Original subtitles

- Hello, my name is Buzz Aldrin.

40 years ago, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and |

made history as the first men

on a mission to land on the moon.

Our eight-day journey aboard Apollo 11

was one of the most-watched events ever,

filmed in unprecedented detail, recorded second by second.

This is the story of that mission, our training,

and our lives behind the scenes.

Much is based on fact, some scenes are imagined,

but they're pretty much how it was.

Marsters: In 1969, three men changed the world.

They flew to the moon aboard the biggest rocket ever built.

- This is Apollo Saturn launch control

aiming toward our planned liftoff.

It's 9:32 am. Eastern Daylight.

Marsters: The mission

was the most-watched event in history,

filmed in unprecedented detail, recorded second by second.

- All systems look good.

Marsters: This is the story of what was seen,

what was said,

and what might have happened

when the cameras weren't running.

- A short while ago, Deke Slayton

informed spacecraft commander Neil Armstrong that,

"We are doing quite well,

in fact, some 15 minutes ahead."

Armstrong replied, "That was fine,

just as long as we don't launch 15 minutes early."

Marsters: Some is documented fact,

some dramatic license.

But together, it's the story of the mission

and of the men that changed our world.

- This is Apollo Saturn launch control.

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.

[applause]

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,

and then finally Mike Collins

and director of flight crew operations Deke Slayton

now boarding the transfer van

for the trip to the launchpad.

The estimate is, more than a million persons

are in the immediate area to watch the launch.

Once Armstrong, who sits in the left-hand seat,

and Collins are aboard, then Aldrin will take his seat,

the middle seat in the spacecraft.

- T minus 20 seconds and counting.

Astronauts report it feels good.

T minus 15 seconds.

Guidance is internal.

12,11,10, 9.

Ignition sequence starts.

[engines roaring]

6.54321,0.

All engines on.

Liftoff.

We have a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour.

Liftoff for Apollo 7117.

[engines roaring]

[men speaking over radio]

- Complete and the pitch is programmed.

[applause]

One Bravo.

- Apollo 11, Houston. You're good at one minute.

- We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon.

- Butterfly.

- Butterfly.

- We choose to go to the moon in this decade

and do the other things...

- Larger butterfly.

- Not because they are easy but because they are hard.

[applause]

I believe that this nation should commit itself

to achieving the goal...

- Chicken...

- Before this decade is out

of landing a man on the moon

and returning him safely to the Earth.

- And how would you say you've been coping

with the recent death of your daughter?

- Is there a right or wrong answer to that question?

- There's no right or wrong in psychology, Neil.

It's just what you're feeling,

what your instincts are telling you.

Okay.

- Thank you for that.

Okay, then.

- Well?

- I'm in.

- T minus 15, 14, 13, 12,

11,10, 9.

And we have ignition sequence start.

4,3,2,1,0

[engines roaring]

- I make that about seven seconds.

Who had seven seconds?

- I did.

I will take it now if you want.

- You're a lucky son of a bitch, Lovell.

- Luck?

- So I come to work, 7:00 in the morning,

I'm kind of a little hungover if I can be honest about it.

And Andy's laying faced own

on the pavement in a pool of blood

singing Elvis Presley songs.

You are a maniac.

[laughter]

- Morning, ladies.

Assignment time.

In no particular order, Aldrin, mission planning.

How are we gonna get to the moon?

How many flights? Which order?

Gordon, cockpit integration.

Be more buttons and switches than you can count.

Where are we gonna put them?

Collins, pressure suits and EVA.

What are we gonna wear that's gonna keep us alive?

We're gonna need to move in it, breathe in it,

and I'll warn you right now.

There's a strong chance you're gonna have to crap in it too.

Cernan.

- Honey?

- "Uncoil collection bag from around selector valve."

- Check.

- "Place penis against receiver inlet check valve

and roll latex receiver onto penis."

- Check.

- "Rotate selector valve knob clockwise

to the urinate position."

- Check.

- "Urinate."

Mike?

- One moment.

- Check.

- Oh, I'm sorry. Am I disturbing you?

- No.

It's okay.

- You're Edwin Aldrin.

- Oh, Buzz. Everyone calls me Buzz.

- Why do they do that?

- My sister, when we were kids,

she used to say "buzzer" instead of "brother,"

so I sort of became Buzz.

- Oh.

- You never had a nickname?

- No, not that I knew about.

I'm Neil, by the way.

- Uh, yeah, Armstrong. I know who you are.

- Well, I'll let you get back to your books, Buzz.

- Sure.

Neil.

- You done the math yet?

- I'm still struggling with geology.

- No, I mean the simple calculation.

How many astronauts we got?

- Got the original seven, the next nine,

and then the 14 of us.

- 30.

- Mm-hmm.

Estimated number of manned Gemini flights: ten.

Number of astronauts per flight: two.

I'm counting 30 guys for 20 seats.

- What about the ones that have already gone up?

- Are you kidding?

They're top of Deke's list to go again.

- [laughs]

I hadn't heard anything about a list.

- Uh, he keeps it up here.

And he sure as hell has one.

- Well, there's always Apollo.

- You think he won't just go back to the top of the list?

This thing could all be over before we pull on our boots.

- The end of the most dramatic adventure in space history.

The Gemini 8 flight had been successful

beyond all expectations for nearly seven hours

until suddenly a short-circuited rocket thruster

sent Gemini into wild gyrations.

Command pilot Armstrong did some superhuman maneuvering

to bring the Gemini under control.

- How long is he supposed to be in there?

- Until he hurls.

- During the next two-man mission, Gemini 10,

there will be an attempt

to meet and join up with an Agena target.

Copilot for the tenth mission: astronaut Michael Collins.

It is Collins who will leave the Gemini craft

for a spacewalk.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin:

it was Aldrin who established a new record

for time outside a craft in space,

more than 5 1/2 hours during Gemini 12.

