 This is Apollo sat on launch control. We've passed the six-minute mark in our countdown for Apollo 11. The flight to land at the first minute on the moon. Ten, nine, ignition sequence star, six. Years ago, the three-man crew of Apollo 11 drifted over four days in space, navigating by the stars to get to the moon. The lunar lander Eagle undocked from the main ship, Columbia. Michael Cullen stayed in the command module while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took the trip to the moon's surface. Armstrong recounts his impressions. I think perhaps the final descent to the lunar surface was, for me, the highlight of the flight. It was very challenging, a lot of unknowns. And it was for a pilot that it was a wonderful experience. On July 20, 1969, the whole world watched live television pictures of Neil Armstrong's descent from the lunar lander. He paused and stepped on to the powdery surface, becoming the first human to set foot on another planet. Neil Armstrong recalls when he decided on those historic words. Well, actually, I didn't worry about it until after landing, because I guess in my own view, we didn't have that good a chance of completing a successful landing. But I did think about it between the time of landing and the time when we actually exited the spacecraft, but I did that. Orbiting the moon every 45 minutes in the command service module, Michael Cullen stayed in close contact with his colleagues on the lunar surface. My concerns were not within the command module, but simply that something might go wrong with the LAM with the lunar module and these two guys might get stuck on the surface of the moon. That was my main concern. During the two and a half hours they spent on the moon's surface, the Armstrong Aldrin team managed to collect 45 pounds of moon rock and soil samples, set up two experiments, and raise an American flag. Walking on the moon was not a problem. With one sixth the gravity of earth, bounding across stretches of magnificent desolation was actually fun. For Buzz Aldrin, our closest celestial neighbor is a fond memory. It was a stranger to me before the mission, but I now look back at it as somewhat of a friend, a place that I visited. The first moon landing was a technological challenge met head on by this nation. After Apollo 11, there were six more missions to the moon. The three men who made the initial journey believe we will return. Maybe just as a stopover point for further exploration to Mars or beyond.