1 person who flew to the moon. First flight to the moon

In 1958, Armstrong was enrolled in a group of pilots preparing to fly the experimental North American X-15 rocket plane. In total, until July 1962, he made 7 flights on these devices, but never reached the mark of 50 miles (80 km), which was considered the boundary of space by the US Air Force.

In the photo: Neil Armstrong undergoes training in the lunar module, which will be used to descend to the surface of the Moon, 1969:

In September 1962, Neil Armstrong passed a competition of 250 applicants and was accepted into NASA's astronaut class. From that moment on, he began to prepare for a flight into space...

Photo: The Saturn V rocket carrying the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center before liftoff to the Moon, July 1, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):

In 1966, Neil Armstrong made his first space flight as commander of the Gemini 8 spacecraft. During this flight, he and astronaut David Scott performed the first docking of two spacecraft. True, this flight was interrupted ahead of schedule due to a serious malfunction in the ship's attitude control engine system.

In the photo: the launch of the rocket with the Apollo 11 spacecraft, July 16, 1969. The lunar mission has begun. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):

There was an intense space race with the Soviet Union. This was the Americans' response to the first space flight on April 12, 1961 by Yuri Gagarin. On July 20, 1969, the crew of Apollo 11 landed on the Earth's natural satellite, the Moon.

Photo: Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):

It was Neil Armstrong who became the first person to set foot on the surface of the Moon, and his phrase “A small step for a man, but a giant leap for all mankind” spread throughout the world in a matter of minutes and entered the history of world astronautics.

In the photo: American astronaut Neil Armstrong next to the landing module on the surface of the Moon. (Photo by Edwin Aldrin-NASA | Handout | Reuters):

Armstrong and his partner Edwin Aldrin spent 2.5 hours on the Moon. They photographed the landscape, installed equipment on the surface of the Moon, with the help of which the distance to the Earth was measured with high accuracy, and also collected more than 20 kg of soil samples. On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth.

In the photo: Lunar module pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin installs equipment on the surface of the Moon. The lunar module is also visible in the back of the frame, July 20, 1969:

The landing stage of the lunar module remained on the Moon with a sign: “Here people from planet Earth first set foot on the Moon. July 1969 AD. We come in peace on behalf of all humanity." One of the lunar craters is named after Neil Armstrong.

Meanwhile, some researchers call the American landing on the moon the biggest hoax of the 20th century. In their opinion, there is a number of irrefutable evidence that American astronauts did not land on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite at all. You can find a lot of materials on this topic on the Internet.

Photo: Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin descends from the lunar module to the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969:

Almost a year after the flight to the Moon, in May-June 1970, Neil Armstrong came to us in the Soviet Union. On May 20-27, 1970, as part of a delegation of NASA scientific specialists, he took part in the XIII annual conference of the Space Research Committee in Leningrad. Neil gave a big talk about the first landing of people on the Moon and his impressions of staying and working on the lunar surface.

In the photo: after spending 2.5 hours on the surface of the Moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin return to the spacecraft on the lunar module, July 20, 1969:

Photo: Neil Armstrong inside the lunar module during his return from the Moon to the spacecraft, July 20, 1969. (NASA Photo | Handout | Reuters):

John Lennon's refusal of the Order of the Knight of the British Empire. And an event comparable to the first human flight into space - the landing of an American astronaut on the moon. Neil Armstrong took "one small step for one man, one giant leap for all mankind." The moon was conquered.

Of all the space objects visible to the naked eye, it was the Moon that most attracted human attention. Some peoples revered her above the Sun, poets dedicated their lines to her, astrologers believed that she influenced the destinies of rulers and the life of states. The most mysterious properties were attributed to the moon, to the point that its light curdles the milk of cows, and childless women, under its influence, give birth to twins, and six-fingered ones.

And man has always dreamed of setting foot on the moon. But the Moon is like that proverbial elbow, close, but you won’t bite. The dream took on visible shape in the second half of the twentieth century, with the beginning of space exploration. In January 1956, the Soviet Union decided to create an artificial Earth satellite and a manned spacecraft. The great space race between the USSR and the USA began.

