All language subtitles for From.the.Earth.to.the.Moon.S01E05.1080p.WEB-DL.DD2.0.H.264

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon in
this decade, and do the other things...

not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.

- Look at that.
- That's beautiful.

It's gotta be one of the most
proud moments of my life...

I guarantee you.

Before painting the Sixtine Chapel...

Michel-Angelo had to first construct
a massive scaffolding...

to allow him access to the ceiling...

without interfering
with the chapel's daily use.

He had to develop special wax models so
he could study the lighting effects...

to be duplicated in the frescoes...

and come up with a special
slow-drying plaster.

He suffered constant deadline pressure
from frustrated church officials...

and the Pope, who just wanted
the ceiling finished.

The work itself was uncomfortable
and unending...

with wet paint and plaster
dripping in the face of the man...

who was not, after all, a painter,
but a sculptor.

Such challenges arise in all
the great works of human imagination...

be they the creation of our world
rendered upon...

the ceiling of a church...

or the view of our world
evident by making the voyage...

from the Earth to the moon.

For a long time about the only people
who gave much thought...

of going to the moon
were science fiction writers.

In October, 1957, the Soviets launched
Sputnik, and everything changed.

Suddenly, going to the moon
was a possibility.

The question was: How do you do it?

Four months after Sputnik...

Wernher Von Braun briefed the head
of the National Advisory Committee.

He presented the two best options
for going to the moon.

There are two methods.

The first method we call Direct Ascent.

You build an enormous rocket,
put a capsule on top.

Boom, you go straight to the moon.

The other method we call
Earth Orbit Rendezvous.

Instead of using one huge rocket...

we perform several launches
with somewhat smaller rockets...

each carrying a component
of the spacecraft.

We put the pieces together
in orbit...

and off we go.

These two methods- these are
the only ways of getting to moon?

Yes.

Actually, there were other ideas.

So we started thinking:
"What can we do right now?"

Then it hit us.

The moon!

You rendezvous
on the surface of the moon.

The problem isn't getting
a man to the moon.

- That's easy.
- It's not easy.

- Relatively easy.
- Pretty easy.

- The problem is getting him back.
- So we say-

You send up some ships to the moon...

with all the extra fuel
and supplies to get back.

That way, when the astronauts arrive...

everything they need to get home
is already there.

We put a man on the moon
as soon as possible.

Just get him there.

- We can keep sending supply ships-
- Until we figure a way to get him back!

Well, that's-

No, I'm sorry, gentlemen.

There is no way on God's green Earth...

we would ever...

ever do anything like that.

I'm sorry.

It looked like either
Earth Orbit Rendezvous...

or Direct Ascent
would be the way to go.

Either way we go...

the spacecraft that lands on the moon
is going to look like that.

Yes, just like that.

It doesn't have
to look like this at all.

At Chance Vought Industries in Texas...

an engineer named Tom Dolan
hit upon an interesting idea.

You ever hear of a Russian rocket guy
named Yuri Kondratyuk?

In 1916 he realized something
we seem to have forgotten today.

Gettin' to the moon
is going to be all about weight.

Look at the size of this thing.
It's gotta be 60-70 feet tall.

A couple of hundred tons at least.

Do you really need to take all that
to the surface? No.

Kondratyuk wondered-

What I wonder is...

what if you took along
a smaller vehicle-

lightweight-

that you just used to land?

Somethin'...

like this.

But you could never reenter
the Earth's atmosphere in that.

I know. You come back
on the spacecraft you took from Earth.

But that means you'd have to have
a rendezvous in lunar orbit.

Exactly.

Von Braun calls his method
Earth Orbit Rendezvous.

I call this Lunar Orbit Rendezvous.

Tom, we don't even know if
rendezvous is possible in Earth orbit.

And you wanna do it around the moon?

Wouldn't that be kind of dangerous?

I don't know.

Would it?

Well, Mr. Dolan, this is certainly
a very interesting idea.

Why don't you let us think about it.

I've prepared a report.

I have everything I need right here.

Thank you for your time.