The 39-year-old astronaut has an impressive background,

including a doctorate.

- Marion, let's get the bags out.

Did I ever tell you about the first time

he ever flew in an airplane?

- [groans]

Only about a thousand times, Dad.

- Two years of age,

threw up all the way from New Jersey to Florida.

- Maybe if you were a better flyer.

- How are they treating you?

- They give us pretty much anything we need.

- What about the others in the program?

- Good bunch of guys, all things considered.

It's slightly awkward, as you might expect.

- Too many egos?

- We all came in at different times.

Nobody says anything,

but it's pretty obvious who's gonna get the best missions.

- You should speak up for yourself.

- I do, Dad.

Sometimes that's what holds me back.

- They call him doctor, some of them.

- Why would they do that?

- "Dr. Rendezvous."

- It's a joke.

- I don't get it.

- He's a doctor of science.

They're giving him the gears.

- Dad, it's fine.

If people want to laugh at me because I'm qualified,

I'll let them.

- Everybody's been so nice to us since we moved here.

Charlie and Jeanie Basset live right behind us.

- Every NASA employee's within spitting distance.

- We have barbecues and drinks.

We babysit for each other.

It's all very relaxed.

We hardly have to go anywhere, do we?

- Doesn't sound like anybody's in much of a hurry

to get to the moon.

- Kennedy said by the end of the decade.

- Kennedy's dead.

Or did you miss that little episode

over in Dallas?

- I think we'll get there, Dad.

- The early missions of Mercury

and the experience from Gemini have brought this country

to the next major milestone:

the first Apollo three-man spaceflight.

These are the men to fly that mission:

Command pilot Virgil Grissom, his third time into space;

astronaut Roger Chaffee;

the senior pilot, Edward White.

He will be remembered for his spacewalk during Gemini 4.

Everything is nearly ready, including the crew,

for this country's first three-man spaceflight.

- Gentlemen, to stay ahead of our enemies

in the space race, we've got to do something sensational.

Any suggestions?

- Why don't we put a space capsule into orbit

and then have a man get out of the capsule

and walk around--

[phone rings]

- Hello?

- Jan, it's Al.

- Hey, Al.

Listen, can I call you back in a short while?

- I need to talk to you now, Jan.

- What is it?

- I'm afraid something's happened.

- Where's Neil?

- Neil's in Washington. He arrived safely.

Our problem is here.

I need you to go run to Ed White's house.

I want you to sit with Pat.

- I can do that.

- Somebody will be on their way to explain,

but you need to stay with Pat.

Can you do that for me, Janet?

- Of course.

- Keep her away from the television.

[knocking]

- Get out of the car.

- Hi, Jan.

- Can we go inside, Pat?

- Is something the matter?

- Hi, Mrs. Armstrong. - Hi, Bonnie.

- Hi, Mrs. Armstrong.

- What's happened?

- That's Ed.

It's Ed's car.

- It's Bill.

- They've all got those damn caddies.

- Uh, excuse me.

- There's been an accident.

- No!

[sobbing No! J

- I'm so sorry.

- It would be an instantaneous death, would it not?

- I think that's a fair assumption.

[line ringing]

- Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee

lost their lives in a spacecraft fire

while preparing for manned orbital flight.

The fire was probably caused by an electrical arc.

The precise origin of the fire

will probably never be determined.

- This is an extremely hazardous business.

We've tried to convey that to people.

But it's a shame that things like this have to happen

to bring it home to us so dramatically.

- Six men in three years.

- But not one of them in space.

- Does that make a difference, Fred?

- Sure, it does.

- Yeah, on the ground in training,

accidents are always gonna happen.

It's the same to avoid them up there.

- Did you know we're the only animal that lives its life

knowing it's going to die?

- How can they even prove that?

- I don't know.

But it doesn't seem fair.

- Unless you die in childhood.

That's a life never knowing it'll end.

- Sorry, Jan.

I wasn't thinking.

- [sighs]

I don't know why everyone's so fascinated by death.

Talking about it seems...

Well, it's not something Neil and I ever do.

- Never?

- Stay still.

I'm not very good at this.

Oh, you're beautiful.

- Haven't you got enough footage of that thing yet?

- Come on, don't you find him fascinating?

- It's a monkey.

- Correction: he's a monkey.

Stay.

Will you remember to feed him for me?

- Where are you going?

- Mike Collins is in the hospital.

They found a problem with his spine.

- Is he gonna be all right?

- Sure.

The big question is, will he fly again?

[monkey squeaking]

- What sort of a grown man

keeps a monkey for a pet?

- He's come to visit.

Be nice.

- Hey.

- Hey, Buzz. - Hey, Buzz.

- I was gonna bring some cakes, but Joan burned them.

How you feeling, Mike?

- Like someone just cut a piece of my spine out.

- Yeah, you're lucky they spotted it when they did.

- That's what I tell him.

- Yeah, I'm feeling real fortunate.

- I'm gonna leave you boys to talk.

- So what am I missing?

- The lunar module's not gonna be ready for testing on 8.

- Another setback.

- Maybe not.

They're changing the mission profile

because of it.

They want to put 8 into lunar orbit.

Frank Borman's going all the way to the moon.

It's one hell of a ride you're missing.

- Aren't you here to make me feel better?

- [laughs]

Come on, Deke likes you.

He'll have you back in rotation by 12.

And imagine where we'll be by then.

And the surgery right now could be a blessing.

- If I come back at all.

I've been offered a placement in Washington.

Tom Payne asked me to work with him

on the applications program.

- So you'd rather babysit astronauts than be one.

- It's a good offer.

- Yeah.

Hi, Mike.

- Buzz.

[engines roaring]

[men speaking on radio]

- Okay, Houston.

The moon is essentially gray, little color.

Looks like plaster of Paris.

- Okay, for colors, the waters are all sort of a royal blue.

The clouds, of course, are bright white.

The reflection off the Earth is...

[knocking]

- You wanted to see me?

- Oh, Neil. Yeah.

Come on in.

- Generally a brownish...

- You been listening to those sons of bitches up there?

- Sounds like they're enjoying themselves.

- TV stars. Would you believe it?

Now, provided we bring back 8 without a hitch,

there's no reason why we shouldn't accelerate

down the homestretch.

Apollo 9, we test the lunar module in Earth orbit.

And 10, try the same thing in lunar orbit.

And 11, we land.

- Well, that assumes that 9 and 10 go to plan.

- Well, of course.

But everyone's in agreement

that our first shot of landing is 11.

Are you okay with that?

- I'll take whatever's going.

- Mike is ready to fly again,

and Buzz is next on rotation.

Are you happy with that crew?

- Sure.

- This all points to being a historic mission.

Now, I'm willing to shake it up on your recommendation.

- Why don't you make your point, Deke?

- Well, Buzz isn't the easiest person to get along with.

Talented, certainly, but personality-wise--

- I haven't had a problem with him.

- Others have.

- I can't speak for them.

- I can make Jim Lovell available.

Hell, I know you two can work together.

Well, it's your crew, your call.

Think about it.

- Is it what you want?

I mean, is it what you really want?

Commander of the first moon landing?

It's not something I'd turn down.

- Who else is going?

Is Edwin Aldrin going?

- The final crew hasn't been confirmed,

so don't say anything just yet.

Okay, we shouldn't be too long.

- Speak for yourself.

I intend to celebrate.

You can keep them up for the broadcast, Alice.

- Okay. - Then straight to bed.

Okay? Night, honey.

- Have a good party. - And you.

- Santa's on his way, boys.

- Yay.

- Oh, he's a terrible bore.

- Oh, look, it's Charlie and Dottie.

Hi. - Hey, Dottie.

- Hi, Charlie.

Hi.

- Jan.

- Hey, Marylyn.

- You look lovely, as always.

Neil, likewise.

- Busy house.

- We just sent a load of people over to Fredo's.

I'm worried not everyone's gonna get to see the screen.

- Oh, I'm sure we'll manage.

- Hey, did you hear what old Shake y's done?

- Don't you dare tell anyone.

- He named a moon mountain after her, Mount Marylyn.

- Twin peaks, apparently.

[laughter] - Really?

- Come on.

- How you doing, Buzz?

- Pretty good.

Let's get those open for you, shall we?

- Yeah.

- We are now approaching lunar sunrise.

And for all the people back on Earth,

the crew of Apollo 8 has a message

that we would like to send to you.

"In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth.

"And the Earth was without form and void,

"and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

"And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

"And God said, 'Let there be light.'

"And there was light.

"And God saw the light, that it was good.

And God divided the light from the darkness."

- You're missing it.

- "And God called the dry land the Earth

"and the gathering together of the waters the seas.

And God saw that it was good."

I'm familiar with Genesis.

Of course, this is what it's gonna be all about

from now on, isn't it?

It's not enough to go to the moon.

You got to do it on television.

- Does that bother you?

- My, uh--

My face doesn't fit on the screen

like some of the other guys.

Too big, too long.

I'm sure they can find a suitable lens.

- You don't like that side of it so much, do you, the press?

- Well, if they want to ask me about the technical aspects,

then sure, I'm happy to answer them.

But for some reason,

they all just want to know how everything feels.

- Even if you could tell them, they wouldn't get it.

"Cause when you're up there in space looking down,

there's nothing wrong with the world.

But when you're down here looking up,

everything's different.

You know what my biggest problem is?

I'm always trying to remind myself

how it was up there.

But it's impossible.

I know.

You can only really feel it when you're there.

- Merry Christmas, Buzz.

- Mm.

- And from the crew of Apollo 8,

we close with good night, good luck,

a merry Christmas, and God bless all of you,

all of you on the good Earth.

[applause]

- Joan, honey.

Can you swing by and pick me up?

As soon as you can.

No, no, no. Everything's fine.

Okay.

The washing machine's packed up.

Faye says we can do a load in her machine.

- I'm going to the moon.

- If you can't fix it by Monday, I'm gonna call somebody out.

I don't care how much it costs.

- Did you hear what I just said?

Apollo 11 is gonna land.

- [screams]

Oh, baby! Oh, Buzz.

- Whoa, baby, I'm driving. I'm driving.

Come here.

You can't just bend down and pick up a rock.

It could fall.

It could shag your suit.

Anything can go wrong.

So what you got to have is a scoop.

Hey, here. Honey?

Throw me a couple socks and a pillowcase.

So, you know, the first thing you have to do on the surface--

[laughs]

On the surface-- is get the rocks, yeah?

It's a contingency sample.

So if anything else goes wrong, if you have to call and abort,

at least you got the rocks.

Yeah?

That looks easy enough.

But you try this at /6 gravity.

You know, I need--how long does this thing have to be?

I need a tape measure.

Do you got a tape measure around here?

- Honey, I'm real happy for you.

When I get this washing up,

I'm gonna come celebrate with you.

But right now, you're in my way.

- I need--

Dad.

I've got some news.

Are you sitting down?

[flashbulbs popping]

[men shouting]

- Gentlemen, I give you the crew of Apollo 11.

Questions?

- Which one of you gentlemen is going to be the first man

to set foot on the lunar surface?

- We haven't really decided on that issue yet.

We've done a large amount of simulation.

I think whoever steps out first

will be dependent on further tests.

Hell, is it that big a deal?

Have another go there, Tom.

- Of course you know it's gonna be Neil, don't you?

- If it's good for the mission, it's good for me.

- You qualify before him.

He's second 9.

You're third 14.

You know the order.

He's a commander.

Hell, he's gonna be closer to the hatch,

you want to split hairs about the whole thing.

- Like I said,

if it's good for the mission, it's good for me.

- Yeah, sure.

The pilot performs the EVA,

and the commander remains in the command position.

- Ergo at the control.

- Yeah, but it's not a standard EVA.

Once you've landed,

you don't need anyone at the controls.

- You can't just set a precedent

and then change it at the last minute.

I've clocked 5 1/2 hours of spacewalks.

That's more than anyone.

Neil's never even done an EVA before.

- I understand why you would have assumed--

- Whoa.

I haven't assumed a damn thing.

This doesn't bother me either way, Mike.

I'm just waiting to be told.

- How does Neil feel about this?

- How does Neil feel about anything?

- My suit's caught.

[grunting]

It's stuck on something.

[laughter]

A little help, somebody?

[applause]

- You all get back into position and try that again.

Come on, guys.

We haven't got long to figure this out.

- Not long enough.

- Well, you can't walk on it unless you land on it.

- No kidding.

- Well, I guess the walking is quite monumental

when you see it from the layman's perspective.

- You want to be the first out?

- Are you offering or asking?

- Actually, I'm just cutting through the crap.

- Well, given the choice, sure, I'll take it.

Not given the choice, okay by me.

Does that answer your question, Buzz?

- You've got some nice holiday snaps there, Tom.

- We could have landed if they'd given us enough fuel

to get back up again.

Not to mention a thousand other technicalities.

Truth is, boys, we just didn't want to spoil your fun.

This is where you're gonna put down.

We painted some white lines in the sky.

You can't miss.

- What if we do?

- You don't want to.

- I think what Buzz is saying is,

can you at least show us what to expect?

- Oh, my God.

- That crater there, how big is that?

- Tom?

- That one is probably the size of a football stadium.

- Cowboys or dolphins?

- What you've seen is the safest place to set down.

If you're gonna miss that,

you might want to think about an abort.

- How are Neil and Buzz getting along?

- Don't see much of the men.

- Different simulators.

- You'll get your chance in the lunar module, Mike.

You can back up as commander on 14

and land with 17.

- Yeah, I've been thinking about that.

If Apollo 11 aborts and falls into the ocean,

well, then, yeah, sure,

I'd love to give it another shot.

But if we fly this one as planned,

I think that's gonna be it for me.

- Apollo 11, you are go for landing, over.

- Understand. Go for landing, 3,000 feet.

- Eagle to Houston. Your Delta-H is high.

- We're gonna need a lock-on. - Got a lock on?

- Yeah. Let's do this. - Okay.

- Roger.

Delta-H is still looking high.

[buzzing noises]

- 6 plus 25, throttle down.

- Okay, we have an alarm.

Can you give us a reading on the program alarm?

[electronic beeping]

Yeah, I know.

- Roger, we have good data.

- 600.

- Can you give us a reading on the program alarm?

- Stand by for that.

- Neil, abort. Hit abort!

[alarm sounds]

- Okay, guys.

That's a vehicle loss.

Save all your data.

Reset and debrief at 0800 hours.

- Sorry, Buzz.

They're gonna put that one down as a crew failure.

- Whoa, whoa.

Hey, Buzz.

- Where are you putting our names?

- [sighs]

I'm not putting them on it.

- You don't think that people will want to remember

the three guys who were destined to die up there?

- You've been in the simulator too long.

- Oh, you didn't hear about today?

Our commander deliberately crashed.

- And why would he do that?

- I don't know.

Why does he do anything?

- You're making too much noise out here.

- I'm going to bed.

- Something you want to say to me, Buzz?

- Why didn't you abort?

- It was a simulation.

- That's not an excuse.

We have to get it right every single time.

- So do they.

And on this occasion, they messed up.

- I told you to abort.

- But they didn't.

They heard the alarm.

I know what we would have done in that situation.

I wanted to see what they were gonna do.

- So what exactly did we learn from all of that?

- That we are on our own up there.

I will see you in the morning.

- Sorry I'm late.

- You're already aware of the discussion.

- Yeah, Buzz or Neil.

- Gene Aldrin's been on the phone

pressing his son's case.

- You're not gonna shut him up in a hurry.

- First guy out will be a Lindbergh,

worldwide fame and recognition.

He'll gonna have to shoulder that responsibility

the rest of his natural life.

- Neil's quiet,

calm, resolute.

Neil's what it says on the label.

Buzz is--well, you never know what you're gonna get

from one day to the next.

- Yeah, they're making us go to the moon.

We don't need any trouble on top of that.

- Well, Buzz wants it more.

- Which is a reason not to give it to him.

We all know who we want,

so why are we wasting our time here?

- Neil's first out.

- How's Neil feeling about the upcoming mission?

Has he talked to you about what he's taking up with him?

- Kids okay?

- How do you feel about--

- What's he going to say on the moon, Mrs. Armstrong?

- Get inside.

Hurry up.

- Are you worried about the return journey, Janet?

[blender whirring]

- The flowers, the house, the food, everything.

- I think there's some lemon spray

you can get for that.

- I hear you and Neil are going to the lake this weekend.

- Oh, we love it there.

- Mm.

I'll probably get Buzz to do some chores.

Dishwasher's on the blink again.

- How about you, Pat?

- I think Mike and I are just gonna relax with the kids,

try and take his mind off things.

- Is he worried?

- Would he tell me if he was?

- What are the odds?

- I think what scares him most

is the prospect of coming back alone.

Sorry.

I shouldn't have said that.

- Why avoid it?

If any of our husbands are gonna come back,

it's gonna be yours.

- Did either of you see the letter?

Both: What letter?

- "Fate has ordained

"that the men who went to the moon

"to explore in peace

"will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

"These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin,

know that there is no hope for their recovery."

And this is the first I'll hear of it?

- Apparently, the president will call you

before making the statement.

- Nixon? Nixon will call me?

- Mm-hmm, so they tell me.

- Wow.

I mean, I hope he doesn't.

- They want to be prepared for every eventuality.

That's all this is.

- Neil, why didn't you show me this before?

- It doesn't exist unless they need it.

- I think you should talk to the boys,

explain what's happening.

- I don't think they'll understand.

- They need to know that there's a good chance

their father might not come home.

- What's it made of?

- That's a good question, Rick.

Hopefully we're about to find out.

- Will it make you sick?

- Why do you ask that?

- Mom said when you come home,

you'll have to stay in a special room.

- Yeah, it's called a lunar receiving laboratory.

And it's just a precaution.

If there are germs up there,

it's important that we don't spread them.

It's like when you get a cold.

We keep you off school for a few days.

- What if you like it up there and don't want to come home?

- Living on the moon is impossible.

But I'm not gonna lie to you.

There is a chance that I won't be able to come back.

- Why not?

- Well, because nobody's ever done this before.

Things can go wrong.

But they can also go right.

So if it's at all possible, I will be coming home.

I promise.

- My friends all think you're a hero.

- Well, not yet.

- For Neil Armstrong.

Have you decided on something suitably historical

and memorable to say when you perform

this symbolic act of stepping down onto the moon

for the first time?

- No, I haven't.

- A little louder, please.

- No, I haven't.

- Will you take personal mementos to the moon, Neil?

- Well, if I had a choice, I would take more fuel.

- Will you lose your private life

after this achievement?

- [sighs]

I think that a private life is possible.

But, well, if it isn't,

then it would have been a fair exchange.

- Is there any philosophical reason for going to the moon?

- I think it's in human nature to face challenges.

We're required to do these things just as--

Well, just as salmon swim upstream.

- Houston, you are go for staging.

- At three minutes downrange, 70 miles, 43 miles high.

Velocity 9,300 feet per second.

- Inboard cutoff. - Inboard cutoff.

- Staging.

And ignition.

[rockets whooshing]

- 11, Houston. Thrust is go, all engines.

You're looking good.

- Roger. You're loud and clear, Houston.

- The Apollo 11 launch as seen from the Champs-Elysées.

[cheers and applause]

- The moment of takeoff is now.

[applause]

- The first critical phase of this flight is over.

Apollo 11 is on the way, riding that pillar of flame

from the Saturn 4 into the skies 250,000 miles away,

where the moon is waiting.

The flight could take three days.

- Tower's gone.

- Roger, tower.

- Yeah, they finally gave me a window to look out.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

You are confirmed go for orbit.

- How does zero G feel?

Your head feel funny, anybody?

Anything like that?

- It just feels like we're floating around upside down.

- I didn't feel that.

- Look at that horizon.

Get a picture of that.

- Anybody seen a camera floating loose?

It couldn't have gone far.

He's a big son of a gun.

Hey, I see a pen floating loose down here.

Anybody lost a ballpoint pen?

- Is it a ballpoint or a felt tip?

- Let me see.

Felt tip.

- I'll take it if you don't want it.

- You haven't seen the Hasselblad

anywhere down below, Buzz?

- No, I already looked.

- Ah, there it is.

It looks like trees and forests or something.

Snow and trees, fantastic.

- Apollo 11, Apollo 11.

This is Houston through ARIA 4.

Radio check, over.

- Okay.

5925.

- Saturn 4 will place the spacecraft

into a hundred-mile orbit around the Earth.

Roughly two orbits later,

the last stage of the Saturn 4 will reignite,

placing the spacecraft on a trajectory

that will lead it out to the moon.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

Slightly less than one minute to ignition,

and everything is go.

- When you feel it, that's when it is.

- There we go.

Thrust.

- Ignition.

Call it at 15.

- Okay.

- We confirm ignition, and the thrust is go.

- Threshold's good.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

At one minute, trajectory and guidance looks good,

and the stage is good.

- Apollo 11, roger.

- Don't look out window 1.

If it looks like what I see out window 5,

you don't want to look at it.

- Damn, there's sparks flying out there.

- I wouldn't worry too much about that.

- And the velocity exceeds 29,000 feet per second,

building up.

Present altitude, to 115 nautical miles,

35,000 feet per second.

Cutoff.

Apollo 11, this is Houston.

You're go for separation, over.

- Okay, Houston, we are ready to separate.

- Okay.

Thrusting.

Look at that trash.

- Hey, Houston, Apollo 11.

All 12 latches are locked.

- Uh, roger, 11. This is Houston.

Understand 12 latches locked.

- Separation complete.

Look at that SLA panel.

She's darn well unbelievable.

- Hey, Houston, Apollo 11.

That Saturn gave us a magnificent ride.

- Roger, 11. We'll pass that on.

And it certainly looks like you're well on your way now.

- Anybody ready for some music?

- That's good for me, Commander.

- Did you bring anything good?

- Oh, yeah.

- This is Apollo control at 13 hours, 27 minutes

into the flight of Apollo 11.

The spacecraft now traveling

at a speed of about 5,000 miles an hour.

And it's at a distance

of 63,880 nautical miles from Earth.

Our flight surgeon reported a short while ago

that Mike Collins appeared

to be sleeping soundly at this time.

Biomedical data on the other two crewmen...

[flatulence]

Indicates that they are still awake.

- Anybody else think we're getting too much hydrogen

in our drinking water?

- We should just cut the thrusters

and do the job ourselves.

[flatulence]

[laughter]

- How far out are we?

- Stand by.

I will give it to you exactly.

It looks like around 130,000, but stand by.

- Okay. - 125,200 miles.

And you're traveling at 4,486 feet per second.

- Pretty far and pretty slow.

Just past halfway.

- 11, Houston.

If you could comply,

we'd like to see some smiling faces up there.

If you could give us some interior views,

I'm sure everybody would like to see you, over.

That's big Mike Collins there.

- Hello, there, sports fans.

You got a little bit of me,

plus Neil is in the center couch,

and Buzz is doing the camera work at this time.

- And, Mike, you're coming in five-by.

- I would have put on a coat and tie

if I'd known about this ahead of time.

- A real good picture we're getting here.

Neil is coming in five-by there, 11.

Mike, see you in the background.

And Neil's standing on his head again.

He's trying to make me nervous.

He's disappearing up into the tunnel, of course,

as he would going into the lunar module,

only backwards.

Yeah, those are Buzz's two star charts

that he is using right now as sun shades

over the right-hand window, window number 5.

- If we can get some of the wires untangled here,

we'll give you a demonstration

of how easy push-ups are up here.

When it gets pretty hard doing it that way,

well, we just roll around and do it the other way.

- You just roll over and do it the other way.

- 11, you got a pretty big audience.

Is live in the US.

It's going live to Japan, Western Europe,

and much of South America.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

How do you read?

- The Gold stone station reports a very weak signal.

- Buzz, you got the flashlight?

- Yeah.

- Thanks, man.

- Anyone else see that?

Window 1.

- Let's have a look at that through the monocular.

- How far away is that?

- At a guess, I'd put it at 100 miles.

Not approaching.

- Anyone report a sighting like this before?

- Nothing on 8, 9, or 10.

- Are you sure?

- I think a memo like that would have stood out.

Don't you, Buzz?

- We should tell them.

- Whoa, whoa, hang on a minute. Tell them what?

- That we have an unidentified flying object.

- I don't think we should use those words, Buzz.

- Okay, what is the most likely explanation?

- Oh, let them figure that out. Just tell them.

- Could be the third stage. - That's possible.

- Well, then we need to find that out, don't we?

- Uh, Houston, Apollo 11.

- Go ahead, 11, over.

- Do you have any idea where the S4B is with respect to us?

- Stand by.

- If it's not the third stage, what do we say next?

- Neil?

- Well, why make them aware of it

if there's nothing they can do?

- Oh, we can't keep this from anyone.

They'd be interested to know.

- Yeah, that's what worries me.

What, you want this taking up resources

that could be looking out for us?

- He has a point.

- I mean, right now, it's not close to us.

It's not approaching us. It's not affecting us.

- Apollo 11, Houston. - Go ahead, Houston.

- The S4B is about 6,000 nautical miles

from you now, over.

- 6,000 miles. Okay, Houston, thank you.

- Well, at least we know what it isn't.

- We all saw those panels come away.

There's no tracking device on those.

- Could be the panel.

- Buzz?

- If that's what you say it is, Commander.

- We will lose signal with Apollo 11

at 75 hours, 41 minutes, 23 seconds

as it goes behind the moon.

- If the crew does nothing,

they will loop around the moon and return

on a free return trajectory back to the Earth.

However, at the back side of the moon,

if things are as we expect,

the crew will ignite the service propulsion system

on the spacecraft and place themselves

into an elliptical 60-mile by 170-mile orbit

around the moon.

- I don't know if we're 60 miles or not.

But at least we haven't hit that mother.

- Look at that. Look at that, 169.6 by 60.9.

- Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

You want to write that down or something, Buzz?

Write it down just for the hell of it.

170 by 60, like gangbusters.

- It's a beautiful burn.

- We only missed by a couple of tenths of a mile.

- Hello, moon.

- Oh, give me the camera.

There's a huge, magnificent crater over there.

Look at that big beauty.

Want to take a look at that, Neil?

- Yeah, yeah, I see him.

- Don't you want to get the Earth coming up?

It's gonna be nine minutes.

- Oh, let's get some pictures here first.

- You don't want to miss that first one.

- We're gonna have plenty of passes, Mike.

- Plenty of Earth rises, I guess.

There's the biggest one yet. God, it's huge.

It's so big, I can't even get it in the window.

- There's a big mother over here too.

- Come on, now, Buzz.

Don't refer to them as big mothers.

Give them some scientific name.

- Big mothers are good enough for me.

- You guys are actually gonna walk on that.

- It's one minute to loss of signal, we've been told now.

I don't know whether we're getting a transmission

from the spacecraft or not at this moment.

- Apollo 11, Apollo 11,

this is Houston broadcasting in the blind.

Request Omni Bravo, if you read us.

Request Omni Bravo, out.

Apollo 11, this is Houston.

How do you read, over?

- We hear nothing but static at this moment.

- Apollo 11, Apollo 11, this is Houston.

Do you read, over?

- We now have had confirmation of loss of signal

from the Apollo 11.

The Apollo 11 is, at the moment, on the far side of the moon.

- Houston, Apollo 11.

[static crackling]

Houston, Apollo 11, over.

[static crackling]

- Where are we, Mike?

- Well, I can't see a damned thing,

and no one's answering,

so I guess there's only one place we can be.

- We're approaching one of the critical moments of this flight.

Just 2 1/2 minutes from now,

the spacecraft should again come around

the near side of the moon.

At that time, the command module and the lunar module

will begin undocking,

beginning the maneuvers which,

in 2 hours and 32 minutes from now,

should place it on the surface of the moon.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

Radio check, over.

- Houston, this is Apollo 11.

- Roger, we're copying you about five by two, very weak.

- Anything interesting in the papers for us today?

- It looks like it's gonna be impossible

to get away from the fact that you guys

are dominating all the news back here on Earth.

- Anything happening in sports?

- Say again. - Ignore.

- Even Pravda in Russia is headlining the mission

and calls Neil the czar of the ship.

I think maybe they got the wrong mission.

- West Germany has declared Monday to be Apollo day.

Schoolchildren in Bavaria have been given the day off.

And in Italy, Pope Paul VI has arranged

for a special color TV circuit at his summer residence

in order to watch you,

even though Italian television is still black-and-white.

- Back here in Houston,

Mike Junior was quoted as replying, "Yeah,"

when somebody asked him if his daddy

was gonna be in history.

Then after a short pause, he asked,

"What is history?"

- See you later.

- You cats take it easy down there.

If I hear any huffing and puffing,

I'm gonna start bitching at you.

[hatch slams]

- From the day of our birth,

we were meant for this time and place.

Today we will land an American on the moon.

Whatever happens here today,

I will stand behind every decision you will make.

We came into this room as a team,

and we will leave as a team.

Lock the control room doors.

From now on, no person will leave or enter this room

until we have either landed, we have crashed,

or we have aborted.

Those are the only three outcomes from this time on.

- Think you've got

a fine-looking flying machine there, Eagle,

despite the fact you're upside down.

- Somebody's upside down.

- You guys take care.

- See you later.

- It's looking good.

You're still looking good.

Coming up three minutes.

- Okay, we went by the three-minute point early.

We're gonna land long.

- Rate of descent is looking pretty good.

Altitude's right about on.

- Uh, Houston, our position checks downrange

show us to be a little long.

- Roger, copy.

- AGS is showing two feet per second greater rate.

- Mike, stand by.

- Altitude rate looks right down the groove.

- Roger, about three seconds long.

That's gonna put us about three miles

out of the landing zone.

We are long.

- Delta-H is minus 2,900.

And we've got the Earth straight out our front window.

- Sure enough.

- Houston, you're looking at our Delta-H.

- That's affirmative.

- Program alarm. - It's a 1202, 1202.

- What is it? - I don't know.

- Give us a reading on the 1202 program alarm.

[electronic beeping]

- Roger, we got you. We're going that alarm.

- Roger, 330.

- 6 plus 25, throttle down.

- Roger, copy.

- 6 plus 25.

- Same alarm.

It appears to come up when we have a 1668 up.

- Roger, copy.

- Is it coming down?

- Coming down beautifully.

- Roger, Delta-H is looking good to us.

- Whoa.

- [chuckles] Throttle down.

- Throttle down on time.

- Right.

- You can feel it in here when it throttles down

better than the simulator.

- Okay, no flags.

RCS is good.

DPS is good.

Pressure okay.

- Looking great to us, Eagle.

Eagle, you're looking great.

Coming up nine minutes.

- Manual altitude control is good.

- Roger, copy.

Okay, all flight controllers, go, no-go for landing.

Retro.

- FIDO.

- Guidance. - Go.

- Control. - Go.

- GNC.

- EECOM.

- Surgeon. - Go.

- CAPCOM, we're go for landing.

- You're go for landing, over.

- Roger, understand, go for landing, 3,000 feet.

We have alarm, 1201.

-1201.

Roger, 1201 alarm.

We're go, same type.

We're go.

- 2,000 feet. 2,000 feet.

- Give me an LPD angle.

- Into the AGS.

47 degrees.

-47.

That's not a bad-looking area.

- 1,000 at 30.

- 1,000 at 30 is good.

What's LPD?

- Eagle, looking great. You're go.

- 35 degrees, 35 degrees.

750 coming down to 23.

700 feet.

21 down.

33 degrees.

- That's a pretty rocky area.

- 600 feet, down at 19.

- Okay, I'm going to manual control.

- 400 feet, down at 9.

- No problem.

- 350 feet, down at 4.

330, 3 1/2 down.

300 feet down, 3 1/2.

47 forward.

1 1/2 down.

- How's the fuel?

- 8%. - Okay.

This looks like a good area here.

- I've got the shuttle up there.

Altitude, velocity lights.

8 1/2 down.

220 feet.

13 forward.

11 forward.

Coming down nicely.

- Gonna be right over that crater.

- 200 feet, 4 1/2 down.

5 1/2 down.

- I got a good spot.

- 100 feet, 3 1/2 down.

9 forward.

5%.

Coming in nice.

Okay, 75 feet.

And it's looking good.

Down a half, 6 forward.

- 60 seconds.

- Light's on. - 60 seconds fuel remaining.

- Down 2 1/2.

Forward, forward.

40 feet, down 2 1/2.

Picking up some dust.

30 feet, 2 1/2 down.

Great shadow.

4 forward.

4 forward, drifting to the right a little.

Down a half.

- 30 seconds.

30 seconds fuel remaining.

- Contact light?

- Shut down.

- Engine stop. ACA out of detent.

- Out of detent. Auto.

- Mode control, both auto.

Descent engine command override off.

Engine arm off. - Engine arms off.

- We copy you down, Eagle.

- Houston, uh,

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.

- Oh, boy.

- Thank you.

You're looking good here.

- Mm.

- As he said, "The Eagle has landed,"

words that are due to live

in the history books for evermore.

- We'll get to the details of what's around here,

but it looks like a collection of just about every variety

of shapes, angularity,

granularity,

about every variety of rock you could find.

[laughs]

The colors, well, it varies

pretty much depending on how you're looking

relative to the zero phase point.

There doesn't appear to be

too much of a general color at all.

- Right, Tranquility.

Be advised there are lots of smiling faces in this room

and all over world, over.

- There are two of them up here.

- And don't forget one in the command module.

- Right, that was a beautiful job, you guys.

- I did it, Dad.

- Houston, Tranquility, over.

- Tranquility, Houston. Go ahead.

- Roger, this is the LEM pilot.

I'd like to take this opportunity

to ask every person listening in,

whoever, wherever they may be,

to pause for a moment and contemplate

the events of the past few hours

and to give thanks in his or her own way.

"I am the vine.

"He who abides in me and I in him

"will bear much fruit.

For apart from me..."

"You can do nothing."

[grunting]

Pressure's at 1/10 of a pound.

[sighs]

All this way, and we can't get the door open.

