Hard soil, big jumps and epiphanies: what it's like on the Moon

Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr, the lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the Lunar Module "Eagle" during Apollo 11's first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969

Twelve American men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972, with most describing in great detail their experiences on the dusty, low-gravity world lit by the blinding light of the Sun.

Here are their impressions, collected from a series of oral history interviews by NASA during the 1990s and 2000s, unless otherwise stated.