50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing Collection
Thelanding of man on the moon marked a huge milestone in the progress of mankind. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this event, a number of world mints issued commemorative coins.
Apollo 11 was a manned space mission to land on the Moon, ascend to its surface and return safely to Earth. Mission participants included Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. The Apollo 11 comet was carried into Earth orbit by a Saturn rocket on July 16, 1969. Three days later, a manned flight orbited the Moon, and on July 20, 1969, the Eagle space module with Armstrong and Aldrin aboard landed on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis). On July 21, at 2:56:15 UTC, Neil Armstong became the first man to step onto the lunar surface and uttered memorable words: "It is a small step for man, but a great leap for mankind". Together with Aldrin, they spent 2.5 hours outside the lunar module and collected nearly 22 kg of rocks. After 21.5 hours, they returned to the Columbia command module, which for that time was piloted in orbit only by Collins. They returned to Earth on July 24 by landing in the Pacific Ocean.
