Neil Armstrong landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969. The lunar module "Eagle," piloted by Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, touched down at 20:17 UTC. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface about six hours later, at 02:56:15 UTC on July 21, 1969. His famous words at that moment were, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and Aldrin spent about two and a quarter hours exploring the lunar surface before returning to the lunar module.