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For the television film, see Apollo 11 (film).

Apollo 11
COSPAR ID1969-059A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.04039Edit this on Wikidata
Mission duration8 d 03 h 18 m 35 s
Start of mission
Launch dateJuly 16, 1969 (1969-07-16)
13:32:00 UTC
Circular insignia: eagle with wings outstretched holds olive branch on moon with earth in background, in blue and gold border. Three astronauts in spacesuits without helmets sitting in font of a large photo of the moon.

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight which landed the first humans, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr, on Earth's Moon on July 20, 1969, at 20:17:39 UTC. The United States mission is considered the major accomplishment in the history of space exploration.

Launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 in Merritt Island, Florida on July 16, Apollo 11 was the fifth manned mission, and the third lunar mission, of NASA's Apollo program. The crew consisted of Armstrong as Commander and Aldrin as Lunar Module Pilot, with Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. Armstrong and Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquillity and became the first humans to walk on the Moon on July 21. Their Lunar Module, Eagle, spent 21 hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface, while Collins remained in orbit in the Command/Service Module, Columbia.[2] The three astronauts returned to Earth on July 24, landing in the Pacific Ocean. They brought back 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of lunar rocks.

Apollo 11 fulfilled U.S. President John F. Kennedy's goal of reaching the Moon before the Soviet Union by the end of the 1960s, which he had expressed during a 1961 mission statement before the United States Congress: "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."[3]

Five additional Apollo missions landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972.

Crew

Position Astronaut
Commander Neil Alden Armstrong
Second spaceflight
Command Module Pilot Michael Collins
Second spaceflight
Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr.
Second spaceflight

Each crewman of Apollo 11 had made a spaceflight before this mission, making it only the second all-veteran crew (the other being Apollo 10) in human spaceflight history.[4]

Collins was originally slated to be the Command Module Pilot (CMP) on Apollo 8 but was removed when he required surgery on his back and was replaced by Jim Lovell, his backup for that flight. After Collins was medically cleared, he took what would have been Lovell's spot on Apollo 11; as a veteran of Apollo 8, Lovell was transferred to Apollo 11's backup crew, but promoted to backup commander.

Backup crew

Position Astronaut
Commander James A. Lovell, Jr
Command Module Pilot William A. Anders
Lunar Module Pilot Fred W. Haise, Jr

In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch (at which point Anders would be unavailable if needed) and would later join Lovell's crew and ultimately be assigned as the original Apollo 13 CMP.[5]

Support crew

Aldrin unpacks experiments from the LM, named Eagle.

Flight directors

Call signs

Boilerplate Apollo command module depicting the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia at the Udvar-Hazy Center

After the crew of Apollo 10 named their spacecraft Charlie Brown and Snoopy, assistant manager for public affairs Julian Scheer wrote Manned Spacecraft Center director George M. Low to suggest the Apollo 11 crew be less flippant in naming their craft. During early mission planning, the names Snowcone and Haystack were used and put in the news release,[6] but the crew lately decided to change them.

The command module was named Columbia after the Columbiad, the giant cannon shell "spacecraft" (coincidentally "launched" from Florida) by a giant cannon in Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon. [7] The name Columbia is also associated with the feminine personification of the United States used traditionally in song and poetry.

The lunar module was named Eagle for the national bird of the United States, the bald eagle, which is featured prominently on the mission insignia. Backup commander Jim Lovell recommended the name.[citation needed]

Mission highlights

Launch and lunar orbit injection

Thousands of spectators camped out adjacent to Kennedy Space Center to watch the launch of Apollo 11.
Engineers in the Launch Control Center
The Saturn V carrying Apollo 11 took several seconds to clear the launch tower on 16 July 1969.
A condensation cloud forms around an interstage as the Saturn V approached Mach 1, one minute into the flight.
S-IC separation.
The Eagle in lunar orbit immediately after separating from Columbia.

In addition to throngs of people crowding highways and beaches near the launch site, millions watched the event on television, with NASA Chief of Public Information Jack King providing commentary. President Richard Nixon viewed the proceedings from the Oval Office of the White House.

