Google celebrates 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 mission; astronaut tells his journey to the moon and back

50th anniversary of Apollo 11 mission: 50 years ago, on July 20, humans stepped on the surface of moon for the first time. It was July 1969, when NASA's Apollo 11 mission, in which astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on the surface of the moon. Google has offered a special tribute to NASA' s Apollo 11 mission with an animated doodle to mark the anniversary.

What is Apollo 11 mission?

Fifty year ago, on July 20, a major revolution happened in the world of aeronautical engineering, which opened new windows to space scientists. NASA's Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969, carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. On July 20, Neil Armstrong, put his first step on the lunar surface - it was the first step by any human being on other planetary body.  Armstrong had memorably said, "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" .

The two astronauts spent 21 hours, 36 minutes on the moon's surface. The astronauts were back on earth on July 24, 1969.  The return journey of Apollo 11 was 195 hours long before it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The astronauts had carried out Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment, collected large samples of lunar materials and took close-up photographs of the lunar surface material.

Google-doodle on Apollo 11 mission

The Google doodle has an animated video in which astronaut Michel Collins narrates journey to the moon.

In the 4 minutes 37 seconds animated video, Collins has described the tense landing to the lunar surface.

Collins on seeing the moon closely, said, "The first time when I saw the moon up close, it was magnificent spectacle. It was huge". He added, "The sun was coming around it, cascading and making a golden halo". Collins said that first time when Neil Armstrong and Buzz landed on the moon, they set up an American flag and a plaque that read 'Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon'."

File photo of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins.

Collins also shared his "coffee experience" during the Apollo mission in the Doodle saying, "Behind the Moon, I was by myself -- all alone but not lonesome...I felt very comfortable back there; I even had hot coffee. (When you think about it that way, hot coffee and no contact with the rest of humanity doesn't sound so bad)," said Collins.

(Edited by: Mansi Jaswal)