Forward to the Moon!

On October 4, 1957, the two-stage R-7 Sputnik launch vehicle launched the world's first artificial satellite Earth. The satellite existed in space for three months. During this time, the word sputnik managed to enter many languages. The Americans responded by launching the artificial Earth satellite Explorer 1 in April 1958. In both countries, preparations for human space flight and landing on the Moon were intensively underway.

At the first stage, the USSR managed to get ahead of the United States. In September 1959, the Soviet automatic station Luna-2 for the first time reached the surface of the Moon in the region of the Sea of ​​​​Clarity, and in October the Luna-3 station photographed for the first time reverse side Moons. The US began to get nervous. In the summer of 1960, work on the Apollo project was announced. The project included a manned flight around the Moon and landing a man on its surface.

After Yuri Gagarin flew into space (April 12, 1961), and later Alan Shepard (May 5, 1961), the Moon Race began. In May 1961, the United States adopted a program to conquer the moon. The Americans were extremely upset by the fact that the first person to fly into space was Russian. Since the USSR had forever staked its claim as the pioneer of space, the United States decided to focus on the lunar program.

US President John Kennedy really hoped to land a man on the moon before the USSR did. He managed to achieve Congressional appropriations for this program in the amount of $25 billion. US National Aeronautics and Exploration Agency outer space(NASA) has begun developing the program in earnest. In turn, in the USSR on April 12, 1962, the presence of a lunar moon in the country was officially announced for the first time. space program. But the project existed only in the intention stage. It was finally formalized only in 1964.

The American automatic station Ranger 7 reached the surface of the Moon on July 31, 1964. In August 1964, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev signed the secret Resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the Council of Ministers of the USSR number 655/268 “On work on the exploration of the Moon and outer space.” The space industry was given a specific task: to fly around the Moon in May - June 1967, and in September 1968 to make a soft landing on the lunar surface and return back. By decision of the government, the so-called “lunar group” was created, headed by USSR pilot-cosmonaut Alexei Leonov.

But then the Soviet lunar project stalled. In October 1964, Khrushchev was removed from his post. Leonid Brezhnev took his place, but he did not have much interest in astronautics. Gradually, lunar projects moved from the priority category to the secondary level.

The matter was complicated by the fact that the two most prominent figures in Soviet cosmonautics, Academicians Korolev and Chelomei, could not agree on what the launch vehicle should be for a flight to the Moon. Korolev proposed a fundamentally new, environmentally friendly N-1 engine, which was supposed to run on oxygen and hydrogen. Chelomey advocated for the proven Proton engines. In January 1966, Korolev died. After a long rivalry, the leadership decided to go with Chelomey’s option. But during the tests, mistakes occurred over and over again, leading to accidents.

Finally, in 1967, the Resolution of the Central Committee and the Council of Ministers “On the unsatisfactory state of the “lunar program”” was published. The USSR realized that it would not be possible to win the Lunar Race: there was still the opportunity to fly around the Moon first, but it would no longer be possible to land on its surface before the Americans.

On December 21, 1968, American astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William Anders launched to the Moon aboard Apollo 8. This was the first flight beyond Earth orbit. Astronauts were the first people to see the far side of the Moon. Apollo 8 made several orbits in lunar orbit, after which it successfully returned to Earth. The first stage of the Moon Race was won by the USA.

After American astronauts flew around the Moon, a similar Soviet program became irrelevant. There was still a tiny chance of trying to get ahead of the United States with the landing of a controlled vehicle on the surface of the Earth's satellite.

On July 13, 1969, the new generation automatic station “Luna-15” was launched in the USSR, which was supposed to deliver samples of lunar soil to Earth. On July 16, Apollo 11 launched into space (crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin). On July 20, the Soviet automatic station Luna-15 and the lunar module landed on the surface of the moon, but Luna-15 crashed. And on July 20 at 03:56 GMT, Neil Armstrong set foot on the surface of the Moon for the first time in human history. The second stage of the Moon Race also remained with the United States.

