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.
From the flight transcript
"Liftoff! We have a liftoff, 13 hours 32 minutes. Tower cleared." — the launch commentator reported.
NASA Apollo 11 Mission Report · Apollo Lunar Surface Journal · NASA Image and Video Library — full list on Apollo 11