Chances are, Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
would have ended up...

as nothing more than a footnote
in the history of space exploration...

if a report on the idea hadn't landed
on the desk of a NASA engineer...

by the name of John Houbolt.

When he first started reading
the report...

Houbolt had the same reaction
others did:

Lunar Orbit Rendezvous seemed like
just another farfetched scheme.

But the more he read,
the more the idea made sense.

By the time John Houbolt
finished the report...

he knew this was it.

This was how you get to the moon.

Now, over the past few weeks
I've prepared this report...

on Lunar Orbit Rendezvous.

I think you'll find it interesting.

Look at Houbolt.

He reads the report, and he's Moses,
come down from the mountain.

- So he's a little enthusiastic.
- A little enthusiastic?

He's makin' a fool of himself. You hear
what happened in the Heaton Committee?

- Yeah.
- And he even wasn't allowed...

into the technical conference.

Well, he'll get the hint,
and he'll give it up.

I hear he's going to write to Seamans.

- He doesn't report to Seamans.
- I know.

- He could get canned.
- I know.

Dear Dr. Seamans:

Somewhat as a voice
in the wilderness...

I'd like to pass on
a few thoughts on matters...

that have been of a deep concern to me
over the recent months.

I have tried, on numerous occasions-

"To draw attention throughout NASA to
the concept of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous.

Regrettably there has been
little interest shown.

Now, do we wanna get to the moon
or not?"

Yes, sir. Right away, sir.

It goes on like this
for another eight pages...

Then there's a 40-page report.
Good Lord!

I can make a call.
He won't do it again.

Hold on. I'll tell you what.
Draft a reply.

Say that his idea has merit and that
I'm going to send it along to Brainerd.

And then see if this Mr. Houbolt
isn't due a vacation soon...

because, Dear God, he needs one.

"Somewhat as a voice in the wilderness."

Does it have merit?

Well, actually
it's an intriguing notion.

It's a little risky,
but it could save a lot of weight.

I don't think
there's a chance in hell...

that Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
is the way we're gonna go...

but it is interesting.

I'll see you at 3:00.

In july 1962, the idea that didn't have
a chance in hell of succeeding...

succeeded.

NASA selected Lunar Orbit Rendezvous
as the way to go to the moon.

Now the question became:
"Who would build the lander?"

My name is Tom Kelly.

On the day after election day, 1962...

I waited with the rest
of the Grumman lander team...

for a call from my boss, Joe Gavin.

Whoever's tapping the pencil,
if you value your life, please stop.

Sorry.

Any word?

Yeah, Frank.
We got the contract.

We're all just observing a moment of
silence for the companies that didn't.

Look, this is crazy.

I mean, this might not happen
for an hour or more.

Let's go back to work,
and I'll let you know.

Hi, Joe.

We've been-

I see.

Thanks.

Bye.

I'm afraid you're gonna have to tell
your wives and kids the bad news.

You won't be seeing much of them
for the next couple years...

because we got the contract.

You did it, Tom.

No, I'm trying to hit the flashing.

The contract. You did it.

Oh, well, we did it.
We all did it.

Quite a story, really.

- "Local Long Island boy makes good."
- Yeah, yeah.

"Local Long Island boy
convinces government...

to give local Long Island company
half a billion dollars."

But the rubber balls
you're gonna have to pay for yourself.

You know, if weight wasn't a factor,
we'd have this thing done in a year.

True enough. But weight's gonna be
the most important factor.

If we could find some teeny-tiny
astronauts we'd be done in a month.

They've given us seven years.
We might as well use 'em.

Seven years.

Well, let's get started.

Okay, specs call for five legs.
I think four will be better.

It'll be just as stable,
and we won't have to worry...

about interference
with the thruster quads.

Let's go with
an octagonal descent stage.

A round one's gonna end up being
more trouble than it's worth.

Bob, how much do these windows weigh?

- I don't know. A couple ounces?
- Bob.

- The real ones?
- Yeah.

Five, six hundred pounds at least.

- Really?
- Yeah.

- Do we need 'em?
- Yeah, Tom.

