In January 1969 only the most optimistic could have predicted that in just six months time humans would be walking on the surface of the Moon
NASA was making preparations for that historic mission
Early in the month NASA announced the crew for Apollo 11
It was the first mission that would attempt a lunar landing
Commander Neil Arm Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Aldrin and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins were the crew members Components of their spacecraft and rocket arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in January and February
At the Manned Spacecraft Center now the Johnson Space Center in Houston facilities were being prepared to receive the first humans to return from the Moon
North American Rockwell of Downey shipped the Apollo 11 spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center on Jan 23 1969
Workers transferred the modules to the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building where they removed them from their shipping containers
On January 29 they mated the two modules and installed the assembly in an altitude chamber for testing
Earlier in the month the Grumman Aircraft and Engineering Corporation had delivered the Apollo 11 Lunar Module to Kennedy Space Center
The three stages of the Saturn V rocket arrived in January and February for stacking in the Vehicle Assembly Building