THE APOLLO 11 MISSION TO THE MOON
DEAN:
HEY THERE STAR GAZERS, I'M DEAN REGAS, ASTRONOMER
FOR THE CINCINNATI OBSERVATORY.
JAMES:
AND I'M JAMES ALBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE KIKA
SILVA PLA PLANETARIUM IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA.
WE'RE HERE TO HELP YOU FIND YOUR WAY AROUND
THE SKY TONIGHT.
THIS WEEKEND MARKS A HUGE ANNIVERSARY FOR
SPACE TRAVEL.
DEAN:
50 YEARS AGO, JULY 20, 1969, NEIL ARMSTRONG
AND BUZZ ALDRIN LANDED ON THE SURFACE OF THE
MOON WHILE ASTRONAUT MICHAEL COLLINS ORBITED
THE LUNAR SURFACE.
JAMES:
WE WANTED TO LOOK BACK AT THIS TREMENDOUS
FEAT OF ENGINEERING AND COURAGE, AND SHOW
WHAT IT TOOK TO GO WHERE NO ONE HAD
GONE BEFORE.
DEAN:
WE'RE GOING TO LAUNCH OFF THE EARTH AND TRAVEL
TO THE MOON,
TO THE TRANQUILITY BASE WHERE THE EAGLE LANDED,
AND MAKE ONE SMALL STEP FOR A MAN, AND ONE
GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.
JAMES: LETS SHOW YOU!
JAMES:
OKAY, WERE AT THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER ON
JULY 16, 1969 GETTING PREPARED FOR THE LAUNCHING
OF THE APOLLO 11 MISSION TO THE MOON.
DEAN, ISNT THIS EXCITING?!?
DEAN:
I'LL SAY!
OUR THREE ASTRONAUTS,
NEIL ARMSTRONG, COMMANDER.
BUZZ ALDRIN, THE LUNAR MODULE PILOT,
AND MICHAEL COLLINS, THE COMMAND MODULE PILOT
ARE READY FOR
LIFT OFF ATOP THE SATURN FIVE ROCKET.
JAMES:
THIS ROCKET STANDS 363 FEET TALL AND WEIGHS
OVER 6 MILLION POUNDS.
400,000 PEOPLE WORKED ON THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
OF THIS ROCKET AND IT IS ABOUT TO BLAST OFF.
DEAN:
IT'S LIKE WATCHING A BUILDING SHOOT INTO
THE SKY!
JAMES:
ONCE IN SPACE, SEVERAL STAGES OF THE ROCKET
DROPPED AWAY REVEALING THE PORTIONS OF THE
ROCKET THAT WILL HEAD TO THE MOON.
DEAN:
AND THE CREW OF THREE ASTRONAUTS INSIDE!
JAMES:
EXACTLY.
THEY LIVED INSIDE THE COMMAND SERVICE MODULE
AND THE LUNAR MODULE DURING THE TRIP.
NOT A WHOLE LOT OF SPACE FOR 8 DAYS.
DEAN:
THEY DIDN'T FLY DIRECTLY TO THE MOON, BUT
FIRST ORBITED THE EARTH
ONE-AND-A-HALF TIMES.
THEN THEY ACCELERATED TO BREAK FREE OF THE
GRAVITY OF EARTH AND ROCKETED TOWARD
THE MOON.
JAMES:
THE JOURNEY TO THE MOON TOOK ABOUT
3 DAYS.
THE ASTRONAUTS THEN GUIDED THEIR CRAFT INTO
AN ORBIT AROUND THE MOON.
DEAN:
THE VIEW OF THE LUNAR SURFACE UP CLOSE MUST
HAVE BEEN AMAZING.
SO MANY CRATERS.
BUZZ ALDRIN CALLED IT MAGNIFICENT DESOLATION.
JAMES:
AND THE VIEW OF THE DISTANT EARTH WAS UNBELIEVABLY
MOVING.
THERE WAS OUR ENTIRE PLANET AND EVERYONE WHO
HAS EVER LIVED.
DEAN:
EXCEPT FOR THOSE THREE ASTRONAUTS.
WOW.
JAMES:
THEN NEIL ARMSTRONG AND BUZZ ALDRIN ENTERED
THE LUNAR MODULE AND PREPARED TO DESCEND TO
THE SURFACE WHILE MICHAEL COLLINS REMAINED
IN LUNAR ORBIT IN THE COMMAND MODULE.
DEAN:
ON THE AFTERNOON OF JULY 20, 1969 NEIL ARMSTRONG,
AFTER SOME HARROWING MOMENTS, GUIDED THE LANDER
SAFELY DOWN ONTO THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY,
A RELATIVELY FLAT PLAIN OF HARDENED VOLCANIC
ROCK.
NEIL SAID, THE EAGLE HAS LANDED AND EVERYONE
BREATHED A HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF.
JAMES:
AND THEN THEY CELEBRATED.
WE DID IT!
WE ACTUALLY SENT PEOPLE TO THE MOON!
THAT NIGHT ALMOST THE ENTIRE WORLD TUNED INTO
THEIR TVS TO WATCH AS NEIL AND BUZZ TOOK THEIR
FIRST STEPS ON THE LUNAR SURFACE.
NEIL ARMSTRONGS WORDS, THATS ONE
SMALL STEP FOR A MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND
IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS MOMENTS IN AMERICAN
HISTORY.
DEAN:
NEIL AND BUZZ BOUNDED AROUND THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE,
COLLECTED MOON ROCKS, SET UP SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS
AND THEN HEADED BACK INSIDE TO PREPARE TO
LEAVE.
THEY ONLY SPENT 21 HOURS ON THE MOON.
JAMES:
THEN THEY HEADED BACK INTO SPACE IN ORDER
TO RENDEZVOUS WITH MICHAEL COLLINS IN THE
COMMAND MODULE.
DEAN:
BYE BYE MOON!
JAMES: BYE!
DEAN;
THREE DAYS LATER, ON JULY 24TH, 1969 THE THREE
ASTRONAUTS SPLASHED DOWN INTO THE PACIFIC
OCEAN.
JAMES:
THEY HAD BEEN TO THE MOON AND BACK, AN EIGHT-DAY
JOURNEY AND TRAVELED ABOUT ONE MILLION MILES.
DEAN:
THEY EMERGED AS NATIONAL HEROES AND BECAME
SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
IT WAS A JOURNEY FOR THE AGES.
JAMES:
IN TOTAL, 18 OTHER ASTRONAUTS FLEW TO THE
MOON, WITH 10 OF THOSE WALKING ON THE LUNAR
SURFACE.
JAMES:
CELEBRATE THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOON
LANDING THIS WEEKEND.
AND THINK OF THE EPIC JOURNEY THOSE THREE
ASTRONAUTS MADE AS WELL AS ALL THE COUNTLESS
PEOPLE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE.
DEAN:
I MEAN, THINK OF IT.
WHEN YOU SEE THE MOON IN THE SKY, SOME 240,000
MILES AWAY.
YOU CAN SAY, WOW, WE ACTUALLY WENT THERE!
AND THEN YOU CAN DREAM OF ALL THE PLACES IN
THE UNIVERSE WE WILL SOMEDAY EXPLORE.
BOTH: KEEP LOOKING UP!