However, work on the Soviet lunar program did not stop there. In September 1970, the Soviet automatic station Luna-16 brought about 100 grams of lunar soil to Earth. But there was no longer talk of launching manned spacecraft to the Moon. In November of the same year, the self-propelled vehicle Lunokhod-1 was delivered to the surface of the Moon, which worked there for 9 months. Thus, the USSR took partial revenge for its defeat in the Moon Race.

But by 1973, the United States, having completed its lunar program, switched to the development of the long-term near-Earth orbital station Skylab. The USSR, having suffered repeated failures to launch N-1 type rockets, which were supposed to deliver astronauts to the Moon, also curtailed work in this area. As the end of the lunar program in 1973-76, automatic stations were launched in the Soviet Union, during which Lunokhod-2 was delivered to the Moon, and soil samples were returned to Earth. The lunar race is over

Did Armstrong walk on the moon?

The landing of man on the surface of the Moon was watched by more than half a billion television viewers around the globe. This record was broken only 4 years later - a billion people watched Elvis Presley's Hawaiian concert in 1973. In addition, during the lunar expedition, the most expensive in the history of mankind took place. telephone conversation- President Nixon personally spoke with the astronauts from the Oval Office. The lunar expedition literally shook the world.

And almost immediately a theory appeared that the flight to the Moon was nothing more than a skillful falsification. Talk about this first arose after journalists became interested in the fate of the astronauts who took part in the lunar flights under the Apollo program (a total of 33 astronauts took part in it). Almost a third of them died in car and plane accidents! At the same time, a version of strange coincidences began to circulate on the pages of the media. Journalists wondered: “What kind of strange epidemic of disasters is affecting astronauts? Maybe the root of this lies in their violation of the flight secrecy agreement?”

Footage from the surface of the Moon began to be carefully studied by both professionals and amateurs. Particularly surprising was the moment when the US flag was installed on the surface of the Moon, which fluttered as if in the wind, although there is no atmosphere on the Moon and, therefore, the flag should not flutter. Proponents of the staging theory began to provide other evidence. Astronauts walk on the Moon in inflated spacesuits; it would be impossible to work in a vacuum in such spacesuits. The boots of the spacesuits turned out to be dusty. The boot of one of the astronauts left a suspiciously clear imprint on the lunar soil. The area on which the astronauts walked had a micro-grained surface structure corresponding to a sandy desert, which does not exist on the Moon.

The American film Capricorn 1 (1978) added fuel to the fire. The story of how astronauts preparing for a flight to Mars were removed from the ship at the last second, and the subsequent flight and landing were simulated using television, found warm understanding among viewers. Americans are perhaps more susceptible to conspiracy theories than anyone else. Almost anything in the slightest degree famous event in the United States, it immediately begins to be explained by some kind of conspiracy, usually led by an invisible or shadow government. Such conspiracies include everything: the landing of aliens in 1947 in the United States, the assassination of Kennedy, the number 13, which is present on American banknotes in different variations, the war in Iraq, and, of course, the landing of astronauts on the moon.

There is even a legend that the director of the film Capricorn 1, Peter Himes, originally wanted to “send” his heroes to the moon, but he was strongly advised not to do this. Allegedly, they were afraid of exposing the true facts: the deserts of California very well imitate the lunar surface.

"Capricorn-1" only strengthened the confidence of skeptics that the entire lunar epic was simulated. Numerous facts refuting this “conspiracy” are, as a rule, not taken into account. The theory according to which the Americans did not land on the surface of the Moon is still very popular. Moreover, she has a huge number of supporters around the world. The debate about whether Armstrong really walked on the moon will continue for a very long time, and there are several reasons for this. There will always be large number gullible simpletons who are pleased to know that they “really know the truth.” People with sophisticated imagination will also always be in abundance.

But the answer to the question of whether the Apollo 11 expedition actually flew to the Moon was given a long time ago. NASA has officially denied all the lies. Anyone can verify this by visiting the agency’s official website. Documents confirming the irrefutable presence of astronauts on the Moon are in the public domain. In turn, numerous independent examinations confirmed the authenticity of photo and video materials related to this flight. But people want to believe that in reality, according to Jerzy Lec’s statement, “everything was not as it really was.”

