The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon, a feat achieved by the United States during the height of the Cold War. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Lunar Module 'Eagle' on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited above in the Command Module. As Armstrong took his first step onto the lunar dust, he declared it 'one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.' An estimated 650 million people watched the event live on television. The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. Beyond its political significance as a victory over the Soviet Union, it remains the ultimate symbol of human technological achievement and the potential for extraterrestrial exploration.