A Saturn V launched Apollo 11 from Launch Pad 39A, part of the Launch Complex 39 site at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 a.m. local time). It entered orbit 12 minutes later.[1] After one and a half orbits, the S-IVB third-stage engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the Trans Lunar Injection burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later the command/service module pair separated from this last remaining Saturn V stage and docked with the lunar module still nestled in the Lunar Module Adaptor. After the lunar module was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the third stage booster flew on a trajectory past the Moon and into solar orbit.[8]

On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits[9] that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquillity (Mare Tranquillitatis) about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of the crater Sabine D (0.67408N, 23.47297E). The landing site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers along with the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft and unlikely to present major landing or extra-vehicular activity (EVA) challenges.[10]

Lunar descent

On July 20, 1969 the lunar module (LM) Eagle separated from the command module Columbia. Collins, alone aboard Columbia, inspected Eagle as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged.

As the descent began, Armstrong and Aldrin found that they were passing landmarks on the surface 4 seconds early and reported that they were "long": they would land miles west of their target point.

Five minutes into the descent burn, and 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surface of the Moon, the LM navigation and guidance computer distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected "1202" and "1201" program alarms. Inside Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, computer engineer Jack Garman told guidance officer Steve Bales it was safe to continue the descent and this was relayed to the crew. The program alarms indicated "executive overflows", meaning the guidance computer could not complete all of its tasks in real time and had to postpone some of them.[11]

During the mission, the cause was diagnosed as the rendezvous radar switch being in the wrong position, causing the computer to process data from both the rendezvous and landing radars at the same time. [12][13] However, in 2005, software engineer Don Eyles concluded in a Guidance and Control Conference paper, that the problem was actually due to a hardware design bug that had been seen previously on testing of the first unmanned LM for Apollo 5. Having the rendezvous radar on (so that it was warmed up, in case of an emergency landing abort), should have been irrelevant to the computer. But an electrical phasing mismatch between two parts of the rendezvous radar system could cause the stationary antenna to appear to the computer as dithering back and forth between two positions, depending upon how the hardware randomly powered up. The extra spurious cycle stealing, as the rendezvous radar updated an involuntary counter, caused the computer alarms.[14]

When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing target was in a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a 300 metres (980 ft) diameter crater (later determined to be "West crater", named for its location in the western part of the originally planned landing ellipse). Armstrong took semi-automatic control[15] and, with Aldrin calling out altitude and velocity data, landed at 20:17 UTC on July 20 with about 25 seconds of fuel left.[16]

Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than other missions, and the astronauts also encountered a premature low fuel warning. This was later found to have been due to greater propellant 'slosh' than expected uncovering a fuel sensor. On subsequent missions, extra baffles were added to the tanks to prevent this.[16]

Throughout the descent Aldrin had called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting the LM. A few moments before the landing, a light informed Aldrin that at least one of the 67-inch (170 cm) probes hanging from Eagle's footpads had touched the surface, and he said "Contact light!". Three seconds later, Eagle landed and Armstrong said "Shutdown". Aldrin immediately said "Okay, engine stop. ACA - out of detent." Armstrong acknowledged "Out of detent. Auto" and Aldrin continued "Mode control - both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm - off. 413 is in."

Charles Duke, acting as CAPCOM during the landing phase, acknowledged their landing by saying "We copy you down, Eagle".

Armstrong continued with the remainder of the post landing checklist, "Engine arm is off." before responding to Duke with the words, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed." Armstrong's abrupt change of call sign from "Eagle" to "Tranquillity Base" caused momentary confusion at Mission Control and Duke remained silent for a couple of seconds before expressing the relief of Mission Control: "Roger, Twan-- Tranquillity, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."[16][17]

Two and a half hours after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin broadcast that:

"This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way."[18]

He then took communion privately. At this time NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (who had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis) demanding that their astronauts refrain from religious activities while in space. As such, Aldrin chose to refrain from directly mentioning this. He had kept the plan quiet (not even mentioning it to his wife) and did not reveal it publicly for several years.[citation needed]

Aldrin was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church in Webster, Texas. His communion kit was prepared by the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dean Woodruff. Aldrin described communion on the Moon and the involvement of his church and pastor in the October 1970 edition of Guideposts magazine and in his book Return to Earth. Webster Presbyterian possesses the chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the Sunday closest to July 20.[19]

The schedule for the mission called for the astronauts to follow the landing with a five-hour sleep period, since they had been awake since early morning. However, they elected to forgo the sleep period and begin the preparations for the EVA early, thinking that they would be unable to sleep.

Lunar surface operations

See also: First Moon walk
"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind"
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Neil Armstrong works at the LM in one of the few photos taken of him from the lunar surface. NASA photo AS11-40-5886.
Aldrin bootprint; part of an experiment to test the properties of the lunar regolith
A mounted slowscan TV camera shows Armstrong as he climbs down the ladder to surface.
Aldrin poses on the Moon, allowing Armstrong to photograph both of them using the visor's reflection.
President Nixon phones Armstrong and Aldrin from the Oval Office.
Under the Eagle.

The astronauts planned placement of the Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package (EASEP)[20] and the U.S. flag by studying their landing site through Eagle's twin triangular windows, which gave them a 60° field of view. Preparation required longer than the two hours scheduled. Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his Portable Life Support System (PLSS). According to veteran moon-walker John Young, a redesign of the LM to incorporate a smaller hatch had not been followed by a redesign of the PLSS backpack, so some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress.[21][22]

At 02:39 UTC on Monday July 21 (10:39pm EDT, Sunday July 20), 1969, Armstrong opened the hatch, and at 02:51 UTC began his descent to the lunar surface. The Remote Control Unit controls on his chest kept him from seeing his feet. Climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle's side and activate the TV camera, and at 02:56 UTC (10:56pm EDT) he set his left foot on the surface.[23] The first landing used slow-scan television incompatible with commercial TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera viewed this monitor, significantly reducing the quality of the picture.[24] The signal was received at Goldstone in the USA but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia. Minutes later the feed was switched to the more sensitive Parkes radio telescope in Australia.[25] Despite some technical and weather difficulties, ghostly black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth.[26] Although copies of this video in broadcast format were saved and are widely available, recordings of the original slow scan source transmission from the lunar surface were accidentally destroyed during routine magnetic tape re-use at NASA. Archived copies of the footage were eventually located in Perth, Australia, which was one of the sites that originally received the Moon broadcast.

After describing the surface dust as "fine and almost like a powder",[23] Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and uttered his famous line "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind"[27][28][29][30][31] six and a half hours after landing.[1] Aldrin joined him, describing the view as "Magnificent desolation."[32]


Armstrong said that moving in the lunar gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "even perhaps easier than the simulations... It's absolutely no trouble to walk around".[23]

In addition to fulfilling President John F. Kennedy's mandate to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s,[33] Apollo 11 was an engineering test of the Apollo system; therefore, Armstrong snapped photos of the LM so engineers would be able to judge its post-landing condition. He then collected a contingency soil sample using a sample bag on a stick. He folded the bag and tucked it into a pocket on his right thigh. He removed the TV camera from the MESA, made a panoramic sweep, and mounted it on a tripod 12 metres (39 ft) from the LM. The TV camera cable remained partly coiled and presented a tripping hazard throughout the EVA.

Aldrin joined him on the surface and tested methods for moving around, including two-footed kangaroo hops. The PLSS backpack created a tendency to tip backwards, but neither astronaut had serious problems maintaining balance. Loping became the preferred method of movement. The astronauts reported that they needed to plan their movements six or seven steps ahead. The fine soil was quite slippery. Aldrin remarked that moving from sunlight into Eagle's shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit, though the helmet was warmer in sunlight, so he felt cooler in shadow.[23]

The astronauts planted a specially designed U.S. flag on the lunar surface, in clear view of the TV camera. Some time later, President Richard Nixon spoke to them through a telephone-radio transmission which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House."[34] Nixon originally had a long speech prepared to read during the phone call, but Frank Borman, who was at the White House as a NASA liaison during Apollo 11, convinced Nixon to keep his words brief, out of respect of the lunar landing being Kennedy's legacy.[35]

The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow, slowing work somewhat. As they worked, the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust which soiled the outer part of their suits, the integrated thermal meteoroid garment.

They deployed the EASEP, which included a passive seismograph and a laser ranging retroreflector. Then Armstrong loped about 120 metres (390 ft) from the LM to snap photos at the rim of Little West Crater while Aldrin collected two core tubes. He used the geological hammer to pound in the tubes - the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documenting sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 min.

During this period Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong that his metabolic rates were high and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. However, as metabolic rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15-minute extension.[36]

Lunar ascent and return

Aldrin stands next to the Passive Seismic Experiment Package with the Lunar Module in the background.

