Launch from Earth

At 13:32 UTC, the Saturn V rocket lifted off from Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The first stage's five F-1 engines generated 34,500 kN of thrust, lifting the 2,975-tonne rocket skyward — the start of an eight-day journey to the Moon and back.

More than a million spectators watched the launch in person, with hundreds of millions more following on television. Within the first twelve minutes, the Saturn V jettisoned two stages and placed the spacecraft into a 185-km parking orbit. After one and a half orbits of Earth, the third stage, the S-IVB, performed the Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI) burn and set Apollo 11 on course for the Moon.

G-forces during launch peaked at around 4 g. The crew — Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins — endured the first stage's vibrations, which the astronauts described as bad enough to "rattle your teeth." After the first stage burned out, a sudden calm followed as the quieter J-2 engines of the upper stages took over.