surface at 02:56 UTC on 21 July.

Sources

• NASA: Apollo 11 Mission Overview
• NASA: Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal