Okay, are there any changes to the schedule?
Arnie?
Line item 7, which is shown for all day,
all of first shift Tuesday.
The tank pressurization test will not start until 13:00.
When do you want to run the leak check?
First shift Tuesday.
Arnie, you gonna extend that time out for five hours
by cutting it off in the front end of that...
LH2 storage tank pressurization?
Negative.
It's 3 hours and 32 minutes
until man begins the greatest adventure in his history.
If all goes well, Apollo 11 astronauts
Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins
are to lift off from Pad 39A out there
on the voyage man always has dreamed about.
So it is now, before they go,
as their gleaming vehicle sits poised and peaceful out there,
that there is time... if only briefly in this busy morning...
to think of those three men,
and the burdens and the hopes that they carry
on behalf of all mankind.
And boring through the vastness,
the blackness, and the cold of space,
they'll carry the pledge made eight years ago
by President Kennedy.
To put a man on the moon and bring him back safely
in this decade.
Each segment of the mission, every individual piece,
has to be completed perfectly
in order for the next step to be possible.
And of course the nation itself is backing us
so we just sincerely hope that we measure up to that.
The whole Apollo program was designed
to get two Americans to the lunar surface
and back again to Earth safely.
The enormity of this event
is something that only history will be able to judge.
Apollo 11 has very simply been given the mission
of carrying men to the moon, landing them there,
and bringing them safely back.
For in addition to the mission
the three astronauts will perform,
and the experiments they'll undertake,
these men will carry with them many other things,
many things that are not nearly so easy to describe.
During the planned Apollo 11 journey,
we'll be concerned with such things
as mid-course corrections and dockings.
The astronauts of course will be concerned with very much more.
The flight of Apollo 11 is to be the culmination
of a national effort
and the most difficult, most dangerous mission ever attempted
since this country, and the Russians,
started sending men into space.
38-year-old civilian Neil Alden Armstrong
is to become the first human being to touch the moon.
Aldrin will follow just 20 minutes later,
but Armstrong will take that first step.
The mission of Apollo 11,
a journey certainly for the history books,
a beginning of man's greatest adventure,
leaving this planet to set foot on the moon.
- CBTS Apollo. - Go ahead.
Verify Go/No Go for start automatic launch sequence.
Verify Go.
- CBTS copy. - 561 verify.
CS18, spacecraft ready switch on.
Switch is on.
Verify light.
Roger, 562 verify.
All stations standby to give a crew departure status
at this time.
CBTS to CTSS 111.
Go CTSS.
- CBTS. - Go.
- DNS. - Go.
- STS. - Go.
- FTS. - Go.
- RTS. - Go.
- 8. - 8 Go.
- OK, BSC. - Go.
Verify elevator number one at A level,
elevator number two at 320 level.
Level as two and then 320 level.
Verify.
Okay.
All right.
214. Roger, you're go for crew departure.
Start ETP to 14.
Roger, you're go for crew departure.
Affirmative (indistinct) go.
The dawn of this day heralded the dawning of a new age.
It's a time of exhilaration, reflection, hope, fulfillment,
as a centuries old dream starts toward reality.
This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control.
T minus three hours, four minutes, 32 seconds
and counting.
Right on time as far as
the astronaut countdown is concerned,
the prime crew now departing from their crew quarters
here at the Kennedy Space Center.
Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
and then finally Mike Collins,
plus their suit technicians
and director of flight crew operations Deke Slayton
now boarding the transfer van for the trip to the launch pad.
The trip in the transfer van
should take some 15 minutes or so to reach the pad,
at which time the astronauts will board
the first of two elevators
for the trip to the 320 foot level at the launch pad,
where they will then proceed to ingress the spacecraft.
We logged the departure from the building at about 6:27 a.m.
Eastern Daylight Time.
The transfer van now departing
from the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building
at the Kennedy Space Center
on the start of its eight mile trip to Launch Pad A
here at complex 39 where the Saturn V launch vehicle,
now fully loaded with propellants,
going through preliminary checkouts.
This is launch control.
Pat, 10,000 odd cars,
we estimated, were parked around the gate 1 area
at 4 a.m. when we got here.
Cars every space here.
Little kids staring wide-eyed at the Saturn v
glowing in the huge neon spotlight 15 miles away.
And we saw teenagers with telescopes.
It was the very same road we came over eight long years ago,
21 manned space flights ago.
We came out at just about the same hour
to cover Alan Shepard's 15...
This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control.
T minus 2 hours, 45 minutes, 55 seconds and counting.
As the prime crew for Apollo 11,
astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins,
and Edwin Aldrin are on the terminal part of their trip
to the launch pad, in the transfer van,
it's now making the curve toward the pad.
We have discovered a problem at the launch pad itself
as the crew is about to arrive.
We have a leak in a valve located in a system
associated with replenishing liquid hydrogen
for the third stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
We have sent a team of three technicians and a safety man
to the pad and these technicians
are now tightening bolts around the valve.
- CLTC, this is CLTS. - Go ahead.
We have a leak on the S-IVB N valve.
We have it in the override closed position
to see if it'll get better.
It seems to be getting worse.
Roger, which camera is that available on?
It's on camera 18.
Camera 18, you can see the men working on the hydrogen leak.
Once the technicians depart
we will send hydrogen again through this system
to assure that the leak has been corrected.
The astronauts now coming up toward the pad itself
as the crew of several technicians
at the 200 foot level
proceed to tighten some bolts around a leaking valve.
The astronaut team which has just arrived at the pad,
the transfer van now backing up toward the elevator.
In a matter of 5 minutes or so, we'll be ready
for the spacecraft commander Neil Armstrong
to come across the sill at the 320 foot level.
That is our status at 2 hours, 43 minutes,
47 seconds and counting.
This is Launch Control.
- MSTC, CBTS 111. - Go ahead.
Astros proceeding to 320.
Understand, we'll get the camera.
Okay, Günter, you can hit the switch on the camera.
LOAM, this is A2. IAS.
Roger, camera has been activated.
CBTS MSTC, the swing arm camera is on.
CBTS copies.
MSTC, the crew is approaching the (indistinct).
Okay, babe.
This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control,
we've just passed the two hour 21 minute mark in our countdown
and we are proceeding at this time.
At the 320 foot level,
all three astronauts now aboard the spacecraft.
Just a few minutes ago, astronaut Buzz Aldrin came in
and took the center seat to join Neil Armstrong on the left
and Mike Collins on the right.