I think the astronauts
might wanna see where they're going.

Do they need windows this big?

No- Of course they do.

Otherwise they wouldn't be able
to see from their seats.

- What?
- What if they don't need seats?

They have to have seats, John.

Why? They can fly standing up.

- Yes, but they have to land.
- In 1/6 gravity.

And legs are great shock absorbers.

If they were standing,
they'd be a lot closer to the window...

which would increase their
field of view...

which would mean we wouldn't need
such big windows in the first place.

- What do you think?
- Well, I think it's interesting.

But I don't really see it.
Sorry.

Good try.

Let's help him see it.

What the heck is that?

What we did instead of sleep.

Well, John.
I can certainly see it now.

Beautiful. I gotta call Joe Gavin
about the budget.

One more thing: thermal shields.

Costing us way too much weight
in the descent stage.

You know, I don't think we need shields.

Right, Frank. It's gonna be 250 degrees
in the sunlight...

and minus 250 in the shade...

but we don't need thermal shields.

Sarcasm's really helpful, Jim.

I just mean...

maybe we can use something other than
the shielding that's been used before.

It'll look kind of like that.

Mylar film between layers of kapton...

with an outer layer of nickel foil.

How thin is the mylar?

- 1/8,000 of an inch.
- Oh, well.

As long as it's good and sturdy.

We'll use a couple dozen layers
all around.

More where we need it-
by the thrusters.

It'll do the job.

Okay, well, we'll see
how it goes in testing.

Now, hatches.

As it stands,
we have two docking hatches.

We can't afford the weight.

I've been on the phone
with Owen at NASA...

and John Healey at North American,
and we all agree.

We're gonna go with just
the one docking hatch up top...

and use a forward hatch for egress.

That means when they return they'll
have to rendezvous and dock blind.

We're gonna put a window up top
so the pilot can look up as he docks.

Another window?
How much is that gonna weigh?

I don't know. It's gotta be less
than a second docking hatch, right?

That will require the astronaut
flying the LEM...

to make a 90-degree change in axis.

Left roll becomes left yaw.

- But left yaw becomes right roll-
- Arnold.

Astronauts are smart.
They'll figure it out.

Apparently we're not done
with the hatches.

I just got off the phone
with Pete Conrad.

Because of the square backpacks, we're
gonna have to put in a square hatch.

Did you like Ed swingin' around
like Tarzan yesterday?

Yeah. Rope ladder's not gonna fly.

No. I'll call
the configuration control board.

We can put some rungs
right on the forward leg.

Okay, one more thing. It's no longer
the Lunar Excursion Module any more.

Everybody feels that "excursion" sounds
like it's gonna go out on a school trip.

From now on it's just the Lunar Module.

I'm still gonna call it the LEM
for short.

John, you do whatever makes you happy.

Well?

I guess we'd better
start building them.

Let's make sure we film
everything we do.

You wanna show NASA
where its 500 million is going?

Yeah. I wanna show my kids
where I was while they were growing up.

Every LEM would have to be handmade.

There was no supplier
to order LEM parts from.

And because everything on a LEM
was new, everything had to be tested...

and tested again.

The thrusters...

the engines...

the deployment of the landing gear.

We had to know how a LEM would react...

when exposed to intense sunlight
or when pelted with dust.

We had to know how the landing gear
would perform coming down on a slope.

Thousands of tests day after day...

for years.

Some of the tests went well.

And some did not.

Is this why the leg snapped?

Apparently I made the initial
miscalculation a few months ago.

Everything has been
based on that since then.

I'm sorry.

When did you find this out?

Last night.

After the test I decided
to go over my figures.

I understand if you-

You know.

Go home.

And get some rest.

Look-

Did you come to me right away
when you found out about this...

or did you try to cover your ass?

You did a good thing.

Not this.
This is bad.

But as long as people speak up
about their mistakes, we've got a shot.

They try to sweep it under the rug...

and we're not gonna go to New Jersey,
let alone the moon.

Get some rest.

Truth be told, we were behind schedule
from the beginning.

