成人快手

This is Neil Armstrong.

Neil Armstrong in his space suit.
  • He was the first person ever to walk on the Moon.

  • As he stepped onto the Moon, he said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.鈥

Neil Armstrong in his space suit.
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Watch: The first astronaut on the Moon

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What was the Space Race?

President Kennedy of the USA and the leaders of the Soviet Union (Russia).
  • After World War Two, there were two superpowers: USA (America) and USSR (Russia and some neighbouring countries). They were competing to be the best.

  • In 1957 the USSR put a dog called Laika into space, in a spacecraft called Sputnik 2.

  • In 1961 the USSR sent a man into space, Yuri Gagarin.

  • The USA promised to be first to put a person on the Moon. They did this in July 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission.

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What did Neil Armstrong do?

Neil Armstrong giving a thumbs up in a plane.
  • Neil Armstrong loved flying. He flew fighter planes for the American Navy and later tested rocket-powered planes. He did all this before he became an astronaut.
  • On the 20 July 1969, he became the first person to walk on the Moon.
  • The astronauts approached the Moon in a landing vehicle called 鈥楨补驳濒别鈥.
Neil Armstrong giving a thumbs up in a plane.
Neil Armstrong in his space suit.
Image caption,
Neil Armstrong wearing his space suit.
  • The second person to walk on the Moon was Buzz Aldrin.
  • Neil and Buzz's footprints will be on the Moon for millions of years, because there is no wind to blow them away.
  • No astronaut has been back to the Moon since 1972.
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Watch: What does the Moon look like?

See Neil Armstrong walk on the Moon in this clip from KS2 Bitesize Science.

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Did you know?

A graphic of a plane in the sky.
  • Neil Armstrong got his pilot's licence when he was just 16, before he could even drive a car!
  • Only 12 people have ever walked on the surface of the Moon.
  • A typical tablet or mobile phone has many more times the memory and power than the computers that put Apollo 11 on the Moon.
  • The first British person in space was Dr Helen Sharman. Find out more about her at Newsround.
A graphic of a plane in the sky.
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Activity 鈥 Neil Armstrong quiz

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Game - Find out even more about Neil Armstrong and other amazing explorers!

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Play Bitesize Primary games. game

Fun and educational primary games in science, maths, English, history, geography, art and design, computing and modern languages.

Play Bitesize Primary games
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