On Wednesday, July 16, 1969—2,974 days after John F. Kennedy asked the United States to commit itself to a lunar landing, 169 days before the deadline he had set—Apollo 11 was launched. The Saturn V carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins lifted off from Pad 39A at 9:32 A.M., Eastern Daylight Time, the precise moment selected months earlier.