But mistakes and miscalculations
were only a small part of it.

The real problem is that
a LEM isn't one spacecraft but two.

The lower half of the LEM-
the descent stage-

contains the engine that astronauts
will use to control their landing.

After the moonwalks, the descent stage
will serve as a launch platform...

for the ascent stage-
the cockpit of the LEM-

which the astronauts
will fly into lunar orbit...

for their rendezvous
with the command module.

Now, this particular ascent stage
belonged to LEM 3.

LEM 1 and 2 were designed and built
for unmanned test flights.

LEM 3 would be the first
to be flown in space by astronauts.

We worked hand in hand
with the astronauts...

from the beginning of LEM program.

They showed us
what we were doing right...

and what we were doing wrong.

From early on much of their attention
was given to LEM 3.

But it wasn't until
a day in November, 1966...

that NASA decided which crew
would be the one to actually fly her.

I just got off the phone
with Deke Slayton, gentlemen.

The crew assigned to take
the LEM 3 into space...

on the first manned flight
of a lunar module is as follows:

Commander Jim McDivitt-

a Gemini vet,
one of the best pilots in the program-

command module pilot Dave Scott-

another Gemini vet-

and flying right beside McDivitt
as his L.M.P...

Rusty Schweickart, a rookie.

Now...

any crew is a good crew.

But these guys-

Well, I think we're pretty fortunate...

because, gentlemen,
this won't be an easy mission.

We're off the lake, Jim.
Can we talk business now?

Well, if you insist.

I've been goin' over the mission plan...

and it looks a little rough.

- It is kind of ambitious, Jim.
- Heck, it's not ambitious.

It's impossible.

Look, everyone's focusing
on us flying the LEM.

It's only a small part of it.

Every mission's got a few things
that's never been done before.

This one's got about ten:

first manned launch of a LEM,
first docking extraction of a LEM...

first men in a LEM in space.

And we just go out
and fly the LEM, right?

Wrong.

Before we can even undock the LEM
from the command module...

we gotta make sure we can do an
emergency transfer outside the craft.

Which means, Rusty...

you're gonna have to do an E.V.A. on the
PLSS backpack- the first use of that.

Dave, we're gonna leave you alone
in the command module.

First time that'll have happened.

Then the real fun begins.

First I pop the thruster,
see if the LEM can fly.

If it can, Rusty and I fire the descent
engine, take her on its maiden voyage.

We go out a hundred miles or so.

God willing, the ascent engine lights-
first firing of that in space.

Then Rusty and I head back to you...

for the first docking of
a two-manned spacecraft.

All right, so it's only nine things
that's never been done before.

Give me a hand with the trailer.

But you guys are right.
It's a lot for one mission.

Maybe too much.

If we get even half of it done
we can call it a success.

I can't wait!

While Scott went to Downey
to work on the command module...

McDivitt and Schweickart
joined us on Long Island.

So gentlemen, you wanna
go take the vehicle for a spin?

- Gee, Dad. Can we?
- Sure.

As long as you don't
bring her back empty.

The hardest part of getting
the first LEMs to fly...

was getting the thousands of systems
and subsystems to work together.

Most of the time it was like having
a ballroom full of dancers...

dancing different steps to music
that wasn't quite right for any of them.

- Bring that T.L. up.
- Roger, T.C.

And T.T.C.A. four jets down.

Copy, T.C.

T.T.C.A. four jets down.

Well, that can't be good.

Now let's cycle that one more time.

Yep. Roger, T.C.

You know, you look more and more
like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape.

Funny you should say that. I got guys
digging a tunnel under the east fence.

Should reach the trees by Sunday.

Ready to start up again.

We think we've got it.

Let's do it.

- T.F.I. telemetry cal off.
- Copy, T.C.

- T.F.I. power off.
- Roger, T.C.

- R&D A off.
- Copy that, T.C.

Oh, God bless it!
Tom, what's up with the radar?

Oh, hi, Lou.

Yeah, I know-

I know what we're up against.

We will make the date.

I need to know if we can make the date.