Aldrin entered Eagle first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing more than 22 kilograms (49 lb) of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor. Armstrong reminded Aldrin of a bag of memorial items in his suit pocket sleeve, and Aldrin tossed the bag down; Armstrong then jumped to the ladder's third rung and climbed into the LM. After transferring to LM life support, the explorers lightened the ascent stage for return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks, lunar overshoes, one Hasselblad camera, and other equipment. They then pressurized the LM, and settled down to sleep.[37]

During this time another spacecraft, Luna 15 — an unmanned Soviet spacecraft in lunar orbit, began its own descent to the lunar surface. Launched only three days before the Apollo 11 mission, this was the third Soviet attempt to return lunar soil back to Earth. The Russian craft crashed on the lunar surface at 15:50 UT — just a few hours before the scheduled American liftoff.[38] In a race to reach the Moon and return to Earth, the parallel missions of Luna 15 and Apollo 11 were, in many ways, the climax of the Space Race that underlay the space programs of both the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The simultaneous missions became one of the first instances of Soviet/American space cooperation as the USSR released Luna 15's flight plan to ensure it would not collide with Apollo 11, though its exact mission was unknown.[39]

The historical plaque on the ladder of Apollo 11's lunar module "Eagle", still remaining on the moon

While moving within the cabin, Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker that would arm the main engine for lift off from the Moon. There was concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. Fortunately a felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.[37] Had this not worked, the Lunar Module circuitry could have been reconfigured to allow firing the ascent engine.[40]

Lunar Module Eagle's ascent stage in lunar orbit, as seen from Columbia.

After about seven hours of rest, the crew was awakened by Houston to prepare for the return flight. Two and a half hours later, at 17:54 UTC, they lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage, carrying 21.5 kilograms of lunar samples with them, to rejoin CMP Michael Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit. During the launch Aldrin looked up in time to see the exhaust from the ascent module's engine knock over the American flag they had planted.[1] After more than 2½ hours on the lunar surface, they had left behind scientific instruments which included a retroreflector array used for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment and a Passive Seismic Experiment used to measure Moon quakes. They also left an American flag, an Apollo 1 mission patch, and a plaque (mounted on the LM Descent Stage ladder) bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and President Richard M. Nixon. The inscription read:

Here Men From The Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind.

They also left behind a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk. The disk carries the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon and messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world. The disc also carries a listing of the leadership of the US Congress, a listing of members of the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for the NASA legislation, and the names of NASA's past and present top management.[41] (In his 1989 book, Men from Earth, Aldrin says that the items included Soviet medals commemorating Cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin.) Also, according to Deke Slayton's book 'Moonshot', Armstrong carried with him a special diamond-studded Astronaut pin from Slayton.

Film taken from the LM Ascent Stage upon liftoff from the Moon reveals the American flag, planted some 25 feet (8 m) from the descent stage, whipping violently in the exhaust of the ascent stage engine. Buzz Aldrin witnessed it topple: "The ascent stage of the LM separated ...I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over."[42] Subsequent Apollo missions usually planted the American flags at least 100 feet (30 m) from the LM to prevent its being blown over by the ascent engine exhaust.

Aldrin salutes the U.S. flag erected on the lunar surface.

After rendezvous with Columbia, Eagle's ascent stage was jettisoned into lunar orbit at July 21, 1969 at 23:41 UT (7:41 PM EDT). Just before the Apollo 12 flight, it was noted that Eagle was still likely to be orbiting the Moon. Later NASA reports mentioned that Eagle's orbit had decayed, resulting in it impacting in an "uncertain location" on the lunar surface.[43] The location is uncertain because the Eagle ascent stage was not tracked after it was jettisoned, and the lunar gravity field is sufficiently non-uniform to make the orbit of the spacecraft unpredictable after a short time. NASA estimated that the orbit had decayed within months and would have impacted on the Moon.

On July 23, the last night before splashdown, the three astronauts made a television broadcast in which Collins commented,

"... The Saturn V rocket which put us in orbit is an incredibly complicated piece of machinery, every piece of which worked flawlessly ... We have always had confidence that this equipment will work properly. All this is possible only through the blood, sweat, and tears of a number of a people ...All you see is the three of us, but beneath the surface are thousands and thousands of others, and to all of those, I would like to say, 'Thank you very much.'"