These are the positions they will fly at liftoff.
120 feet down, the work continues on a leaky valve
at the 200 foot level, the technicians still hard at work
tightening bolts around that valve at this time.
CDR, STC. How do you read?
STC, loud and clear.
Good morning, Neil.
Good morning.
Welcome aboard.
CMP, STC. How do you read?
STC, CMP. Loud and clear.
Good morning, Buzz.
Good morning. How are you gentlemen?
Just fine, thank you.
Let me make a last check here.
CDR, LMP and CMP, are you ready for hatch close?
Any adjustment on your straps?
LMP's happy.
Roger. Okay, good luck.
Thank you, Günter.
See you around, Günter.
All right, pad leader, let's proceed.
Roger, we're proceeding with closing the hatch.
- Roger. - Sequence 441,
the CM hatch is closed.
Roger.
The hatch is closed
and we're beginning to purge the cabin
to bring it to the proper atmosphere for launch,
which is a combination of oxygen and nitrogen,
60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen atmosphere.
Of course the astronauts themselves
are breathing pure oxygen through their space suits.
Coming up shortly will be another key test
in which both the launch crew for the launch vehicle crew
and the spacecraft team
combine together with commander Neil Armstrong
to make a thorough check of the emergency detection system.
This is the system that will signal the astronauts
in the cabin if anything goes wrong below them.
We used a ground based computer to accomplish this test.
It will take some 30 minutes.
Neil Armstrong will be doing most of the work
in the spacecraft,
responding as different cue lights signify
different difficulties presented to him.
Our countdown continuing, this is Kennedy Launch Control.
NASA officials.
5,000 guests in all,
including 400 congressmen and members of the Supreme Court,
the Presidential Cabinet.
The NASA official who escorted us over to this site today
has called it a Roman circus.
We all know that NASA has an agreement
with over 60 countries...
T minus 61 minutes on the Apollo 11 countdown
and all elements are go at this time.
Here in the firing room, the launch vehicle test team
still keeping a close eye on the status of the propellants
aboard the Saturn V launch vehicle.
This problem with the leaking valve
is no problem at this time.
We've actually bypassed the valve,
but we are maintaining our hydrogen supply
aboard the vehicle.
That big swing arm that has been attached to the spacecraft
up to now will be moved back now.
In 5 seconds, the swing arm will come back.
Mark.
CBTS, this is CSA 9, arm 9 is retracted.
CBTS copy.
Countdown still proceeding satisfactorily at this time.
T minus 30 minutes, 52 seconds and counting;
aiming toward our planned liftoff time
of 32 minutes past the hour,
the start of our launch window,
some final checks of the destruct system
of the three stages of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
In the event, during powered flight
that the vehicle strayed rather violently off course,
the range safety officer
could take action to destroy the vehicle,
which obviously would occur after the astronauts
were separated by their escape tower from the faulty vehicle.
We've just got by an important test with the launch vehicle,
checking out the various batteries in the three stages
and Instrument Unit of the Saturn V.
We remain on external power through most of the count
to preserve those batteries
which must be used during the powered flight.
We've just taken a look at them by going internal
and then switching back to external again.
The batteries all look good.
The next time we go internal will be at the 50 second mark
with those batteries and they will remain, of course,
on internal power during the flight.
14 minutes, 30 seconds and counting.
All still going well with the countdown at this time.
For status report, we'll now switch
to Mission Control Houston.
This is Apollo Mission Control.
Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth's team
is on station here
in the Mission Operations Control Room,
ready to assume the control of this flight at tower clearance.
All flight controllers, coming up on auto sequence.
- BOOSTER, how you? - We're go, Flight.
- EECOM? - Go, Flight.
- GNC? - Go, Flight.
- TELCOM? - Go, Flight.
- CONTROL. - Go.
NETWORK, got it there?
That's affirmative, Flight.
Mission director, CBTS 111,
- verify go for launch. - Go for launch.
We passed the 6 minute mark in our countdown for Apollo 11.
Now 5 minutes, 52 seconds and counting.
CTSF, verify go for launch.
CTSF verify go for launch.
CTSC, verify go for launch.
CTSC verify go for launch.
SRO, verify go for launch.
SRO verify go for launch.
LM, verify go for launch.
LM go for launch.
(indistinct), everybody go for launch?
Flight, go for launch.
CBTS copies.
We have some 7.6 million pounds of thrust
pushing the vehicle upward.
A vehicle that weighs close to six and a half million pounds.
This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control,
T minus one minute, 35 seconds on the Apollo mission,
the flight to land the first men on the moon.
Apollo 11, this is Launch Operations Manager,
the launch team wishes you good luck and god speed.
It sure has been a nice, smooth countdown.
Thank you, babe.
LMP, VHF...
T minus 60 seconds and counting.
We passed T minus 60...
55 seconds and counting.
Neil Armstrong just reported back
it's been a real smooth countdown.
We passed the 50 second mark.
Power transfer is complete.
On internal power with the launch vehicle at this time.
40 seconds away from the Apollo 11 liftoff.
All the second stage tanks now pressurized.
35 seconds and counting...
We are still go with Apollo 11.
- 30 seconds. - 30 seconds and counting.
Astronauts report it feels good.
T minus 25 seconds.
20 seconds and counting.
T minus 15 seconds, guidance is internal.
12, 11, 10, 9.
Ignition sequence starts.
Liftoff! We have a liftoff.
32 minutes past the hour,
liftoff of Apollo 11.
Clear the tower.
Tower clear!
Roger, we got a roll program.
Neil Armstrong reporting their roll and pitch program
which puts Apollo 11 on a proper heading.
One bravo.
One bravo is a abort control mode...
Altitude's two miles.
Apollo 11, you're good at one minute.
We're through the region of maximum dynamic pressure now.
Yeah, everything looks good here.
11, Houston.
Your guidance is converged, you're looking good.
We're 1350 at the start, Bob.
8 miles downrange, 12 miles high.
Velocity is 4,000 feet per second.
Standby for Mode One Charlie.
- Mark. - Mark, Mode One Charlie.
- Staging... BOOSTER. - Go.
- FIDO. - Go.
- GUIDANCE. - Go.
Good for staging, CAPCOM.
Cliff Charlesworth taking a staging status.
Apollo 11 to Houston, you are go for staging.
CAPCOM Bruce McCandless giving the reports
here from the control center.
Staging... and ignition.
Cutoff, ignition.
- Thrust is go all engines. - Looks good.