If we can't, I'm gonna have to take some
cash and move to South America.

Yep.

- Arnie?
- Sure.

- John?
- Yes, sir.

The other John?

Sorry, Tom.

The cockpit's gonna take
another three weeks.

We could use a few weeks ourselves.

Us too.

If we had it,
we could certainly use it.

You know, Tom, I hear Bolivia...

is really nice this time of year.

You know, this is so bad
I can't even joke about it.

Perhaps the main reason we were
behind schedule and over budget...

was because budgets and schedules
are based on previous experience...

with similar projects.

We didn't know how much it'd cost to
build the LEMs or how long it'd take.

All we really knew
was how much time we'd been given...

and that was running out.

LEM 3 was scheduled
to be launched in the fall of 1968.

To make the launch, NASA needed delivery
sometime that spring.

We were working as fast as we could-
24 hours a day...

seven days a week,
and it wasn't enough.

In june, 1968 it was decided...

that we'd ship LEM 3 to NASA as she was
and finish the work at the Cape.

You know, I don't know
what I'm so worked up about.

I mean,
what's the worst that could happen?

Well, we ship the LEM to NASA...

we never get it to fly...

the Russians beat us to the moon...

and within ten years we're all living
under the iron thumb of Communism.

Exactly.

Hey, remember when seven years
seemed like a long time?

Remember when this whole thing
was only gonna cost 500 million?

You know, I can't even remember
when it was gonna cost a billion.

Unfortunately, moving LEM 3
to the Cape...

did little to ease
the pressure we were under.

Tom, there's still at least
a hundred things wrong with it.

- We'll get it fixed in time.
- No, you won't.

There is no way in three months
that thing is gonna be ready to fly.

Look, Jim, it's-

It's a good machine.

Just needs a little fine-tuning.
That's all.

You don't have to whisper.
It can't hear you.

Look, I want it to go up
as much as you do.

I know we're running out of time.

It's 18 months
to the end of the decade...

and we still haven't had a single
manned Apollo flight.

I know that.

But that doesn't change the facts.
LEM 3 is not ready to fly.

And it won't be any time soon.

That's gonna have to be
my recommendation to headquarters.

Now, with the LEM 3
not ready to fly...

after Wally and the 7 crew
go up with the C.S.M. in October...

that means there won't be another
Apollo flight until the spring, right?

Right.

Well, maybe not.

George has come up with
a rather wild idea.

How wild?

Frank's mission is being scrubbed.

We've created a new C-Prime mission
which will precede your mission.

What's the mission?

Well, we're gonna send the command
and service module- no lunar module-

on a flight around the moon
in December.

Really?

What's Frank think?

I haven't talked to Frank yet.

I'm talking to you first.

I don't want lose
your crew's experience with LEM 3.

That's why we decided to send Frank
on this mission ahead of you.

But I wanted to see
what you had to say about it...

before I told Frank.

I told him we'd stick
with the mission we got.

Good.

Going around the moon
sounds like a blast and all...

but I really wanna fly the LEM.

That's pretty much what Dave said.
I called him in Downey.

He said he really wanted
to fly the command module solo-

get us out of his hair
for a few hours.

I don't know though.
Maybe we're making a mistake.

Maybe we're missing out
on some historical voyage.

I don't know, Jim. Maybe.

But it sounds like
they're just gonna be sightseeing.

With all the things we gotta do,
our mission's fun.

Yeah, we got a great mission.

Providing that thing will fly.

In the fall of 1968
while work continued on LEM 3...

the Apollo program
finally got off the ground.

On October 11, just a few miles...

from where LEM 3
was being fine-tuned...

Apollo 7 was launched.

Two months later, Frank Borman,
Jim Lovell and Bill Anders...

took Apollo 8 on its
historic flight around the moon.

All that time, LEM 3
was being worked on around the clock.

By February 1969, George and the rest
of the Grumman crew...

had tested every circuit
and tightened every bolt.

LEM 3 was ready.

- I like the call sign.
- Spider?

It seemed appropriate.

- How about the command module?
- Gumdrop.

