Tranquility Base

Tranquility Base
Tranquility Base
	Astronaut Buzz Aldrin with Apollo Lunar Module Eagle at Tranquility Base; photo taken by Neil Armstrong
	Map of Tranquility Base
Type	Extraterrestrial landing site
Location	Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon
Coordinates	00°41′15″N 23°26′00″E / 0.68750°N 23.43333°E
Named and founded	July 20, 1969
Founder	Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
Governing body	California, New Mexico

Tranquility Base (Latin: Statio Tranquillitatis) is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module Eagle at approximately 20:17:40 UTC. Armstrong exited the spacecraft six hours and 39 minutes after touchdown, followed 19 minutes later by Aldrin. The astronauts spent two hours and 31 minutes examining and photographing the lunar surface, setting up several scientific experiment packages, and collecting 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of dirt and rock samples for return to Earth. They lifted off the surface on July 21 at 17:54 UTC.

Tranquility Base was named by Aldrin and Armstrong, and first announced by Armstrong when the Lunar Module Eagle landed. It is located in the south-western corner of the dark lunar plain Mare Tranquillitatis ("Sea of Tranquility").^[1] The U.S. states of California and New Mexico have registered Tranquility Base as a heritage site associated with them, but Texas, the U.S. National Park Service, and UNESCO have declined to do so, due to the technicality that it is not located within their borders.

^ The Eagle Has Landed – 1969; Video Transcript for Archival Research Catalog (ARC) Identifier 45017 (PDF), National Archives and Records Administration, 1969, retrieved Nov 27, 2015

[1] The Eagle Has Landed – 1969; Video Transcript for Archival Research Catalog (ARC) Identifier 45017 (PDF), National Archives and Records Administration, 1969, retrieved Nov 27, 2015

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