Aldrin added,

"This has been far more than three men on a mission to the Moon; more, still, than the efforts of a government and industry team; more, even, than the efforts of one nation. We feel that this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown ... Personally, in reflecting on the events of the past several days, a verse from Psalms comes to mind. 'When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the Moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man that Thou art mindful of him?'"

Armstrong concluded,

"The responsibility for this flight lies first with history and with the giants of science who have preceded this effort; next with the American people, who have, through their will, indicated their desire; next with four administrations and their Congresses, for implementing that will; and then, with the agency and industry teams that built our spacecraft, the Saturn, the Columbia, the Eagle, and the little EMU, the spacesuit and backpack that was our small spacecraft out on the lunar surface. We would like to give special thanks to all those Americans who built the spacecraft; who did the construction, design, the tests, and put their hearts and all their abilities into those craft. To those people tonight, we give a special thank you, and to all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, God bless you. Good night from Apollo 11."[44]

On the return to Earth, the Guam tracking station failed, which would have prevented communication on the last segment of the Earth return. Repair was not possible until a staff member had his ten-year old son, Greg Force, do repairs made possible by his small hands. Force later was thanked by Armstrong.[45]

Splashdown and quarantine

The Columbia floats on the ocean as navy divers assist in retrieving the astronauts.

On July 24, the astronauts returned home aboard the command module Columbia just before dawn at 13°19′N 169°9′W / 13.317°N 169.150°W / 13.317; -169.150 (Apollo 11 splashdown), in the Pacific Ocean 2,660 kilometres (1,440 nmi) east of Wake Island, or 380 kilometres (210 nmi) south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 kilometres (15 mi) from the recovery ship, USS Hornet.

At roughly 11:45 a.m. CST the drogue parachutes deployed. At 11:51, the command module struck the water forcefully. Initially the command module landed upside down but was righted in several minutes by flotation bags triggered by the astronauts. "Everything's okay. Our checklist is complete. Awaiting swimmers," was Armstrong's last official transmission from the Columbia. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to the command module to prevent it from drifting. Additional divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and position rafts for astronaut extraction. Though the chance of bringing back pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, it was considered a possibility and NASA took great precautions at the recovery site. Divers provided the astronauts with Biological Isolation Garments (BIGs) which were worn until they reached isolation facilities onboard the Hornet. Additionally astronauts were rubbed down with a sodium-hydrochloride solution and the command module wiped with Betadine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The raft containing decontamination materials was then intentionally sunk.[46]

Mission Control at the conclusion of Apollo 11.

A second Sea King helicopter hoisted the astronauts aboard one by one, where a NASA flight surgeon gave each a brief physical check during the 0.5 nautical miles (930 m) trip back to the Hornet.

The crew of Apollo 11 in quarantine after returning to Earth, visited by Richard Nixon.

After touchdown on the Hornet, the astronauts exited the helicopter, leaving the flight surgeon and three crewmen. The helicopter was then lowered into hangar bay #2 where the astronauts walked the 30 feet (9.1 m) to the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) where they would begin their 21 days of quarantine. This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life and the quarantine process dropped.[46][47]

President Richard Nixon was aboard Hornet to personally welcome the astronauts back to Earth. He told the astronauts, "As a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before."[48] After Nixon departed, the Hornet was brought alongside the five-ton command module where it was placed aboard by the ship's crane, placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. The Hornet sailed for Pearl Harbor where the command module and MQF were airlifted to the Johnson Space Center.[46]

Years later, it was publicly revealed that Nixon had prepared a speech to be given in the event the Lunar Module had failed to lift off from the lunar surface, which would have resulted in Armstrong's and Aldrin's deaths.[49][50]

The Washington Post on Monday, July 21, 1969 stating "'The Eagle Has Landed'—Two Men Walk on the Moon".

In accordance with the recently passed Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, the astronauts were placed in quarantine for fear that the Moon might contain undiscovered pathogens and that the astronauts might have been exposed to them during their Moon walks. However, after almost three weeks in confinement (first in their trailer and later in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center), the astronauts were given a clean bill of health.[51] On August 13, 1969, the astronauts exited quarantine to the cheers of the American public. Parades were held in their honor in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles on the same day.[52] A few weeks later, they were invited by Mexico for a parade honoring them in Mexico City.