When it came from North American
it was all wrapped in blue plastic.

It's sort of what it looked like.

Maybe you should go up with us,
make sure everything's okay.

I'd love to go up with you.

She's ready.

I know.

- We'd better get back to the sim.
- Yep.

- She's a beautiful machine, Tom.
- Isn't she?

- You really think it's beautiful?
- It looks like a toaster oven with legs.

But I'm not gonna tell him that.

Hold on a minute, Bill.

I gotta get him to the airport.

Look, he spent the last seven years
of his life building that thing.

Let's give him a moment to say good-bye.

It stays up there, remember?

Now as far as LEM 3 was concerned...

that should have been it for me.

I should have been able to sit back
SPAN room in Houston and watch the show.

But in the early hours of launch day...

the pressure in one of LEM 3's fuel
tanks was reading disturbingly high.

It's the helium tank?

Actually, sir,
the super critical helium.

- How's it reading now?
- Still on the edge.

Meaning?

Meaning we'd like to be down the middle
of the tolerance band, but we're not.

Give me the worst case.

When the LEM heads away from the command
module and they're throttling up...

the tank could over-pressurize
and the burst disk could blow.

We would lose the helium
on the descent stage.

Now, they would not be stranded.
They'd still have the ascent engine.

But it would kill the mission.

Tom, I'll need the official
Grumman position on this.

We're still within the limits.

It'll fly.

In the last few minutes before launch...

I managed to put the tank pressure
problem out of my mind for a moment.

I tried to imagine what it was like
in LEM 3 just then.

Astronauts have said that sitting in
the command module during a countdown...

can be almost peaceful.

Must have been even more peaceful
in LEM 3. At least until-

For the next ten minutes
it must have been...

like LEM 3 was stuck
in a paint mixer in a hardware store.

And when it must have seemed
the shaking would never stop, it did.

On the second day of the mission...

Rusty became the first person
to enter a LEM in space.

Later that day, shortly after Rusty
and Jim extended the landing gear...

something happened which brought
the mission to a grinding halt.

Okay, I got gear
out in front of me now.

Okay, landing gear deploy, safe?

Roger, safe.

Sequence camera, off.

G.E.T. is 45-1-1-3-5.

D.F.I. telemetry cal off.

D.F.I. power, off.

D.F.I., off.

- R&D A, off.
- D.F.I. power, off.

R&D instrumentation A, off.

R&D instrumentation A, off.

Okay, Deke.

I'm gonna have to recommend
we scrub the E.V.A. tomorrow.

We got you, Jim.

Jim, if Rusty doesn't do the E.V.A.-

I understand the ramifications, Dave.

I just don't think it's safe
for you to do it.

I don't think we can put you
in a pressurized suit...

if it looks like you're gonna throw up.

We'll proceed with
the checklist tomorrow.

We'll check out as many systems
as we can without undocking.

It's just gonna have to be it.

If Rusty were to throw up in a suit,
he'd likely asphyxiate and die...

before Jim could get him
back into the LEM and repressurize.

But if Rusty didn't test the backpack...

the LEM couldn't undock
from the command module.

When Jim cancelled the E.V.A.
we all understood...

but we were devastated.

LEM 3 would not fly.

The next day, as Rusty and Jim
went through their checklist...

the mood around NASA was pretty grim.

The mood lifted a little when one of
Jim's air-to-ground transmissions...

made everyone smile.

- Well, almost everyone.
- Houston, this is Apollo 9.

Go ahead, Apollo 9.

Houston, if some of our friends
from Grumman are listening in...

I suggest on the next LEM they give
an extra go with a vacuum cleaner.

We got a few odds and ends
floating around in here.

Roger, Apollo 9. We'll pass that along.

Oh, well. In a few minutes,
even I would be smiling.

You look like you're feeling better.

I am. I feel good.

How good?

Real good.

Then what do you say you go outside?

I think that's a good idea.

- Yeah, Gumdrop, this is Spider.
- Roger, Spider.

Yeah, Dave. Rusty's feeling
a lot better, and he looks better too.

