Friends, today I am going to tell you the story of Apollo 11 mission that was sent to the moon. It will be interesting to know that the Apollo 11 was a mission that actually caused the start of Cold War between the United States of America and the then United States of Soviet Republic. In fact, both the superpowers got engaged in space race after World War II. In 1957, the Soviets became the first to launch a satellite, named Sputnik, which was the first manmade object to be placed in the earth’s orbit. It surprised the world that the Soviets went one step ahead of the Americans. However, only months later, the Americans equalized the Russian move as they succeeded in sending their first satellite in 1958. But three years later, in 1961, the Soviet Union took another lead when its astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to reach space.

This landmark achievement prompted the then US President, John F. Kennedy, to announce sending humans to the moon. He allocated $7-9 billion funding for the space program. The task was given to NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration); the space agency that was established in July 1958. NASA began the testing a few months later. First, they tested the space rockets. Then the heat shields of the command module were tested to see how much they could resist heat. After that, the propulsion system of the service module was tested. 
In between 1963 to 1967, many unmanned tests were carried out. However, in February 1967, NASA planned the first manned test, carrying astronauts to space. This mission was named Apollo 1. But unfortunately, this mission failed when a fire destroyed the command module and killed the three astronauts during a pre-launch test on January 27, 1967. 
It was really a big shock for America. However, NASA didn’t lose courage. It continued with its missions. There were no Apollo 2 or Apollo 3 missions. And all the Apollo 4, Apollo 5, and Apollo 6 missions were unmanned. However, the Apollo 7 mission was meant to be manned. It was sent in October 1968, and came out successful. Just two months later, Apollo 8 was launched, sending three astronauts near the moon. Three months later, Apollo 9 was launched, in which the lunar module was tested — meaning the part that would actually land on the moon. Two months after that, in May 1969, the Apollo 10 mission was launched. In this mission, three astronauts had to do almost everything that was supposed to be done in the Apollo 11 mission, except that they would not land on the moon.
After all these tests, on July 1969, the Apollo 11 mission was finally launched. The three astronauts who were part of this mission were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. The spacecraft of the Apollo 11 mission had three main parts: the command module, service module, and lunar module. They aimed to detach the lunar module and have it landed on the moon. To launch this spacecraft, a Saturn V rocket was used. Before the launch, this rocket was filled with kerosene, liquid oxygen, and liquid hydrogen. The weight of this rocket was 3 million kilograms. 
With its help, the spacecraft reached the earth’s orbit, which took only 10 minutes. After that, they made about 1.5 circles around the earth. Then they received permission from the mission control, which was on earth, to begin the trans-lunar injection, meaning taking the spacecraft towards the moon, out of earth's orbit. All this happened in less than 5 hours, but to actually reach the moon took several days.
The astronauts waited and waited, but on July 19, 1969, after traveling for almost 400,000 km, they finally reached the lunar orbit. Now, it was supposed to split into two parts: the command and service module would separate from the lunar module. 
Only the lunar module was going to land on the moon. Around 8 pm, the lunar module was about to land on the moon, and at exactly 8:10 pm, an alarm started beeping: the 1202 alarm. Neither Armstrong nor Aldrin knew the meaning of this alarm, so they asked the mission control what to do. They were told to keep going, and it was later found out that the 1202 was a warning that the Apollo system’s guidance computer was overloading. Thankfully, it was made in such a way that the essential programs important for the mission would still work despite the overload. The computer had an auto-landing program that would automatically land the lunar module on the moon's surface, but at a height of 150 ft, Neil Armstrong took over and decided to land in another spot, 4 miles from the predetermined landing site, because the predetermined landing site had problems.
At 8:16, Buzz Aldrin checked the fuel meter, which was at 5 percent. Seeing the low fuel, mission control initiated a 60-second countdown to determine if they would land or not. With only 30 seconds remaining in the countdown, Neil Armstrong sent a radio message to earth that they had successfully landed. Then Armstrong put on his spacesuit and opened the hatch to take the first step on the moon. His first words, televised internationally, were, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” Behind him, Buzz Aldrin also took his first step on the moon. For the next 21 hours, they collected rock and dust samples on the moon.
They left behind an American flag, and Armstrong and Aldrin were unaware that when they were coming out of the lunar module, they accidentally broke the switch to the engine. When they came back in, they realized their problem and informed the mission control. Armstrong came up with an interesting solution. What’s a switch? It basically works to complete an electrical circuit. Buzz Aldrin realized that if the circuit was broken, they needed something to complete the circuit. They looked around and saw a ballpoint pen. Aldrin used that ballpoint pen to complete the circuit and re-ignite the engine.
Finally, the lunar module was re-attached to the command and service module, also known as CSM. Their plan to land on earth was that the command module and service module would separate, with the service module actually being destroyed into small pieces due to earth’s atmosphere. However, there was a danger: if the service module’s debris hit the astronauts, they would die. To avoid this, NASA’s plan was to install thrusters on the service module to take it far from the command module, which housed the three astronauts. 
However, when the astronauts were returning to the earth, they realized that the thrusters on the service module were not working. The three astronauts in the command module could only watch as the service module broke apart around them, its pieces and debris floating all around them. It was a miracle that the debris did not hit the command module. The risk of the astronauts dying on this mission was so high that the US President prepared an alternate speech in case the astronauts died. Thankfully, the command module returned to earth safely. The parachutes deployed, and it landed in the ocean. All the three astronauts were safe and alive. They were evacuated from the ocean using ships, and these three astronauts were quarantined for two weeks in case they carried any viruses or bacteria from the moon.