Space has always been that space that attracts with its proximity and inaccessibility. Humans are explorers by nature, and curiosity is the progress of civilization, both in technical concepts and in expanding self-awareness. The first landing of man on the Moon strengthened confidence that we are capable of interplanetary flights.

Earth satellite

The Russian name of the cosmic body “Moon” translated from Proto-Slavic means “bright”. She is natural companion our planet and its nearest celestial body. The ability to reflect sunlight onto the earth's surface makes the Moon the second brightest object in the sky. There are two opinions about the origin: the first says about the simultaneous emergence with the Earth, the second says that the satellite was formed in another place, but was subsequently captured by the earth's gravity.

The existence of a satellite provokes the appearance of special effects on our planet. For example, by the force of its gravity, the Moon can control water spaces. Due to its size, it takes on some of the meteorite attacks, which to some extent protects the Earth.

Initial research

The first landing of man on the Moon is the result of American curiosity and the country's intention to overtake the USSR in topical issue knowledge of space. For many millennia, humanity has been observing this celestial body. The invention of the telescope by Galileo in 1609 made the visual method of studying the satellite more progressive and accurate. Hundreds of years have passed since then until people decided to send the first unmanned vehicle to a cosmic body. And Russia was one of the first here. On September 13, 1959, a robotic spacecraft named after the satellite landed on the surface of the Moon.

The year of the first man landing on the Moon was 1969. Exactly 10 years later, American astronauts opened new horizons for the development of civilization. Thanks to more detailed research, they discovered interesting facts birth and structure of the satellite. This, in turn, made it possible to change the hypothesis of the origin of the Earth itself.

American expedition

The Apollo 11 spacecraft began its flight on July 16. The crew consisted of three astronauts. The goal of the expedition was the first landing of a man on the Moon. The ship flew to the satellite for four days. And already on July 20, the module landed on the territory of the Sea of ​​Tranquility. The group stayed in the southwestern part of the region for a certain period of time: more than 20 hours. The very presence of people on the surface lasted 2 hours 31 minutes. On July 24, the crew returned to Earth, where they were kept in quarantine for several days: lunar microorganisms were never found among the astronauts.

• A survey conducted in 1976 of statistical American residents.
• A video of astronauts training on an earth base, which bears a fantastic resemblance to the video filmed on the satellite.
• Modern image analysis using a photo editor, where inaccurate shadow episodes are identified.
• Some scientists were the first to suggest that tissue cannot develop in conditions of lunar gravity due to the lack of wind.
• There are no stars in photographs “from the moon”.
• Edwin Aldrin refused to swear on the Bible that he walked onto the surface of a celestial body.

Supporters of the landing found natural explanations for all the accusations. For example, that retouching was used on photographs to improve the quality for publication, and the ripples on the flag are not from the wind, but from the actions of the astronaut who sets the flag. The original recording has not survived, which means that the fact of the first step on the Earth’s satellite will remain a controversial issue.

Russia had its own unpleasant incident in the year the first people landed on the Moon. The USSR government did not consider it necessary to inform the residents of the country about the American event. Although the Russian ambassador was invited, he did not show up for the Apollo 11 launch. The reason he cited was his business trip on important government affairs.

>The first people on the moon

First man on the moon– who took the first step on the Earth’s satellite. Lunar exploration, the first flight of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, NASA's Apollo missions with photos.

In 1969, man walked on the moon for the first time. It was the result of ten years of preparation and technological progress. History has remembered the names of the first people on the Moon - astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. After that, only 10 people repeated their feat. But do we know their names?

Background to the appearance of people on the Moon

Before the launch of Apollo 11, two missions were completed that orbited the satellite. These were Apollo 8 and the Saturn V rocket. In 1968, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders broke away. They spent 20 hours on 10 orbits around the Moon and returned home.

They were leaving on Christmas Eve, so they broadcast in space and congratulated earthlings on the holiday. On May 18, 1969, the final rehearsal for the Apollo 10 flight was to take place. Participating were Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan.

Apollo 11

Let's see how the first man landed on the Moon. The Apollo 11 mission launched on July 16, 1969. The team consisted of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.