That evening in Los Angeles there was an official State Dinner to celebrate Apollo 11, attended by members of Congress, 44 governors, the Chief Justice of the United States, and ambassadors from 83 nations at the Century Plaza Hotel. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew honored each astronaut with a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This celebration was the beginning of a 45-day "Giant Leap" tour that brought the astronauts to 25 foreign countries and included visits with prominent leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Many nations would honor the first manned Moon landing by issuing Apollo 11 commemorative postage stamps or coins.[53]

On September 16, 1969, the three astronauts spoke before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill. They presented two U.S. flags, one to the House of Representatives and the other to the Senate, that had been carried to the surface of the Moon with them.

Spacecraft location

Spacecraft locations
Command module at the National Air and Space Museum
Lunar module landing site photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2009

The command module is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. It is in the central Milestones of Flight exhibition hall in front of the Jefferson Drive entrance, sharing the main hall with other pioneering flight vehicles such as the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell X-1, the North American X-15, Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, and Gemini 4. Armstrong's and Aldrin's space suits are displayed in the museum's Apollo to the Moon exhibit. The quarantine trailer, the flotation collar, and the righting spheres are displayed at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

In 2009 the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the various Apollo landing sites on the surface of the Moon with sufficient resolution to see the descent stages of the lunar modules, scientific instruments, and foot trails made by the astronauts.

Mission insignia

The patch of Apollo 11 was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States." He chose an eagle as the symbol, put an olive branch in its beak, and drew a lunar background with the Earth in the distance. NASA officials said the talons of the eagle looked too "warlike" and after some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the claws. The crew decided the Roman numeral XI would not be understood in some nations and went with Apollo 11; they decided not to put their names on the patch, so it would "be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing."[54]

All colors are natural, with blue and gold borders around the patch. The LM was named Eagle to match the insignia. When the Eisenhower dollar coin was released a few years later, the patch design provided the eagle for its reverse side.[55] The design was retained for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar which was unveiled in 1979, ten years after the Apollo 11 mission.[citation needed]

40th anniversary events

Mike Simons, director of the National Electronics Museum in Baltimore, Md., assembles an Apollo TV camera for display prior to NASA's briefing to release restored Apollo 11 moonwalk footage at the Newseum.

On July 15, 2009, Life.com released a photo gallery of previously unpublished photos of the astronauts taken by Life photographer Ralph Morse prior to the Apollo 11 launch.[56]

From July 16–24, 2009 NASA streamed the original mission audio on its website in real time 40 years to the minute after the events occurred.[57] In addition, it is in the process of restoring the video footage and has released a preview of key moments.[58]

The John F. Kennedy Library set up a Flash website wechoosethemoon.org[59] that rebroadcasts the transmissions of Apollo 11 from launch to landing on the Moon.

A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the anniversary events reflected on the significance of the Moon landing:

It was carried out in a technically brilliant way with risks taken ... that would be inconceivable in the risk-averse world of today...The Apollo programme is arguably the greatest technical achievement of mankind to date...nothing since Apollo has come close [to] the excitement that was generated by those astronauts - Armstrong, Aldrin and the 10 others who followed them.[60]

Wikinews has related news:

On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. The bill was sponsored by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida Rep. Alan Grayson.[61][62]

