Ed Aldrin: Contact light. Okay. Engine stop.
ACA -- out of detent. Mode control -- both
auto. Descent engine command override -- off.
Engine alarm -- off. 413 is in.
Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM): We copy you
down Eagle.
Neil Armstrong: Houston. Tranquility Base
here. The Eagle has landed.
CAPCOM: Roger Tranquility. We copy you on
the ground. You got a bunch of guys about
to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks
a lot.
CAPCOM: We're getting a picture on the TV.
There's a great deal of contrast in it, and
currently it's upside-down on our monitor,
but we can make out a fair amount of detail.
Okay. Neil, we can see you coming down the
ladder now.
Narrator: Sunday, July 20, 1969. Around the
world, nearly a billion people watched this
moment on television as the first man from
Earth prepared to set foot upon the Moon.
Neil Armstrong: I'm at the foot of ladder.
The LM footpads are only depressed in the
surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the
surface appears to be very, very fine grained
as you get close to it. It's almost like a
powder. Down there, it's very fine. I'm going
to step off the LM now. That's one small step
for man, one giant leap for mankind.
John F. Kennedy: 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.
Lyndon Johnson: All that we have accomplished
in space, all that we may accomplish in days
and years to come, we stand ready to share
for the benefit of all mankind.
Richard Nixon: As we explore the reaches of
space let us go to the new worlds together,
not as new worlds to be conquered but as a
new adventure to be shared.
Narrator: Since the earliest time, man has
imagined this moment, the moment when his
fellow man would make the first journey to
the Moon. Now the time had come. In the sixth
decade of the twentieth century the ancient
dream was to become a reality.
The flight of Apollo 11 was the culmination
of many years of planning, working, building,
and testing. Thousands of people had contributed
toward this day of accomplishment. The great
Saturn V rocket and the complex Apollo spacecraft
had been assembled together and moved to the
launch pad. The equipment and techniques and
personnel had been proved in earlier missions
and now they were ready. The astronauts chosen
for this mission had flown it many times in
ground-based simulators. They had all been
in space before. They had trained carefully
and well and now they too were ready.
Astronaut Michael Collins would pilot the
Apollo Command Module. Astronaut Edwin Aldrin,
Jr. would pilot the Lunar Module. And astronaut
Neil Armstrong would serve as Mission Commander.
Armstrong would be the first man to step upon
the Moon.
July 16. The day had come, the Moon awaited.
The men rose early, ate breakfast, and dressed
in their spacesuits.
[Clapping]
Other astronauts had made this journey to
the launch pad but never with such anticipation.
9:32 AM, July 16. [Apollo Launches]
Three hours later the Apollo Command Module
moves forward to extract the Lunar Module
from the third stage of the launch vehicle.
Both are moving at more than 17,000 miles
an hour. Docked together, they will sail a
quarter-million miles across the sea of space
and into orbit around the Earth's nearest
neighbor.
Michael Collins: That was Neil. How are you
reading Mike?
CAPCOM: Loud and clear now, Mike, and we understand
that you are docked.
Narrator: During the three day journey to
the Moon the astronauts kept busy: checklists,
navigation and observation, housekeeping.
They must work in a weightless environment,
keeping their spacecraft and themselves in
good condition. Data must be collected and
reported. Experiments must be performed, including
photography both inside and outside the spacecraft.
Because of the film speed these actions appear
faster than they actually were.
July 19. Apollo 11 slows down and goes into
orbit around the Moon. The bright blue planet
of Earth now lies 238,000 miles beyond the
lunar horizon. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin,
now in the Lunar Module, separate from the
Command Module. [Music]
Astronaut Collins remains behind. Preparation
for the Lunar Module descent to the Moon now
begins. [Music]
The Command Module assumes the new name Columbia.
[Music]
The Lunar Module will be called the Eagle.
From Columbia Michael Collins' camera sees
bright rays of the sun reflecting patterns
of color from the surface of the Eagle. In
this strange metallic bird rides the ancient
and endless dream of all mankind. The Command
pilot can see detail which his camera cannot
record. The four landing pads of the Lunar
Module are fully-extended and locked in place.
