Today is the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. US President Barack Obama will launch a week of celebrations by receiving the three Apollo 11 astronauts at the White House.
 

The moon landing will also be commemorated at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the Apollo 11 mission was launched.

On 20 July 1969 Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon, followed shortly after by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. The third crew member, Michael Collins, remained in the orbiter.

An estimated 500 million people followed the landing on television and radio and heard Neil Armstrong's historic words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."