On July 20, the module descended to the surface, and Neil (the first man to set foot on the Moon) took his first step on the surface. He put left leg to the ground and said his famous phrase. After 20 minutes, Buzz came out and they began completing tasks.

Apollo 12

Four months later that year, the satellite hosted Charles Conrad and Alan Bean. They arrived in 10 days. Bean shouted with joy and said that this was a giant step for him. The crew brought back the first color camera, but its data could not be transmitted to Earth because Bean accidentally pointed it at the Sun. They also visited the destroyed Surveyor 3 module.

Apollo 14

The third landing was supposed to be the Apollo 13 mission, but there was an explosion in the oxygen tank and the module had to return home. Therefore, the Apollo 14 flight with Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell took the place. In 1971, they boarded the satellite and made two lunar walks. They extracted 42 kg of rock and conducted many experiments, along with seismic studies. During his 33 hours on the surface, Shepard even managed to play golf.

Apollo 15

This time it was David Scott and James Irwin who were lucky. In 1971 they settled in Hadley Rill. This is the first time a mobile rover has been used for research. Therefore, they did not jump like kangaroos, but traveled much further and brought 77 kg of stones. They also used a subsatellite and a scientific instrument module to study the surface.

Apollo 16

On April 21, 1972, John Young and Charles Duke reached the surface. We spent 3 days, of which we spent 20 hours and 14 minutes on the moonwalk. They brought 95.8 kg of samples. They managed to land in the highlands to obtain older examples of the breed.

Apollo 17

This was the last human flight to the satellite, in which Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt took part. They managed to break several records: longest manned flight, longest stay, and largest sample recovery.

They spent more than 3 days on the satellite, and in total the mission spent 12 days.

After that, the astronauts only managed to find themselves in orbit of the satellite, but no one else walked on its surface. Although in lately They are increasingly hinting at the return and creation of colonies. So things can change. Now you know who the first people on the moon were.

Space exploration in the middle of the last century was an extremely important matter for world powers, because it directly testified to their strength and power. The priority of developments in the space industry was not only not hidden from citizens, but, on the contrary, was emphasized in every possible way, instilling a sense of respect and pride for their country.

Despite the desire of many countries to take part in this difficult and interesting task, the main serious struggle took place between two superpowers - the Soviet Union and the United States of America.

The first victories in the space race were for the USSR

The series of successes of the Soviet cosmonautics became an open challenge to the United States, forcing America to speed up work in the field of space exploration and find a way to beat its main competitor, the USSR.

• the first artificial earth satellite - Soviet Sputnik-1 (October 4, 1957) USSR;
• the first animal flights into space - the astronaut dog Laika, the first animal launched into Earth orbit! (1954 - November 3, 1957) USSR;
• the first human flight into space - Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (April 12, 1961).

And yet, the competition for space continued!

First people on the moon

Today, almost everyone knows that America managed to seize the initiative in the space race by launching its astronauts on. The first manned spacecraft to successfully land on the moon back in 1969 was the American spacecraft Apollo 11, with a crew of astronauts on board: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

Many of you remember the photo of Armstrong proudly planting the US flag on the surface of the Moon on July 20, 1969. The American government was triumphant that it had managed to overtake the Soviet space pioneers in conquering the Moon. But history is full of conjectures and assumptions, and some facts haunt critics and scientists to this day. And to this day, the question is being discussed that the American ship, in all likelihood, reached the Moon, took it, but did the astronauts actually land on its surface? There is a whole caste of skeptics and critics who do not believe in the American landing on the Moon, however, let’s leave this skepticism to their conscience.

However, the Soviet spacecraft Luna-2 reached the Moon for the first time on September 13, 1959, that is, Soviet spacecraft ended up on the Moon 10 years earlier than the landing of American cosmonauts on the Earth’s satellite. And therefore it is especially offensive that few people know about the role of Soviet designers, physicists, and cosmonauts in the exploration of the Moon.

But a huge amount of work was done, and the results were achieved much earlier than Armstrong’s victorious march. The USSR pennant was delivered to the surface of the Moon a decade before a person set foot on its surface. On September 13, 1959, the Luna 2 space station reached the planet for which it was named. The world's first spacecraft to reach the Moon (space station Luna-2) landed on the surface of the Moon in the Mare Mons region near the craters Aristyllus, Archimedes and Autolycus.

