Armstrong took hundreds of millions of people along with him as he set foot on the Eagle and declared, ‘That is one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.”
NASA’s program to reach the Moon would reach an important milestone with a successful landing, representing years of preparation and technical development.
The Launch
The Apollo 11 launch marked the culmination of decades of scientific and technical planning, designing, and testing. It represented both an ambitious effort from NASA in response to President John F. Kennedy’s goal in 1961 of landing man on the Moon safely before returning him safely back home again.
On July 16, 1969, the Saturn V rocket launches from Cape Canaveral. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were on board. Once in space, they entered the Command/Service Module (CSM) for final checks before being suiting up and loading their Lunar Module (LM).
The CSM provides astronauts with living quarters while the LM transports them to the lunar surface. Equipped with cameras to document their trip and an unpressurized cargo bay used to store scientific equipment – including seismometers and laser reflectors used to measure distances between Earth and Moon – both ships feature docking ports to dock back with CSMs docked to it.
On this mission, astronauts will spend about 21 hours exploring the lunar surface. They will collect samples of dust and rocks to take back with them as souvenirs from this trip, test mobility of their spacesuits by performing kangaroo hops and loping, deploy a television camera for sending pictures back home, deploy a television camera for live feed back home from space and return back to LM to make landing plans. After their explorations, the astronauts will make preparations for landing.
At 101:36 UT, the lunar lander untethers from its CSM and begins its descent towards its target destination of the Moon’s surface. Armstrong and Aldrin take their initial steps onto its surface at Sea of Tranquility Crater near Lunar Orbiter 3, spending two hours and 31 minutes exploring. Along their journey they take numerous photographs as well as deploy seismometers and solar wind composition experiments before returning safely home at their respective times.
Michael Collins remains in the command module to communicate with and act as backup for any emergencies on board the lunar lander, while Armstrong and Aldrin test all systems within their LM before taking their first steps on the Moon at 9:56 PM EST. Armstrong takes his first step on lunar soil announcing, “That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind!”
The Mission
Apollo 11 astronauts set out with one goal in mind: becoming the first people ever to step foot on the Moon’s surface. Their mission marked an immense triumph for NASA and one of humanity’s defining moments in history, making household names out of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they emerged from their spacecraft to land upon its surface, while Michael Collins remained behind to command Columbia from within its command module. Furthermore, this mission marked history by marking the first time humans stepped onto an extraterrestrial body while returning samples back home.
On 16 July 1969, Apollo 11 began with its launch aboard a Saturn V rocket. Three hours after taking off, its spacecraft reached 240 km (150 miles). Three hours after that it separated from its third stage rocket and docked with Eagle lunar module for docking; several maneuvers were then performed to alter its orbit and set an orbit towards Moon.
By firing Eagle’s propulsion system, the astronauts changed from a nearly circular orbit to one with only 15,000-foot (50,000-meters) proximity to the Moon, whereupon they fired their engine once more and initiated a powered descent toward its surface.
Once on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin conducted various science experiments. These included an Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package featuring a device to measure solar wind reaching the Moon; passive seismic experiment containing seismometers designed to detect moonquakes or meteor impact effects even after they had left; Laser Ranging Retroreflector for precise distance measurement between Earth and Moon; Laser Ranging Retroreflector which allows precise timing measurements between laser beam travel from Earth to Moon back again, among many others.
Astronauts on the moon collected rock samples for scientists on Earth to analyze, while also taking extensive photos of lunar terrain, their equipment deployment, LM spacecraft and each other – this allowed for better understanding of geologic evolution of our natural satellite and how it interacted with planet Earth which created it. These pictures helped explorers better comprehend its relationship to our home planet as well as to its evolution over time.
The Landing
Apollo 11 marked an historic achievement for human spaceflight and represented years of planning, design and engineering work by NASA’s Mercury and Gemini programs; two-person crews entered orbit to test maneuvers and components essential to lunar landing. President John F Kennedy set a national goal on May 25, 1961 – to perform a crewed moon landing and return samples back home for further study.
After disembarking from Columbia, Armstrong and Aldrin transferred into Lunar Module Eagle where they prepared for lunar landing. Michael Collins remained aboard Columbia as backup radio link and photographic support of Lunar Module Eagle.
As they approached landing, Armstrong and Aldrin kept in constant communication with Mission Control and carefully monitored fuel readings in their Lunar Module to make sure there would be enough for descent and landing, which took place at 02:39:35 UTC on July 21. Their spacecraft entered an elliptical orbit that reduced velocity as it came closer to reaching lunar surface.
At approximately 80,000 feet above the lunar surface, LM’s computers initiated its powered descent. Everything went according to plan until one minute before touch down when an alarm code reading as “1202” was generated from one of its sensors; Aldrin relayed this number sequence to Armstrong who quickly confirmed it as an error signal.
The Lunar Module had three minutes left when it landed at Sea of Tranquillity Crater on July 20, 1969, with Armstrong first setting foot on its surface before saying, ‘That is one small step for mankind.”
The astronauts spent two hours exploring the moon’s surface, conducting science and engineering experiments including seismometers for measuring lunar quakes and meteoroids’ effects, passive solar wind experiments to gather samples of lunar atmosphere, as well as taking photographs, displaying an American flag and reading an inscription plaque on its surface.
The Return
Even after everything had gone wrong, the mission was almost complete. Armstrong and Aldrin in the LM were about to dock with and then jettison the CSM into lunar orbit before jettisoning it and blasting off back towards Earth – but first Armstrong must leave his module for the first time in order to do this successfully.
Risky operation, given that only 20 seconds of landing fuel remained for the LM, and should the ascent engine fail, they’d need to return back down and try again. But it worked, with Armstrong landing safely in a shallow crater called Sea of Tranquility as millions of Americans watched – taking an enormous step for mankind and proclaiming: ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Two men spent 21 hours and 36 minutes exploring the Moon. They deployed a television camera to transmit images back home, photographed lunar landscape and their scientific equipment as well as conducting a number of key experiments – such as using seismometers to monitor moonquakes and meteorite impacts as well as using laser retroreflectors to precisely measure distance between Earth and Moon by timing how long it took a beam of light from Lunar Module to Earth and back again.
At the appointed hour, the crew fired the lunar module’s ascent engine and rendezvoused with the Command Module Columbia in lunar orbit before jettisoning it and beginning their return homeward journey. Three astronauts in Columbia safely made it through reentry; nine minutes of radio silence followed as mission control and TV viewers worldwide anxiously awaited news about whether everything had gone according to plan.
Mike Collins pulled off an incredible feat that saved Apollo 11 astronauts from disaster – performing an exact replica of Gemini 8 space docking, performing a flawless docking between Apollo 11’s reentry capsule and its reentry capsule before parachutes deployed and it splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean where it was picked up by USS Hornet for safe return home amidst hero’s welcomes from around the globe, even including President Nixon himself for dinner! However, quarantining for three weeks ensued to ensure no harmful germs were brought back from Moon.