11, Houston,
thrust is go all engines, you're looking good.
We've got skirt sep.
- Roger, we confirm skirt sep. - Roger.
Tower's gone.
- Roger. - Tower's gone.
Neil Armstrong confirming both the engine skirt separation
and the launch escape tower separation.
Downrange 270 miles, altitude 82 miles.
Standby for S-IVB to COI capability.
- Okay. - Mark.
Mark, S-IVB to COI capability.
Roger.
Houston, be advised, the visual is go today.
This is Houston, roger that.
Altitude is 100 miles, downrange 883 miles.
Outboard engine cutoff.
And ignition.
Ignition confirmed, thrust is go, 11.
And we have a good third stage now.
Velocity 23,128 feet per second.
Downrange 1000 miles, altitude 101 miles.
Apollo 11, this Houston, at 10 minutes you are go.
And Roger 11.
FLIGHT, FIDO, we are go.
- Confirmed go. - Apollo 11, this is Houston,
you are confirmed go for orbit.
Copy.
We have a report on the launch heart rates now
from the flight surgeon.
Commander Neil Armstrong, 110;
Command Module Pilot Mike Collins, 99;
Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, 88.
FLIGHT, FIDO, we'll have some radar in shortly.
Flight dynamics officer Dave Reed
will report a refined orbit after more radar tracking.
Apollo 11, this is Houston,
the booster has been configured for orbital coast,
both spacecrafts are looking good, over.
Roger.
You want some of these lights down further, Mark?
Mike?
Don't worry about it for the time being,
I'm potting around with handholds right now, Neil.
Apollo 11, this is Houston, through Tananarive, over.
Hello, Houston, Apollo 11.
- Go ahead. - For your information,
Canary radar shows you
in a 103.0 by 103.0 orbit.
Over.
Beautiful.
You'll be AOS at Goldstone at 1:29:02,
LOS at Goldstone, 1:33:55, over.
Roger.
This is Apollo Control at 1 hour 51 minutes.
Moving across the Atlantic now towards Africa.
And on the next revolution,
the spacecraft will be accelerating
to the required speed to get it into an orbit
that'll intercept the moon
during the trans-lunar injection maneuver,
the burn with the Saturn third stage
that will place the spacecraft
on its trajectory toward the moon.
Go/No Go for TLI.
- GUIDANCE. - Go, Flight.
- GNC. - We're go, Flight.
- EECOM. - We're go, Flight.
- FIDO. - We're go, Flight.
- RETRO. - Go, Flight.
- Ok, CAPCOM. - Apollo 11,
this is Houston, you are go for TLI.
Over.
Apollo 11, thank you.
We just got telemetry back on here, BOOSTER,
and everything is go.
Roger, everything looks good here.
We're showing present altitude
about 108 nautical miles.
We expect to be at an altitude of 177 nautical miles at cutoff.
We're just coming in to the terminator here.
Ignition.
We have ignition, Flight.
Roger.
We're go.
Thrust is go.
We confirm ignition and the thrust is go.
GUIDANCE initiate (indistinct).
Roger.
FIDO, radar confirms ignition.
Trajectory and guidance look good
and the stage is good, over.
Roger, Apollo 11 is go.
Telemetry and radar tracking are both solid.
- Cut-off. - Roger.
We show cut-off and we copy the numbers on noun 62.
Houston, Apollo 11,
that Saturn gave us a magnificent ride.
Roger, 11, it certainly looks like
you're well on your way now.
That was Neil Armstrong praising the launch vehicle.
- FLIGHT FIDO. - GO.
We finally got some radar data back.
Looks good.
We had a good burn...
we've got a good flight to the moon coming up.
Roger.
FLIGHT CAPCOM, you want me to pass up those times?
- That's affirm. - Okay.
Apollo 11, this is Houston.
For your information, we expect the maneuver
to separation attitude to begin at 3 plus 05 plus 03.
The crew at this time pressing ahead
with their transposition and docking maneuver.
The spacecraft, after having separated
the Saturn third stage, turning around,
docking with the lunar module,
extracting the lunar module
from the Saturn third stage,
and pushing ahead en route to the moon.
A little bit to our right.
Okay, I see him.
We need about 5-degree right, we need to stop our...
He's pretty far away.
How long do we want to run this film?
How does he look, Mike?
Okay, you got a 100.4.
It's a very weak signal.
We believe that Mike Collins
is now maneuvering the spacecraft.
The antenna patterns aren't too good at the moment.
Apollo 11, this is Houston broadcasting in the blind,
request Omni Bravo if you read us.
Out.
The whole LM quivers every so often.
The whole surface of it, you know, shakes like that.
- Really? - Just in one spot;
it's not being hit...
Standby, we're close.
Houston, Apollo 11,
all 12 latches are locked.
Buzz Aldrin reporting that all 12 of the latches
in the docking mechanism have locked.
Houston, we're ready for LM ejection.
We are sep'd, we have a cryo press light.
Houston, Apollo 11, we've completed our maneuver.
Houston, roger out.
This is Apollo Control at 6 hours, 16 minutes
into the mission.
Velocity now 11,479 feet per second.
Apollo 11's distance from Earth,
27,938 nautical miles.
CAPCOM is now Charlie Duke and Gene Kranz
and his white team of flight controllers
is preparing to take over the responsibility
from Cliff Charlesworth's team.
The PTC has started now, it looks good to us,
and we'll be ready to copy in a minute or two.
Roger, Mike, we see it increasing now.
The spacecraft will be placed
in the passive thermal control mode,
will be rotated about its X-axis
at a rate of about 3 revolutions per hour
to maintain proper temperature balance
within the spacecraft.
Houston, you might be interested
that out my left hand window right now,
I can observe the entire continent of North America,
down to the Yucatan Peninsula,
Cuba, and then I run out of window.
I didn't know what I was looking at,
but I sure did like it.
Okay.
I didn't have much outside my window.
Apollo 11, Houston.
We'd like a crew status report.
We're about to tell you goodnight, over.
Status report is as follows:
Radiation-CDR 1102,
CMP 10002,
LMP 09003,
Negative medications,
fit as a fiddle, over.
Copy 11, thank you much.
You're cleared for some Zs, over.
Okay, maybe we'll get around to lunch.
Morning, Houston, Apollo 11.
Roger, Apollo 11, good morning.
Goldstone reports they're receiving TV
from the spacecraft.
Calling in from about 130,000 miles out.
Hello there, sports fans, you got a little bit of me,
plus Neil's on the center couch
and Buzz is doing the camera work.