A completely logical question arises: if the Luna-2 station reached the Earth’s satellite, then there should have been Luna-1 as well? There was, but its launch, carried out a little earlier, turned out to be not so successful and, having flown past the Moon... But even with this outcome, very significant scientific results were obtained during the flight of the Luna-1 station:

• Using ion traps and particle counters, the first direct measurements of solar wind parameters were made.
• Using an onboard magnetometer, the Earth's outer radiation belt was recorded for the first time.
• It was established that the Moon does not have a significant magnetic field.
• The Luna-1 spacecraft became the first spacecraft in the world to reach the second escape velocity.

The launch participants were awarded the Lenin Prize; the people did not know their heroes by name, but the common cause - the honor of the country - was a priority.

USA lands first people on the moon

What about the USA? Yuri Gagarin's flight into space was a serious blow for America, and in order not to remain forever in the shadow of the Russians, a goal was set - and although the Americans lost the race to land the first spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, they had a chance to be the first to land astronauts on the Earth's satellite ! Work on improving the spacecraft, spacesuits and necessary equipment proceeded by leaps and bounds, the American government attracted all the intellectual and technical potential of the country, and, without skimping, spent billions of dollars on development. All NASA resources were mobilized and thrown into the furnace of science for a great purpose.

The step of an American citizen to the Moon is the only opportunity to emerge from the shadows, to catch up with the Soviet Union in this race. It is possible that America would not have been able to realize its ambitious plans, but at that time there was a change in the party leader in the USSR, and the leading designers - Korolev and Chelomey - could not come to a common opinion. Korolev, being an innovator by nature, was inclined to use the latest engine developments, while his colleague advocated for the old, but proven Proton. Thus, the initiative was lost and the first to officially set foot on the surface of the Moon were American astronauts.

Did the USSR give up in the lunar race?

Despite the fact that Soviet cosmonauts failed to land on the Moon in the 20th century, the USSR did not give up in the race to explore the Moon. So already in 1970, the automatic interplanetary station “Luna-17” carried on board the world’s first, unprecedented, planetary rover, capable of fully operating in conditions of a different gravity of the moon. It was called “Lunokhod-1” and was intended to study the surface, properties and composition of the soil, radioactive and x-ray radiation of the Moon. Work on it was carried out at the Khimki Machine-Building Plant named after. S.A. Lavochkin, led by Babakin Nikolai Grigorievich. The sketch was ready in 1966, and the whole project documentation was completed by the end of next year.

Lunokhod 1 was delivered to the surface of the Earth's satellite in November 1970. The control center was located in Simferopol, in the Space Communications Center and included the control panel of the crew commander, the lunar rover driver, the antenna operator, the navigator, and the operational information processing room. The main problem was the signal time delay, which interfered with full control. The Lunokhod worked there for almost a year, until September 14, it was on this day that the last, successful communication session took place.

The Lunokhod did a great job of studying the planet entrusted to it, working much longer than planned. A huge number of photographs, lunar panoramas, etc. were transmitted to Earth. Years later, in 2012, the International Astronomical Union gave names to all twelve craters encountered on the path of Lunokhod 1 - they received male names.

By the way, in 1993, “Lunokhod 1” was put up for auction at Sotheby’s, the stated price was five thousand dollars. The auction ended at a much higher amount - sixty-eight and a half thousand American dollars, the buyer was the son of one of the American astronauts. It is characteristic that the precious lot rests on the territory of the Moon; in 2013 it was discovered in photographs taken by an orbital American probe.

To summarize, it can be noted that the first people to land on the Moon (1969) were the Americans, here is a list of US astronauts who landed: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin , John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schmitt. Neil Armstrong lived a long life and died on August 25, 2012 at the age of 82, still retaining the title of the first man to set foot on the moon...

But the first spaceships that conquered the Moon (1959) were Soviet, here the primacy undoubtedly belongs Soviet Union and Russian designers and engineers.