They were entirely surrounded by a world in awe. "Very smooth, very quiet ride." On July 24, 1969, after crashing through Earth's atmosphere at some 25,000 miles an hour, generating temperatures nearing 4000i F, they splashed down in the Pacific, 15 miles from the recovery ship. Armstrong and Aldrin spent two hours and 31 minutes walking on the moon before they clambered back into the Eagle, which lifted off serenely and rejoined the mother ship.įor the next three days, they and Collins cruised "right down U.S. They set up a seismometer to measure earthquakelike activity, a reflector to pick up moon-bound laser beams sent from Earth to measure the exact distance (turns out, 239,000 miles), and a sheet of foil to trap gases for study back at home. Toddling along in space suits built to withstand temperatures from minus 250i F to 250i above, as well as any micrometeorites that might be zipping about, Armstrong and Aldrin collected 50 pounds of rock and soil samples. In any event, the Eagle's two-man crew went on to perform each of its duties on the lunar surface without surprise or malfunction. What did he say? Did you hear what he said? What Armstrong said "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" seemed perfect at the time, even if scientists, philosophers and the man in the street would debate in the years ahead how, precisely, getting to the moon represented a leap for mankind. After reporting the necessary technical information, Armstrong spoke the second of three phrases that still echo all these years later: "Houston, Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed."Ī world watched rapt as shadowy images, beamed back through space, seemed to show a man descending a short ladder and stepping onto the moon. #NEIL ARMSTRONG BUZZ ALDREN RACE INTO SPACE MANUAL#Suddenly, Armstrong saw below him a "football-field-sized crater with a large number of big boulders and rocks." He seized the manual controls and piloted the ship to safety, touching down on the intended target, the promisingly named Sea of Tranquility. "The Eagle has wings," Armstrong said as he and Aldrin started to make their way the 69 miles to the landing site. On Sunday, July 20, the lunar module broke from the CSM. This wasn't really about scientific inquiry, this was about getting there: The Eagle had been designed for lunar landing, lunar liftoff and ultimate rendezvous with the command and service module, manned by Collins during his teammates' absence. Their compartment was nine feet high, 13 feet wide and 14 feet long and, besides its communication center, contained nothing more than the men, a guidance computer and some food and water. The amazing drama was unfolding.Īrmstrong and Aldrin climbed aboard the lunar module they had named the Eagle. in aeronautics and astronautics and Collins, a former Air Force pilot each of them born in 1930 were hundreds of thousands of miles from home, circling the moon. Navy pilot with a degree in aeronautical engineering Aldrin, a former Air Force pilot with a Ph.D. Three days later, Commander Armstrong, a former U.S. Apollo 11, 6.5 million pounds of space-age technology, lifted off on July 16, 1969, thrust toward space from Cape Kennedy, Fla. were in preparation for their 1969 attempt at the moon, it appeared NASA had finally taken the lead over the Soviet Union in the race to conquer this next frontier. Komarov plunged to his death during reentry after his parachute lines tangled.īy the time veteran American astronauts Neil Alden Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. Three months later, Russian cosmonaut Vladimir M. astronauts perished in a fire while trapped in their command module during an on-ground launch simulation. Twenty Apollo missions were launched between 1960 and '72, and much else had happened along the bumpy road to the moon: In January 1967, three U.S. Kennedy made a new promise, that America would put a man on the lunar surface before decade's end and the Mercury program yielded to Apollo. There were solar and cosmic radiation to worry about, micrometeorites, lunar gravitational fields and whatever surprises the mysterious vacuum that is space might contain.Įight years earlier many moons ago the space program had begun in earnest: Alan Shepard chased Gagarin, becoming the first American in space John Glenn orbited, becoming the first American to do that President John F. If the engine designed to return them to Earth failed, they would burn to death. If the engine designed to lift them out of the moon's orbit failed, they would be forever lost in space. If the engine designed to launch the men failed, they would crash.
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