And Neil's standing on his head again,
he's trying to make me nervous.
Roger, copy, and we see the DSKY flashing with a 651.
We do have a happy home,
there's plenty of room for the three of us.
Apollo 11 is presently 131,000 nautical miles from Earth.
The spacecraft slowly rotates to maintain thermal balance.
It looks like we got a good PTC going.
It's good night from the white team, over.
Okay, see you tomorrow, thank you for everything.
Good morning, Apollo 11.
Good morning, Houston. Apollo 11.
Yeah, I've got the world in my window for a change.
Sounds like one of these rotating restaurants.
Okay, all flight controllers, let's get handed over
pretty quickly to the white team here.
We're going to be crawling into the LM shortly,
we're terminating PTC.
FLIGHT NETWORK, we're receiving live TV.
Interior view of the command module
looking up into the LM hatch area.
Okay, it's moved now, coming down.
Yeah, we're about to open the hatch now.
Buzz Aldrin has apparently carried the camera
into the LM with him.
The vehicle is surprisingly very clean.
Just a moment ago, we had a good shot of your PLSS,
Buzz, and the two helmet stowage bags,
and now behind we have the DSKY and the ACA.
That's about the position we'll be putting the camera in
after the initial descent down the ladder.
It will be taking one frame a second.
Hello there, earthlings.
Hello there.
Probably the most unusual position
a cameraman's ever had,
hanging by his toes from a tunnel
and taking a picture upside down.
We're going to go ahead and take all the loose data
on back into the command module, Charlie.
Roger.
And we're going to turn our TV monitor off now
while we have some other work to do, Apollo 11,
signing off.
Apollo 11, Houston.
As the sun sinks slowly in the west,
the white team bids you good night.
You earned your pay today, Charlie.
Roger.
All right, goodnight all.
...the government has succeeded
in harnessing the resources of the government,
the scientific community, the universities...
Now let's take a few minutes to review
what else has been going on around the world
while Apollo 11 has held our attention.
The lull in the ground fighting in Vietnam
is now in its fifth week with only one incident
reported from the battle field so far today,
and that one described as minor.
Police Chief Dominick Arena,
who filed a formal complaint
charging Senator Edward Kennedy
with leaving the scene of the accident
that took the life of Mary Jo Kopechne,
a passenger in the senator's car.
Kennedy, who suffered a slight concussion
in the accident remains in seclusion
near the family compound at Hyannis Port.
FD1 FAO.
Go ahead.
You hear about that story about Ted Kennedy?
Did y'all hear about that?
That was the biggest story on the news.
Yeah, yeah, they'd forgotten about Apollo
for Ted Kennedy.
GNC, this is CAPCOM on MOCR 1.
Go ahead.
Have your people plotted pressure
in that bottle versus time,
so we could take a look at it?
I don't think they've got it yet,
they're testing work, CAPCOM.
Okay, how about giving me a call when that comes up,
we'd like to take a look at it on one of the screens.
Rog.
Morning again, Houston. Apollo 11.
Roger, 11, good morning.
Your systems are looking good from down here.
Yeah, looks good up here too, Bruce.
Deke Slayton, director of flight crew operations
and two members of the backup crew,
Bill Anders, Jim Lovell have joined Bruce McCandless
at the CAPCOM console.
Apollo 11, this is Houston, over.
Roger, go ahead, Houston.
Apollo 11.
11, this is Houston.
If Mike has a mask,
he's lost respiration rates
on the biomed telemetry.
Well, he was shaving a little bit ago.
He might have...
Okay, Mike, we had a request that you check
the two electrodes that are placed
one on each side of your lower rib cage, over.
All those wires and things look normal up here.
Roger, Mike, we can see variations on our trace
as you connected and disconnected,
but the medics still don't have a signal.
I promise to let you know if I stop breathing.
Coming up in less than 10 seconds now,
we'll be crossing into the sphere of influence
of the moon at this point
as the moon's gravitational force
becomes the dominant effect
on the spacecraft trajectory
and our displays will shift
from Earth reference to moon reference.
The spacecraft was at a distance
of 186,437 nautical miles from Earth
and 33,822 nautical miles from the moon.
All spacecraft systems are functioning normally,
the mission going very smoothly.
View of the moon that we've been having's really spectacular.
The sun right behind the edge of the moon now.
The solar corona.
The sky is lit all the way around the moon,
quite an eerie sight.
There's a very marked three dimensional aspect
of having the sun's corona coming from behind the moon
the way it is.
It's a view worth the price of the trip.
Mother Earth is 206,059 nautical miles behind.
Coming up on the lunar orbit insertion burn,
in which the spacecraft will start
its initial orbit around the moon.
The maneuver will slow the spacecraft down considerably
from its present velocity.
And it should come from behind
the east face of the moon 33 minutes later.
Yeah, the moon is there, boy,
in all its splendor.
Hello, moon, how's your old backside?
All your systems are looking good,
going around the corner.
We'll see you on the other side, over.
Loss of signal as Apollo 11 goes behind the moon.
Servo power 1 to AC1.
- 2 to AC 2. - 2 to AC 2.
Translational control power on.
Translational control power is on.
Hand controller number 2 armed.
Signal hand controller number 2 is armed.
99.
Proceed.
Got B mode.
Burning, we're looking good.
- A. - Here comes B... B,
I mean, thrust A mark.
Got them both?
Okay, now what's your chamber pressure?
It's good.
It's 95.
PLUGS is oscillating around.
Okay, ball valves closed,
(indistinct) barber poles.
That was a beautiful burn.
God damn, I guess.
170 by 60.
Like gangbusters!
Whoo!
30 seconds from acquisition time.
Well, I have to vote with the 10 crew,
that thing is brown.
Sure is.
Looks tan to me.
But when I first saw it
at that other sun angle,
it really looked gray.
The more sun angle you get...
More brown with increasing sun angle.
God, that's a big beauty.
Gigantic crater, look at the mountain going around it.
My gosh, they're monsters.
That is a big mother over here, too.
- Whoo! - Get another picture
- of that big fella. - Yeah.
Look at those craters in a row.
You see them right... going right out there?
There it is, it's coming up!
- What? - The Earth.
- See it? - Yeah.
Beautiful!
Right over the LM.
Boy, does that ever look beautiful in the sextant.
Apollo 11, Apollo 11,
this is Houston, do you read?
Yeah, we sure do, Houston.