I thought maybe he should go out
on the porch and get some fresh air.

Hey, man! I like the sound of that.

For 45 minutes
every available camera on Apollo 9...

was put to use filming the first two-man
space walk in history.

While Rusty stood
on LEM 3's porch...

Dave stood in the open hatch
of the command module...

to film Rusty's test of the backpack.

When one of Dave's cameras broke...

he went back inside to fix it.

That gave Rusty something
unheard of on an E.V.A.: free time.

For three minutes there was nothing
for him to do but look at the Earth.

With the backpack tested...

it was time to see
if LEM 3 could fly.

That's a nice-looking machine.

It's not like an F-86,
I'll tell you that.

It's an ungainly beast.

But it really flies.

Houston, Spider.

We are preparing to throttle up
the descent engine.

Roger, Spider.

Then it was time to see if the decision
I had made just before the launch...

was the right one.

The tank'll be fine.

It'll hold.

Throttle to 20 percent.

It's a little rough.

Yeah, wasn't it?
I think we swallowed a little helium.

Yeah, let's try it again.

Throttle to 40 percent.

Houston, Spider.

Everything looks good here.

It was a good burn.

Hey, keep track of us,
will you, Davey?

Roger that. See you in a while.

Jim and Rusty took LEM 3 out
110 miles from the command module.

To get back to Dave they had
to separate from the descent stage...

then fire the ascent engine.

Thirteen feet per second.

Nine feet per second.
I have the interconnects.

Five, four, three...

two, one, we have shutdown.

Roger. We have a good burn.
No residuals.

And there goes half our spacecraft.

A short time later...

LEM 3 redocked
with the command module.

Her mission was over.

That's a song I haven't heard
in a long time.

- You all set, Rusty?
- Yeah, Jim.

All right.
I'll see you up at C.S.M.

I don't suppose they're gonna let
anybody back up they think'll get sick.

I don't know, Rusty.

I'll tell ya...

those few minutes I had outside
while Dave was working on the camera-

That was somethin' special.

I just wanted to say thanks.

The only reason it was even a question
is I didn't want you to kill yourself.

And I'll try not to
for the rest of the mission.

All right. I'll see you inside.

Yep.

LEM 3 would fly one last time...

but this time she would fly alone.

Okay, the tunnel's closed out,
the pyros are armed.

We're all set.

All right.

So long, Spider.

Hope I didn't leave anything in there.

When I first saw the LEM I thought,
"You gotta be kiddin".

But it kind of grows on you.

It really is a beautiful machine.

Listen to me.
I sound like Tom Kelly.

But you guys are right.
It's a lot for one mission.

Maybe too much.

If we get even half of it done
we can call it a success.

I can't wait.!

Apollo 9 had shown that a LEM could fly.
At least in Earth orbit.

Two months later on Apollo 10,
Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan...

took LEM 4 down to within 50,000 feet
of the lunar surface.

Look at that. There's enough boulders
to fill up Galveston Bay.!

Houston, we is goin,
and we is down among 'em, Charlie!

Now only one question
about the LEM remains.

The biggest question of all.

And it will be up to the next LEM
to answer it.

When I said good-bye to LEM 3,
I felt like a proud parent...

watching a child go off to college.

As I say good-bye to this LEM, I feel
like a parent of centuries past...

saying farewell as his child embarks
for the New World.

To some people, that might
sound like I'm stretching the point.

A LEM is not a child,
it's a machine...

and a machine doesn't have a soul.

We may yell at our toasters
and name our cars...

but in the end even a LEM
is just a collection of wires...

and circuits and nuts and bolts.

I don't know.
I think each LEM does have a soul.

It's a soul of all the people
who built her...

designed her...

first dreamed of her.

- What number is this one?
- This one is LEM 5.

- Thank you for inviting us here today.
- You're welcome, Mr. Houbolt.

Without you guys there might not be
anybody here today.

- Someone would have thought of it.
- Maybe.

And this is the actual machine
that's gonna land on the moon?

Yep.

- What are they calling this one?
- This one-

This one is the Eagle.