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Image: Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag

Space

Apollo 11 Tour Puts Famed Moon Mission Back in Spotlight

Nearly 50 years after NASA's first moon landing, the Apollo 11 command module is set to tour the U.S. Here's a look back at the mission.

/ 9 PHOTOS
Image: Apollo command module

Charred and battered from the forces of atmospheric reentry, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia has been at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. since the museum's 1976 opening. For the next two years, Columbia will travel 8,000 miles and visit four museums, arriving at the last in time to mark the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing in 2019.

— Eric Long / NASM
Image: The Apollo 11 Mission Landed On The Moon

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the second man to walk on the lunar surface after he and fellow Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong successfully landed the lunar module on July 20, 1969.

— Neil Armstrong / NASA
Image: Saturn V rocket launches on the Apollo 11 mission

The huge, 363-feet tall Saturn V rocket launches the Apollo 11 mission from Launch Complex 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969.

— NASA via EPA
Image: United States President Richard M. Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet

President Richard Nixon welcomes the Apollo 11 astronauts back to Earth aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Already confined to the Mobile Quarantine Facility are, left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.

— NASA
Image: The Apollo 11 Lunar Module ascent stage, with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. aboard, is photographed from the Command and Service Modules

The Apollo 11 lunar module ascent stage, with Armstrong and Aldrin aboard, is photographed from the Command and Service Module during rendezvous in lunar orbit on July 21, 1969. The lunar module was making its docking approach to the CSM. Collins remained with the CSM in lunar orbit while the other two crewmen explored the moon's surface.

— NASA
Image: An estimated 10,000 people gathered to watch giant television screens in New York's Central Park and cheer as astronaut Neil Armstrong took man's first step on the moon on July 20, 1969.

An estimated 10,000 people gathered to watch giant screens in New York's Central Park and cheer as Neil Armstrong took man's first step on the moon on July 20, 1969.

— AP
Image: United States astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands beside a solar wind experiment next to the Lunar Module spacecraft on the surface of the Moon

Aldrin stands beside a solar wind experiment next to the lunar module after he and Armstrong became the first men to land on the moon's surface.

— NASA via Reuters
Image: This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows Earth rising above the moon's horizon

This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows Earth rising above the moon's horizon.

— NASA
Image: Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag

Aldrin poses for a photograph beside the United States flag after the historic landing on July 20, 1969.

PHOTOS: The Evolution of the Spacesuit

— NASA
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