LOI 1 burn just nominal as all get out
and everything looking good!
It was like perfect.
Delta-Tig zero, burn time 5:57...
60.9 by 169.9.
That burn report was by Neil Armstrong.
Roger, we copy you.
The spacecraft is looking good to us on telemetry.
Apollo 11 on its first lunar revolution.
You got a good view there, Neil?
Yeah, I sure do.
Boy, it's beautiful out there, isn't it?
...TPI approach.
Man, this is really something,
you ought to look at this,
you want to watch our approach into the landing site,
you got to watch it right through this window.
We're coming over... we just passed Mount Marilyn,
we're coming up on the Maskelyne series here,
straight out ahead.
80 hours, 48 minutes now
into the flight of Apollo 11.
Astronaut Charles Duke has arrived on the scene.
- Hey, Dave? - Yeah?
What put us four minutes ahead?
We arrived at the moon four minutes early.
Speaks well for the booster.
Well, no sh...
Ah, 11, that really winds things up
as far as we're concerned on the ground for the evening.
We're ready to go to bed and get a little sleep, over.
Yeah, we're about to join you.
Rog.
This is of course the great day for mankind
when we leave our Planet Earth
and set foot on the moon.
So on this historic day, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
are in their lunar module, in their spacesuits.
On this next pass, they are preparing to undock.
Both spacecraft looking very good at this time.
The following revolution, revolution 13,
Armstrong and Aldrin, they will undock
from the Command and Service Module,
from which point the powered descent
to the lunar surface will be initiated.
APOLLO 11, Houston, we are go for undocking, over.
Roger, understand.
We're all set when you are, Mike.
Okay, here you go.
See ya.
Looks like a good sep.
The Eagle's undocked.
The Eagle has wings.
Looking good.
Testing.
There you go, one minute till Tig.
You guys take care.
See you later.
Okay, all flight controllers.
Go/No Go for powered descent.
- RETRO. - Go.
- FIDO. - Go.
- GUIDANCE. - Go.
- CONTROL. - Go.
- TELCOM. - Go.
- GNC. - Go.
- EECOM. - Go.
- Surgeon. - Go.
CAPCOM, we're go for powered descent.
Eagle, Houston, if you read,
you're go for powered descent.
Over.
Descent armed.
Altitude light's on.
(indistinct) proceed.
Proceed.
One. Zero.
Ignition. Ten percent.
Eagle, we got you now.
It's looking good, over.
Okay, rate of descent is looking good.
Eagle, Houston, everything's looking good here, over.
Roger, copy.
Houston, we're getting a little fluctuation
in the AC voltage now.
Roger.
- It's okay, Flight. - Stand by.
- It's okay. - Looking good to us.
You're still looking good at coming up on three minutes.
Okay, we went by the three-minute point early.
We're long.
Our position checks downrange show us to be a little long.
Roger, copy.
He thinks you're a little bit long downrange.
That's right. I think we confirmed that.
- We confirmed that. - Rog.
Altitude rate looks right down the groove.
Roger, about three seconds long.
Rolling over.
Okay, all flight controllers, I'm going around the horn.
Okay, now watch that signal strength.
Make your Go/No Gos based on the data you had prior to LOS.
I see we got it back. Give you another few seconds.
We're yawing, Flight.
- Okay, RETRO. - Go.
- FIDO. - Go.
- GUIDANCE. - Go.
- CONTROL. - Go.
- TELCOM. - Go.
- GNC. - Go.
- EECOM. - Go.
- Surgeon. - Go.
CAPCOM, we're go to continue PDI.
Eagle, Houston, you are go.
The ED Batts are go at four minutes.
Did you get that, TELCOM? ED Batts are go.
You are go to continue powered descent,
you are go to continue powered descent.
And Eagle, Houston. We had data dropout.
You're still looking good.
Looks good, Flight, looks good.
Houston, you're looking at our Delta H.
Program alert.
It's a 1202.
1202.
1202 alarm.
- 1202. - What's that?
1202 alarm.
It's executive overflow, if it does not occur again,
we're fine.
It has not occurred again.
Okay, we're go, continue.
Give us a reading on the 1202 program alarm.
We're go.
Roger, we got you, we're go on that alarm.
Roger.
Same alarm and it appears to come up when we have a 16/68 up.
6 plus 25. Throttle down. 6 plus 25. Throttle down.
Throttle down on time.
You can feel it in here when it throttles down.
Okay all flight controllers, Go/No Go for landing.
- RETRO. - Go.
- FIDO. - Go.
- GUIDANCE. - Go.
- CONTROL. - Go.
- TELCOM. - Go.
- GNC. - Go.
- EECOM. - Go.
- Surgeon. - Go.
CAPCOM, we're go for landing.
Houston, you're go for landing, over.
Roger, understand, go for landing, 3,000 feet.
Program alarm.
- 1201. - 1201.
- 1201 alarm. - Same type, we're go, Flight.
We're go.
Pretty rocky area.
Attitude hold.
Okay, att hold.
100 feet, three and a half down.
Think we better be quiet, Flight.
Rog.
Okay, the only call-outs from now on will be fuel.
Stand by for 60.
- 60. - 60 seconds.
60 seconds.
Lights on.
60 feet down, two and a half.
Okay, 55 feet.
Okay, looks like a good area here.
It's looking good, down a half.
Two forward, forward.
Looks good.
Forty feet down, two and a half.
Picking up some dust.
30 feet, two and a half down.
- 30. - 30 seconds.
Four forward, drifting to the right a little.
20 feet, down a half.
Drifting forward just a little bit.
Light.
Contact light.
- Shutdown. - Okay, engine stop.
ACA out of descent.
Out of descent. Auto.
Mode control both to auto.
Descent Engine Command Override, off.
Engine Arm, off.
413 is in.
The arm is off.
We copy you down, Eagle.
Houston, ah.
Tranquility base here.
The Eagle has landed.
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.
Thank you.
Very smooth touchdown.
Houston, that may have seemed like a very long final phase.
The auto targeting was taking us
right into a football field sized crater,
and it required us flying manually over the rock field
to find a reasonably good area.
Roger, we copy. It was beautiful from here.
Be advised there are lots of smiling faces in this room
and all over the world. Over.
We have some heart rates for Neil Armstrong
during that powered descent to the lunar surface.
At the time the burn was initiated,
Armstrong's heart rate was 110.
At touchdown on the lunar surface
he had a heart rate of 156,
and the heart rate is now in the 90s.
We do not have biomedical data on Buzz Aldrin.