The Eagle is poised and prepared for its descent
to the lunar surface. [Music]
The Moon landing craft rocket engine fires
to slow it down, and to place it on the pathway
to the landing site in the Sea of Tranquility.
There is tension and caution as the Eagle
flies lower. Warning lights blink on as the
computer tries to keep up with the demand
for control data, but the status remains "Go!"
CAPCOM: Eagle, we've got you now. It's looking
good. Over.
Ed Aldrin: Roger. Copy.
CAPCOM: Eagle, Houston. After yaw around,
angles: S-band pitch, minus 9, yaw plus 18.
Roger. You're a Go to continue -- Go to continue
powered descent. You're a Go to continue powered
descent.
Ed Aldrin: Altitude now 21,000 feet. Still
looking very good. Velocity down now to 1200
feet per second.
CAPCOM: You're looking great to us Eagle.
Neil Armstrong: Give us a reading on the 1202
program alarm.
CAPCOM: Roger we got -- we're a Go on that
alarm.
Ed Aldrin: Good radar data. We're now in the
approach phase. Everything looking good. Altitude
4,200...
CAPCOM: [interrupts] Houston. You're Go for
landing. Over.
Ed Aldrin: Roger. Understand. Go for landing.
3,000 feet. Program alarm. Altitude 1,600.
1,400 feet. Still looking very good. 700 feet,
21 down, 33 degrees ... 600 feet down at 19.
1201.
Neil Armstrong: 1201.
CAPCOM: Roger. 1201 alarm. We're Go. Same
type. We're Go.
Ed Aldrin: Altitude- velocity light ... 3
½ down, 220 feet, 13 forward ... 11 forward.
Coming down nicely ... 200 feet, 4 ½ down
... 5 ½ down ...
CAPCOM: 60 seconds.
Ed Aldrin: Lights on ... Down 2 ½ ... Forward,
forward ... 40 feet, down 2 ½. Kicking up
some dust... 4 forward, 4 forward ... Drifting
to the right a little ... Contact light. Okay.
Engine stop.
CAPCOM: We copy you down Eagle.
Neil Armstrong: Tranquility Base here. The
Eagle has landed.
Narrator: Through the window of the Eagle,
Armstrong and Aldrin see what no human eyes
have ever seen before. Their spacecraft casts
a long shadow across the undisturbed dust
of centuries. [Music]
Seven hours after landing, after careful preparations
for later ascent were completed, Armstrong
opens the Eagle hatch and begins his climb
down to the surface. [Music]
The first footsteps on this strange new world
must be taken cautiously. The Moon has only
one-sixth the gravity of earth. The nature
of its surface was still unknown.
Neil Armstrong: Okay. I'm going to step off
the LM now. That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind. [Music]
Narrator: Once on the surface, Armstrong scoops
up a small sample of lunar dust and rock,
precaution against the possibility of an emergency
takeoff. [Music]
According to plan, astronaut Aldrin now descends
from the Eagle. He and his equipment would
weigh 383 pounds on Earth. Here, they weigh
about 66 pounds. [Music]
For a brief moment, the first men on the Moon
stand and look at the stark, lonely landscape
around them, an experience which no one before
them can share. But there is much to be done
in the limited time which they can stay on
this airless, cloudless satellite of Earth.
This sheet of metal foil traps and holds particles
from the sun, the so-called solar wind or
barrage of solar energy which constantly strikes
the Moon's surface. Results of this experiment
will be taken back to Earth to reveal new
secrets to anxious scientists.
An American flag is left behind on the Moon
together with medals honoring American and
Soviet spacemen who lost their lives in earlier
space tests and a small disc carrying messages
of goodwill from 73 nations on Earth.
A plaque on the Lunar Module reads "Here men
from the planet Earth first set foot upon
the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace
for all mankind."
Through a specially made television camera,
viewers in many nations on Earth were able
to watch the astronauts as they walked and
worked on the Moon. Despite the bulky spacesuits
and the backpacks containing oxygen, temperature
control, and communications equipment, the
Apollo 11 crew found they could move easily
about the surface. [Music]
Because there is no wind or rain on the Moon,
these footprints will remain for centuries.
[Music]
In addition to collecting rock and soil samples,
the explorers leave behind a seismometer.