  • Apollo 11 - Landing on the Sea of Tranquillity - July 20, 1969, 16mm landing film.
  • Neil Armstrong describes the Moon's surface before setting foot on it.
  • Buzz Aldrin steps onto the Moon.
  • Apollo 11 astronauts egress from the Apollo spacecraft after participation in the Countdown Demonstration Test
    Apollo 11 astronauts egress from the Apollo spacecraft after participation in the Countdown Demonstration Test
  • Earth seen from Apollo 11 after translunar injection
    Earth seen from Apollo 11 after translunar injection
  • Using a 70 mm camera, Armstrong photographs Buzz Aldrin stepping out of the lunar module.
    Using a 70 mm camera, Armstrong photographs Buzz Aldrin stepping out of the lunar module.
  • Panoramic montage showing Neil Armstrong
    Panoramic montage showing Neil Armstrong
  • Earth as seen from the base of the Eagle
    Earth as seen from the base of the Eagle
  • The flag of the United States seen from inside the Lunar Module
    The flag of the United States seen from inside the Lunar Module
  • Mexico and the Southwest United States seen on the return journey
    Mexico and the Southwest United States seen on the return journey
  • Map showing landing site and photos taken
    Map showing landing site and photos taken
  • First Man on Moon Commemorative Issue of 1969
    First Man on Moon Commemorative Issue of 1969
  • Apollo 11 crew at the White House in 2004
    Apollo 11 crew at the White House in 2004
  • Apollo 11 crew at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., July 19, 2009
    Apollo 11 crew at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., July 19, 2009
  • The flag of the Vatican City taken to the Moon by Apollo 11. It is on display in the Vatican Museums along with Moon rocks.
    The flag of the Vatican City taken to the Moon by Apollo 11. It is on display in the Vatican Museums along with Moon rocks.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Richard W. Orloff. "Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference (SP-4029)". NASA.
  2. ^ NASA Apollo 11 Timeline.
  3. ^ Stenger, Richard (May 25, 2001). "Man on the Moon: Kennedy speech ignited the dream". CNN. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  4. ^ "Chariots for Apollo: Setting the Stage". NASA. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  5. ^ Donald K. Slayton, "Deke!" (New York: Forge, 1994), 237.
  6. ^ See, e.g., NASA (June 25, 1969). "Technical information summary: Apollo 11 (AS-506) Apollo Saturn V space vehicle (TM-X-62812; S/E-ASTR-S-101-69)" (PDF)., p. 8.
  7. ^ Farmer, Gene (1970). First On the Moon: A Voyage With Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. p. 39. Library of Congress 76-103950. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Apollo 11 Timeline". NASA. Retrieved October 30, 2009.
  9. ^ Apollo-11 NASA.
  10. ^ NASA (July 6, 1969). "Apollo 11 Press Kit (p.1-100)" (PDF). Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  11. ^ Michael Collins, in Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, NASA pub. no. SP-350 (1975), chapter 11.4.
  12. ^ "Apollo 11 Mission Report" (PDF). NASA.
  13. ^ Martin, Fred H. "Apollo 11: 25 Years Later". NASA.
  14. ^ Don Eyles. "Tales from the Lunar Module Guidance Computer". American Astronautical Society.
  15. ^ Mindell, David A (2008). Digital Apollo. MIT Press. pp. 195–197. ISBN 978-0-262-13497-2.
  16. ^ a b c Jones, Eric M. (editor). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: The First Lunar Landing". NASA. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ "BBC - Archive-Moon Landings - James May speaks to Charles Duke". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
  18. ^ Jones, Eric M. (editor). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: Post-landing Activities". NASA. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ Chaikin, Andrew (1998). A Man on the Moon. Penguin Group. pp. 204 & 623. ISBN 0-14-027201-1.
  20. ^ "Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package - Apollo 11". NASA. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  21. ^ Eric M. Jones (April 6, 2006). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal". Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  22. ^ J.M. Waligora, D.J. Horrigan. "Metabolism and heat dissipation during Apollo EVA periods - Chapter 4". Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  23. ^ a b c d Jones, Eric M. (editor). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: One Small Step". NASA. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ *"One Giant Blunder for Mankind: How NASA Lost Moon Pictures". The Sydney Morning Herald. August 5, 2006.
  25. ^ "On Eagle's Wings: The Story of the Parkes Apollo 11 Support". Parkes.atnf.csiro.au. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  26. ^ "On Eagle's Wings: The [[Parkes Observatory]]'s Support of the Apollo 11 Mission" (PDF). Astronomical Society of Australia. July 1, 2001. Retrieved September 22, 2006. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  27. ^ A NASA transcript explains that the "a" article was intended, whether or not it was said;[1] the intention was to contrast a man (an individual's action) and mankind (as a species).