The hatch is coming open.
Hatch reported coming open at 109 hours, 8 minutes, 5 seconds.
Okay, Houston, I'm on the porch.
Roger, Neil.
Okay, everything's nice and straight in here.
Okay, can you pull the door open a little more?
Houston, this is Neil, radio check.
Neil, this is Houston, loud and clear.
Break, break. Buzz, this is Houston.
Radio check and verify TV circuit breaker in.
Roger, TV circuit breaker's in.
And read you loud and clear.
Roger.
And we're getting a picture on the TV.
You got a good picture, huh?
There's a great deal of contrast in it
and currently it's upside down in our monitor
but we can make out a fair amount of detail.
Okay.
I'm at the foot of the ladder.
The LM footpads are only depressed
in the surface about one or two inches,
although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained
as you get close to it, it's almost like a powder.
Ground mass is very fine.
Okay, I'm going to step off the LM now.
That's one small step for man.
One giant leap for mankind.
I only go in a small fraction of an inch,
maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints
of my boots and the treads
in the fine, sandy particles.
Neil, this is Houston, we're copying.
There seems to be no difficulty in moving around
as we suspected.
It's even perhaps easier than the simulations of 1/6th G
that we performed
in various simulations on the ground.
Descent engine did not leave a crater of any size,
it has about one foot clearance on the ground.
I can see some evidence
of rays emanating from the descent engine,
but a very insignificant amount.
Roger, Neil, we're reading you loud and clear.
We see you're getting some pictures
and the contingency sample.
It's interesting. It's a very soft surface
but here and there where I plug
with the contingency sample collector,
I run into very hard surface
but it appears to be a very cohesive material
of the same sort.
I'll try to get a rock in here.
That looks beautiful from here, Neil.
It has a stark beauty all its own.
It's like much of the high desert
of the United States.
It's different, but it's very pretty out here.
That in the pocket?
Ah, yeah, push down.
Got it?
No, it's not all the way in. Push it.
There you go.
Contingency sample is in the pocket.
My oxygen is 81%.
I have no flags and I'm in minimum flow.
Okay, I got the camera going at one frame a second.
Ready for me to come out?
Yeah, just stand by a second,
I'll move this over the handrail.
How far are my feet from the...
Okay, you're right at the edge of the porch.
Okay, now I want to back up and partially close the hatch...
making sure not to lock it on my way out.
Particularly good thought.
That's our home for the next couple hours.
We want to take good care of it.
You've got three more steps, and then a long one.
Beautiful view.
Isn't that something?
Magnificent sight out here.
Magnificent desolation.
Okay, Houston, I'm going to change lenses on you.
Roger, Neil.
We're getting a new picture,
you can tell it's a longer focal length lens.
For those who haven't read the plaque,
we'll read the plaque that's on the front landing gear
of this LM:
Here men from the planet Earth
first set foot upon the moon.
July 1969 A.D.
We came in peace for all mankind.
Neil Armstrong getting ready to move the TV camera now
out to its panorama position.
I got plenty of cable.
You got plenty, plenty more.
Okay, that looks good there, Neil.
Okay.
One hour, seven minutes time expended.
Buzz is erecting the solar wind experiment now.
Some of these small depressions...
through the upper surface of the soil
and about five or six inches of bay
breaks loose and moves
as if it were caked on the surface
when in fact it really isn't.
Houston, Columbia on high gain, over.
Columbia, this is Houston,
reading you loud and clear, over.
Yeah, reading you loud and clear. How's it going?
Roger, the EVA is progressing beautifully.
They're setting up the flag now.
Great.
I guess you're about the only person around
that doesn't have TV coverage of the scene.
How is the quality of the TV?
Oh, it's beautiful, Mike, it really is.
They've got the flag up now and you can see
the stars and stripes from the lunar surface.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Ah, Neil and Buzz.
The President of the United States is in his Office now
and would like to say a few words to you, over.
That would be an honor.
Go ahead, Mr. President.
This is Houston out.
Hello, Neil and Buzz.
I'm talking to you by telephone
from the Oval Room at the White House.
And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call
ever made from the White House.
I just can't tell you how proud we all are
of what you have done.
For every American, this has to be
the proudest day of our lives.
And for people all over the world,
because of what you have done,
the heavens have become a part of man's world.
And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility,
it inspires us to redouble our efforts
to bring peace and tranquility to Earth.
For one priceless moment, in the whole history of man,
all the people on this Earth are truly one.
One in their pride in what you have done;
and one in our prayers
that you will return safely to Earth.
Thank you, Mr. President.
It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here,
representing not only the United States
but men of peace of all nations,
men with interests and a curiosity
and with the vision for the future.
It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.
Neil's been on the surface an hour now,
Buzz not quite, 20 minutes less than that.
Heart rates on both crewmen averaging between 90 and 100.
I don't note any abnormalities in the LM.
Quads seem to be in good shape,
the primary and secondary struts are in good shape,
antennas are all in place,
there's no evidence of a problem underneath.
The SEQ bay contains the scientific experiments
to be left on the surface of the moon.
Have you got us a good area picked out?
Buzz Aldrin carrying the two experiments.
Straight out on that rise out there
is probably as good as any.
I'm going to have to get on the other side of this rock here.
The laser reflector is installed,
and the bubble's level
and the alignment appears to be good.
They've been on their life support systems
2 hours and 25 minutes.
Houston, I have the seismic experiment
flipped over now and I'm aligning it with the sun
and all parts of the solar array are clear of the ground now.
Buzz Aldrin is collecting a core tube sample.
It almost looks wet.
Got it! Sampled.
Neil, this is Houston.
After you've got the core tubes
and the solar wind,
anything else that you can throw into the box
would be acceptable.
Houston, we've got about I'd say 20 pounds
of carefully selected, if not documented, samples.
Houston, roger, well done, out.
Anything more before I head on up, Bruce?
Negative, head on up the ladder, Buzz.
Adios, amigos.
Transferring the sample containers
into the LM cabin now.
Unofficial time off the surface at 111:37:32.
Okay, the hatch is closed and latched and verified secure.
Okay.
And we'd like to say
from all of us down here in Houston
and really from all of us in all the countries
in the entire world, we think that you've done
a magnificent job up there today.
Over.
Thank you very much.
It's been a long day.
Yes indeed, get some rest there,
and have at it tomorrow.
