The U.S.Moon mission came on July 16,1969, when Armstrong, along with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, climbed into Apollo 11's command module called Columbia atop a gigantic Saturn V rocket and blasted off.
VOA: standard.2009.07.16
Few of these facts were widely known by the public when Armstrong, along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, was picked for the lunar landing mission.