  28. ^ NASA Moon landing 35th anniversary includes the "a" article as intended.
  29. ^ BBC news story on reanalysis which suggests the line was said correctly (with the "a" article).
  30. ^ Ghosh, Pallab (June 3, 2009). "Armstrong's 'poetic' slip on Moon". BBC News. news story on later reanalysis which suggests the line was said incorrectly.
  31. ^ Houston Chronicle coverage of the same story.
  32. ^ NASA transcript.
  33. ^ "Apollo 11: 1969 Year in Review, UPI.com".
  34. ^ National Archives and Records Administration, Apollo 11 and Nixon, March 1996. Retrieved April 13, 2008.
  35. ^ This was related by Frank Borman during the 2008 documentary When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions, part 2.
  36. ^ Jones, Eric M. (editor). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: EASEP Deployment and Closeout". NASA. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  37. ^ a b Jones, Eric M. (editor). "Apollo 11 Lunar Surface Journal: Trying to Rest". NASA. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  38. ^ "Russian Spacecraft Landed on Moon Hours Before Americans". London: telegraph.co.uk. July 4, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  39. ^ Brown, Jonathan (July 3, 2009). "Recording Tracks Russia's Moon Gatecrash Attempt". London: Independent.co.uk. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  40. ^ Murray, Charles & Cox, Catherine (1990). Apollo: Race to the Moon. Touchstone Books. ISBN 0-671-70625-X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ News Release No. 69-83F (PDF). NASA. July 13, 1969.
  42. ^ National Aeronautics and Space Administration. "NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-11". Kennedy Space Center. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  43. ^ NASA. "Apollo Tables". Retrieved September 23, 2006.
  44. ^ "NASA Apollo Mission Apollo 11". Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  45. ^ Rachel Rodriguez (July 20, 2009). "The 10-year-old who helped Apollo 11, 40 years later". Cnn.com. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  46. ^ a b c Fish, Bob (June 10, 2009). Hornet Plus Three (1st ed.). Beagle Bay Books. ISBN 0974961078.
  47. ^ "After Splashdown". Apollo to the Moon. Smithsonian Institution Air and Space Museum. July 1999.
  48. ^ Nixon Foundation. "24 July 1969: Home From The Moon". Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  49. ^ "A silent death. Retrieved July 20, 2009". BBC News. July 10, 1999. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  50. ^ "Full text: Nixon's unused Apollo speech". BBC News. July 10, 1999. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  51. ^ NASA Explores. "NASA Explores... Hirasaki, the NASA engineer quarantined with the Apollo 11 crew". Retrieved November 1, 2006.
  52. ^ "40th Anniversary of Apollo Moon Landing photos". Denver Post. Associated Press. July 17, 2009. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
  53. ^ "Lunar Hall of Fame: Apollo 11 mission".
  54. ^ Collins, Michael (2001). Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys. Cooper Square Press. pp. 332–333. ISBN 0-8154-1028-X.
  55. ^ NGC Photo Proof (1994). "1971-78 Dollar Eisenhower". CoinSite. ROKO Design Group, Inc. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  56. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Up Close With Apollo 11". LIFE. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
  57. ^ "Apollo 11 Radio Index". NASA. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  58. ^ "Apollo 11 Partial Restoration HD Video Streams". NASA. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  59. ^ "We Choose the Moon". John F. Kennedy Library. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  60. ^ "Moon landings: British scientists salute space heroes". London: Telegraph. July 17, 2009. Retrieved July 17, 2009. [dead link‍]
  61. ^ "Text of S. 951 as Introduced in Senate". OpenCongress.org. May 1, 2009.
  62. ^ "Text of H.R. 2245 as Introduced in House". OpenCongress.org. May 5, 2009.

Further reading

  • Cappellari, J.O. Jr. (1972). Where on the Moon? An Apollo Systems Engineering Problem. The Bell System Technical Journal. Volume 51, Number 5.
  • Barbour 1969 John Barbour (1969). Footprints on the Moon. Associated Press.
  • In the Shadow of the Moon: A Challenging Journey to Tranquillity by Francis French and Colin Burgess, University of Nebraska Press, September 2007, ISBN 978-0-8032-1128-5. First hand interviews with the astronauts about the Moon landing.
  • Rahman, Tahir (2007). We Came in Peace for all Mankind- the Untold Story of the Apollo 11 Silicon Disc. Leathers Publishing. ISBN 978-1585974412.

For young readers

  • Aldrin, Buzz. Reaching for the Moon. HarperCollins, 2005, 40 pages, ISBN 978-0-060-55445-3
  • Floca, Brian. Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11. Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster, 2009, 48 pages, ISBN 978-1416950462
  • Thimmesh, Catherine. Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon. Houghton Mifflin, 2006, 80 pages, ISBN 978-0-618-50757-3
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