Not since Adam has any human known such solitude
as Mike Collins is experiencing
during the 47 minutes of each lunar revolution
when he's behind the moon, while he waits for his comrades
to soar with Eagle from Tranquility Base,
and rejoin him for the trip back to earth.
Collins, with the help of flight controllers here
in Mission Control Center,
has kept the Command Module systems
going pocketa pocketa pocketa.
Columbia, Columbia, good morning from Houston.
How's the black team today? All primed and rarin' to go?
Ah, you betcha there, Mike.
Going to keep you a little busy here...
soon as we get the state vector in,
we'd like you to go ahead and do a P52, option 3.
And then when you come on around the other side there,
we'll give you some landmark tracking information on 130.
All right, fine, understand. Thank you.
Tranquility Base, Houston.
How was the resting standing up there?
Did you get a chance to curl up on the engine can?
Ah, roger.
Neil has rigged himself
a really good hammock
with a waist tether
and he's been lying on the ascent engine cover
and I curled up on the floor. Over.
Ah, roger. Copy, Buzz.
Our science support room here in Mission Control Center
reports receiving continuous data
from the passive seismic experiment
placed on the lunar surface last night by the Apollo 11 crew...
recorded the astronauts' footsteps on the moon
and will probably receive its strongest signal
when the ascent engine ignites and starts Eagle on its way
into lunar orbit and rendezvous with Columbia.
Tranquility Base, Houston.
Go ahead.
Ah, roger. Just a reminder here,
we want to make sure you leave
the rendezvous radar circuit breakers pulled.
Okay.
Eagle and Columbia, this is the backup crew.
Congratulations on yesterday's performance
and our prayers are with you for the rendezvous, over.
- Thank you, Jim. - Thank you, Jim.
Almost 5,000 pounds of propellant
will be run through the ascent engine
on the ascent burn
which will place Eagle back into lunar orbit
and following that,
the rendezvous sequence consummate,
completed with the docking at 128 hours approximately.
Flight Operations Director, Chris Kraft,
commented that some 500 million people around the world
were helping push Eagle off the moon and back into orbit.
Flight director Glynn Lunney is polling the various positions
here in the control room on their readiness.
- FIDO, status. - Got it all, Flight, good to go.
- GUIDANCE. - Waiting for GUIDANCE steering
at two minutes.
- CONTROL. - We're go, Flight.
- TELCOM. - Go, Flight.
- Surgeon. - Go, Flight.
We see it, Flight. Looks good.
Tranquility Base, Houston.
Roger, go ahead.
Roger, Eagle's looking
real fine to us down here.
And you're clear for takeoff.
Roger, understand.
We're number one on the runway.
GUIDANCE reports both navigation systems on Eagle
are looking good.
Nine, eight, seven,
six, five,
abort stage, engine arm, ascent, proceed.
- The Eagle has wings. - Stand by for pitchover.
Pitching over.
Very smooth.
We're going right down U.S. 1.
Roger.
Not very much thruster activity.
FLIGHT, FIDO, PNGS MSFIN, we're looking good.
- Okay, mighty fine. - Go, both systems.
30 seconds, Flight.
700, 150 up. Beautiful.
- TELCOM. - Go.
Eagle, Houston, you're still looking mighty fine.
Roger, good agreement in Delta-V to go in both AGS and PNGS.
Roger.
All three data sources are agreeing quite closely here.
Eagle, Houston. Aft Omni, low-bit rate,
and we'll see you at 127 plus 51.
127 hours, 39 minutes, 39.2 seconds.
This is the start time
for a series of velocity match maneuvers
to bring Eagle in with Columbia.
Uh, Houston, the AGS has a Delta-H of 15.5
and a maneuver of 51.3.
Roger, we copy.
As the two vehicles come around on the 26th lunar revolution,
Mike Collins aboard Columbia is spring loaded
to do what is called a mirror image maneuver.
Okay, we're about seven feet a second
coming in at you.
Eagle, Columbia.
I've got 470 now for R-dot,
and I just broke lock.
Could you hold silence for a few seconds here
while I re-acquire?
Columbia has reacquired you.
Okay, Mike, I'll try to get in position here
and then you got it.
Eagle, Columbia's starting to maneuver
to TPI attitude.
Okay.
Okay, I got it from here.
Looks good, Mike.
(indistinct), okay.
Okay, we're all yours, Columbia.
Communications are somewhat scratchy.
Columbia and Eagle now reunited
to become Apollo 11 again.
Apollo 11, Houston, about a minute and a half to LOS,
you're looking great.
It's been a mighty fine day.
Boy, you're not kidding.
Armstrong and Aldrin transferring back
to the Command Module with Mike Collins.
Houston, this is Columbia reading you loud and clear.
We're all three back inside, the hatch is installed,
we're running a pressure check-leak check.
Everything's going well.
Roger. How's it feel up there to have some company?
Damn good, I'll tell ya.
I bet.
I bet you'd almost be talking to yourself up there
after 10 revs or so.
Ah, no. It's a happy home up here,
it'd be nice to have 100 million Americans up here.
Rog.
They were with you in spirit anyway, at least that many.
Thank you, sir.
And Apollo 11, Houston.
All your systems look real good to us.
We would like you to jettison Eagle.
You're go for power arm and you're go for jettison.
Okay.
There she goes. She was a good one.
Roger dodger.
We got Eagle looking good.
It's holding cabin pressure and it picked up
about two feet per second from that jettison.
The crew jettisoned the LM at 130 hours 30 minutes.
We're now 10 seconds away from Trans-Earth Injection.
They will burn their service propulsion system engine
for 2 minutes, 28 seconds,
to start them on their way back to earth.
Apollo 11, Houston. one minute to LOS.
The trans-earth injection maneuver
will be performed on backside of the moon
at the beginning of the 31st revolution.
We'll reacquire the spacecraft on the other side of the moon.
Hello, Apollo 11. Houston.
You're looking good going over the hill.
Go sic 'em!
Thank you, sir. We'll do it.
Standby for ullage.
Ullage.
Copy.
Burn!
- A good one. - Nice.
- I got two balls. - Okay, here come the other two.
...barber pole, gray, the other two are on good.
Man, that feels like g, doesn't it?
One minute.
Chamber pressure's holding right on 100.
(indistinct) pressure.
Gimbals look good.
Total attitude looks good.
Rates are damped out a little bit.
Standing by for engine off.
It should be shut down now.
Okay.
Shutdown.
Beautiful.
Beautiful burn.
SPS, I love you!
You are a jewel!
AOS.