This highly sensitive device would send back
valuable information on external meteoroid
impacts as well as internal lunar movements.
[Music]
A 100 prism laser reflector would help man
to measure the exact distance from Earth to
Moon to an accuracy of six inches. These were
the first of many experiments which would
be taken to the Moon to provide man with continuing
and increasing knowledge about the Moon and
the vastness of space beyond. After 2 hours
and 31 minutes the first lunar explorers had
completed their research on the Moon. A night
of rest in the Lunar Module, countdown preparations,
and they were ready to come home.
CAPCOM: Tranquility Base, Houston. Guidance
recommendation is PGNS and you're cleared
for takeoff.
Neil Armstrong: Roger. Understand. We're number
one on the runway.
Ed Aldrin: 7, 6, 5, abort stage, engine arm
ascent... Beautiful. Very smooth. Very quiet
ride. There's that one crater down there.
1000 feet high, 80 feet per second vertical
rise.
CAPCOM: Eagle, Houston. You're looking good
at 2. PGNS, AGS, and MSFN all agree.
Neil Armstrong: We're going right down U.S.
1.
CAPCOM: Eagle, Houston. Going right down the
track. Everything's great.
Ed Aldrin: Horizontal velocity approaching
2,500 feet per second.
CAPCOM: Roger.
Ed Aldrin: Some 120 miles to go until insertion.
Narrator: July 21. The Eagle and its two man
crew lifted off the Moon perfectly and climbed
slowly to rendezvous and dock with the mother
ship, Columbia. [Music]
While Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Moon,
astronaut Collins had kept a long and lonely
vigil in the Columbia. The approaching Eagle
was a welcome sight. Later the three men would
share their reflections on this adventure
with the world.
Ed Aldrin: I believe that from the early space
flights we demonstrated a potential to carry
out this type of a mission. And again it was
a question of time until this would be accomplished.
Michael Collins: I think it is a technical
triumph for this country to have said what
it was going to do a number of years ago and
then by golly do it.
Ed Aldrin: The relative ease with which we
were able to carry out our mission, which
of course came after a very efficient and
logical sequence of flights, I think that
this demonstrated that we were certainly on
the right track when we took this commitment
to go to the Moon.
Neil Armstrong: I just see it as a beginning,
a beginning of a new age. [Music]
Narrator: Once again the bright blue planet
of Earth rises over the lunar horizon. For
those who had witnessed man's landing in the
Sea of Tranquility, the Moon would never again
appear quite the same. [Music]
July 24. Dawn in the Pacific. Apollo blazes
across the heavens coming back to Earth at
25,000 miles an hour. President Richard Nixon,
who had talked with the astronauts by telephone
while they were on the Moon, was waiting aboard
the recovery carrier to welcome the returning
voyagers.
The President later expressed the nation's
response to this historic mission.
President Nixon: Some way, when those two
Americans stepped on the Moon the people of
this world were bought closer together. That
it is that spirit, the spirit of Apollo, that
America can now help to bring to our relations
with other nations. The spirit of Apollo transcends
geographical barriers and political differences;
it can bring the people of the world together
in peace.
Narrator: To protect against any possible
lunar contamination, the astronauts put on
air-tight special garments before coming aboard
the rescue ship.
[Cheers]
They transferred directly from the helicopter
to a mobile quarantine van, in which they
would be flown back to the Manned Spacecraft
Center in Houston, Texas.
July 27. The journey was ended; they were
home again. Ahead lay three weeks of isolation,
medical tests, and mission debriefings, then
visits to major cities of America and abroad.
The details of their unique mission would
be relived and remembered so that others might
learn what they had learned, and that future
travelers in space might build upon their
experience.
The rock and soil samples brought back would
be examined and analyzed by scientists in
many lands. They would reveal new insights
into the origin and the age and the composition
of the Moon and perhaps new knowledge of the
Earth as well. Already experiments left on
the Moon were sending back revealing new information.
[Music]
The mission was successfully completed. The
Eagle had landed the first men on the Moon
and Columbia had returned them safely to Earth.
Wherever man journeys tomorrow across the
ocean of our universe, history will remind
him that Apollo 11 was mankind's first encounter
with a new world.
