Panoramic view of the Apollo 11 landing site from Little West Crater
Panoramic view of the Apollo 11 landing site from Little West Crater
On 21 July 1969 (CET) the first two humans to walk on the Moon spent approximately two-and-a-half hours on the lunar surface. The landing site in the west of the Mare Tranquillitatis – a volcanic plain without many obstacles – was chosen for reasons of safety and lighting conditions. The Apollo 11 astronauts returned 22.5 kilograms of rock samples and lunar dust to Earth for the scientists. Their investigation was the prelude to extensive scientific work, lasting many years and rewarded with significant results, which culminated in a completely new understanding of the processes in the early Solar System during and after the formation of Earth-like bodies. In the foreground is Little West Crater. Neil Armstrong took some photographs here, about 60 metres from the Lunar Module, which were assembled into a mosaic. The crater should not be confused with the West Crater (550 metres further east), over the edge of which Neil Armstrong flew the Lunar Module under manual control to avoid landing in the field of boulders that surrounds the crater.