And there's the cue, we have acquisition of signal.
Halleluiah!
Thank you, Charlie boy.
Looking good here.
That was a beautiful burn.
- They don't come any finer. - Rog.
Tell 'em to open up the LRL doors, Charlie.
Roger, we got you coming home.
Let's get some music... how about these tapes?
Hey, this should be getting larger.
And if it is, it's the place we're coming home to.
No matter where you travel, it's always nice to get home.
We concur, 11... we'll be happy to have you back.
Apollo 11 now 94,961 nautical miles from Earth.
Re-entry is scheduled to begin
18 hours, 18 minutes and 12 seconds.
How's old Flight, Bruce?
Did he ever let you go get a cup of coffee
while we were over on the backside?
Things have been going pretty smoothly down here.
He's really not that hard to get along with.
Ah, he must be mellowing.
Well, we've only got two of them back here right now.
The next item scheduled on the flight plan
is a television transmission.
You may be interested in knowing that Jan and the children,
and Pat and the youngsters and Andy Aldrin
are down here in the viewing room watching this evening.
Oh, we're glad to hear that.
You have good S-band signal strength now, Houston?
Okay, you're coming through loud and clear now, 11,
with your patch.
This has been far more than three men
on a voyage to the moon.
We feel that this stands as a symbol
of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind
to explore the unknown.
This operation is somewhat like the periscope of a submarine.
All you see is the three of us.
But beneath the surface
are thousands and thousands of others.
We'd like to give a special thanks
to all those Americans who built this spacecraft,
who did the construction,
design, the tests,
and put their hearts and all their abilities
into those crafts.
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.
Goodnight from Apollo 11.
Weather in the recovery area:
Skies will be partly cloudy, six-foot sea,
temperature near 80 degrees.
This landing area is 215 miles to the northeast
from the original landing area,
it moved because of thundershowers
in the original area.
Apollo 11's distance now is 3,000 nautical miles,
velocity 26,685 feet per second.
In the next 20 minutes, Apollo 11 will add
almost 10,000 feet per second to that figure.
Entry at 75 statute miles.
Beginning blackout at 62 statute miles.
And main shoot deployment 10,500 feet.
And 11, Houston.
Weather's still holding real fine in the recovery area,
looks like it's about 1500 scattered, high scattered,
and still three to six foot waves
The air part of it sounds good.
Roger.
The Earth is really getting bigger up here
and of course we see a crescent.
Apollo 11 lined up right down the middle
of the entry corridor.
We're a minute and 45 seconds from entry.
Blackout will begin 18 seconds after entry.
Apollo 11, Houston.
You're still looking mighty fine here,
you're cleared for landing.
Ah, we appreciate that Ron. Thank you.
Rog. Gear's down and locked.
Roger.
Guidance officer reports the Command Module computer
looks good and the guidance and navigation system is go.
And 11, Houston.
You're going over the hill there shortly,
you're looking mighty fine to us.
See you later.
There's the horizon.
Got the horizon now.
And beginning of blackout approximately 17 seconds
after entry interface into the atmosphere.
400,000 feet or approximately 85 miles above the Earth.
At blackout, we were showing velocity
36,237 feet per second.
Range to go to splash, 1510 nautical miles.
(indistinct) LOS.
Redstone LOS blackout.
Roger, you have arrived...
Apollo 11, Houston through ARIA.
We're looking for your (indistinct).
Apollo 11, Houston through ARIA.
Apollo 11, Houston through ARIA 4.
Okay, CAPCOM, one last call here and we'll have to give up
and let the recovery people have it.
Apollo 11, Houston through ARIA.
Apollo 11, Apollo 11, this is Hornet, Hornet, over.
This is Apollo 11, we read you loud and clear.
Our position, 133016915.
There they are!
The condition of crew, over.
The condition of crew...
4,000-3500 feet on the way down.
Latitude, longitude, 13,30; 169,15... over.
Hornet roger, copy out.
Hornet reports spacecraft right on target point.
Splashdown!
Hornet, splashdown.
Hornet copies.
This is SWIM 1, the Command Module is at stable 1.
Hornet roger.
Stable 1 now, stable 1.
Our condition is all three excellent.
We're just fine, take your time.
That was Mike Collins reporting the crew is excellent.
Doing all right,
third astronaut is in the net
and on his way up.
Clear the Command Module.
Everybody's in the hatch and finally in the helicopter.
This is Recovery 1.
I have three astronauts aboard,
switching power and frequency, power and frequency.
Recovery 1, Hornet. Understand Big Swimmer
has completed his decontamination
of the Command Module.
The elevator will take Recovery 1
down to the hangar deck where the crew will enter
the Mobile Quarantine facility.
This control center becoming jammed with people.
We've never seen this many people
in the control center at one time before.
The Apollo 11 plaque has been hung
in the Mission Control Center,
a replica of the crew patch.
And the flags are waving and the cigars are being lit up,
and clear across the big board in front
is President John F. Kennedy's message to Congress
from May 1961.
Even though I realize that this is in some measure
an act of faith and vision,
for we do not now know
what benefits await us.
But if I were to say, my fellow citizens,
that we shall send to the moon,
240,000 miles away from the control station in Houston,
a giant rocket more than 300 feet tall,
fitted together with a precision better
than the finest watch,
carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion,
guidance, control,
communications, food, and survival,
on an untried mission,
to an unknown celestial body,
and then return it safely to Earth,
reentering the atmosphere at speeds of over
25,000 miles per hour,
causing heat about half that of the temperature of the sun,
almost as hot as it is here today,
and do all this, and do all this and do it right,
and do it first, before this decade is out,
then we must be bold.
Man's first trip to the moon,
a magnificent eight-day voyage
spanning time and space and history,
ended today when three American explorers
brought their small ship down safely in the Pacific.
Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong,
Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins
landed their spacecraft southwest of Hawaii
at ten minutes of one, Eastern time,
nine miles from the recovery ship
and two miles off target.
After donning protective clothing,
the three astronauts were airlifted
to the carrier Hornet,
and transferred to a special isolation chamber.
They'll be quarantined 18 days
while scientists determine if they've brought back
any dangerous lunar organisms.
Their flight climaxed centuries of dreaming
and months and years of planning and training.
I'd like to take this opportunity particularly
to thank all those of you I see out there
who are my gracious hosts
here in the lunar receiving laboratory.
And I can't say that I would choose to spend
a couple of weeks like that,
but I'm very glad that we got the opportunity
to complete the mission.