- You want me to take a run up and shoulder barge it?

[laughter]

- We got to get the air out somehow.

- Why don't we try the unconventional method?

I will just wedge it open.

- Okay.

Wow.

- Hold on.

You're not quite square.

- Okay.

- There you go. Now you're good.

- How am I doing?

- You're doing fine.

- 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 we're getting a picture on the TV.

- Hmm.

- Okay, Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now.

- Visual is incoming.

- I'm at the foot of the ladder.

The LEM footpaths 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.

I'm going to step off the LEM now.

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

The surface is fine and powdery.

I can kick it up loosely with my toe.

It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal,

to the sole and sides of my boots.

There seems to be no difficulty in moving around,

as we suspected.

It's even, perhaps, easier than the simulations

of 1/6 G that we performed

in various simulations on the ground.

Absolutely no trouble to walk around.

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.

- Now I'm gonna back up and partially close the hatch,

making sure not to lock it on my way out.

[laughter]

- Okay, you've got about three more steps

and then a long one.

- That's a good last step.

Beautiful view.

- Isn't that something?

Magnificent sight out here.

- Magnificent desolation.

Very, very fine powder, isn't it?

- Isn't it fine?

- Right in this area, I don't think there's much of any--

Fine powder-- clods together.

It's hard to tell whether it's a clod or a rock.

- Tell me if you got a picture, Houston.

- We got a beautiful picture, Neil.

- Okay.

- Okay, that looks good there, Neil.

Okay, that looks good, Neil.

- Columbia, Columbia, this is Houston.

AOS, over.

- Yeah, read you loud and clear.

How's it going?

- Roger, the EVA is progressing beautifully.

I believe 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.

- Looks good.

- That's all right. I don't mind a bit.

- Tranquility Base, this is Houston.

Can we get both of you on the camera for a minute, please?

- Say again, Houston.

- Roger, we'd like to get both of you

in the field of view of the camera for a minute.

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.

- That would be an honor.

- All right, 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.

I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what--

For every American,

this has to be the proudest day of our lives

and for people all over the world.

I am sure they, too, join with Americans

in recognizing what an immense feat this is.

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.

- 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 from all nations

with interest and curiosity

and with a vision for the future.

- And thank you very much.

And I look forward-- all of us look forward

to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday.

[heavy breathing]

- Okay, the hatch is closed and latched

and verified secure.

- Good job.

- Yeah, you too, Buzz.

- You smell that?

- What is that, eggs, gunpowder?

- You think people will be interested to know

that the moon doesn't smell so good?

- Let's keep this between ourselves for now.

- Tranquility Base, this is Houston.

- Go ahead. Tranquility Base here.

- Roger, just wanted to let you guys know

that since you're an hour and a half over your timeline

and we're all taking a day off tomorrow,

we're gonna leave you.

See you later.

- I don't blame you a bit.

- That's a real great day, guys.

Really enjoyed it.

- Thank you.

You couldn't have enjoyed it as much as we did.

- It was great.

- Sure wish you'd hurry up

and get that trash out of there, though.

- Okay, we're just about to do it.

- Okay.

- Columbia, this is Houston, over.

- Houston, Columbia.

Go ahead.

- Roger, unless you have some other traffic with us,

I guess we'll bid you a good night

and let you get some sleep, Mike, over.

- Okay, sounds fine.

Just having some dinner.

Oh, the last of the shrimp cocktail.

Better not mention that to Buzz.

[people cheering]

- "That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind."

- This great historic day, "men land on the moon."

[voices overlapping]

- This, then, was a long day,

exhilarating and exhausting.

- I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what--

For every American,

this has to be the proudest day of our lives.

Marsters: While the world was celebrating,

two men were still on the moon.

Because they landed long, Mike Collins in Columbia

never actually knew where they were.

- Columbia, this is Houston, over.

- This is Columbia. Go ahead.

- Roger, were you successful in spotting the LEM

on that pass?

Over.

- Negative, I checked both locations.

- Okay, if you'd like to look again next pass,

we have a different set of coordinates.

Marsters: This shouldn't have mattered

so long as the ascent engine

to rocket them off the moon worked as planned.

- Apollo 11, this is Houston.

Marsters: But on the evening of day five,

Buzz and Neil discovered a potential disaster.

A circuit breaker to activate the ascent engine,

the only way the craft would escape from the moon,

was broken.

- Did that break in the "on" or the "off" position?

- If it's open, we're not going anywhere.

Marsters: Without somehow flicking the switch,

coming home might be impossible.

- Houston, Tranquility.

Is there any way of showing the configuration

of the ascent engine arm circuit breaker?

The reason I'm asking is, it appears to be broken off.

Uh, I think we can push it in again.

I'm not sure we could pull it out

if we've pushed it in, though, over.

- Roger, we copy. Stand by, please.

- How did it happen?

- Tranquility Base, this is Houston.

Our telemetry shows the engine arm circuit breaker

in the open position at the present time.

We want you to leave it open

until it is nominally scheduled to be pushed in,

which is later on, over.

- I can't get my finger in there.

- [sighs]

- That might do it.

- Courtesy of Mike Collins.

- Tranquility Base, Houston.

Guidance recommendation is PGNS, and you're cleared for takeoff.

- Okay.

At five seconds,

I'm gonna get abort stage and engine arm.

And you're gonna hit proceed.

- Right.

- And that's all.

Okay.

On your countdown.

- Nine, eight, seven,

six, five.

Abort stage.

Engine arm ascent.

Proceed.

[sighs]

[rockets whooshing]

- 26, 36 feet per second up.

Be advised of the pitch over.

Very smooth.

Balance couple off.

Very quiet ride.

There's that one crater down there.

- We can see the shape of your vehicle now, Mike.

- Welcome home, boys.

[laughter]

You guys stink.

- You ready for some million-dollar boxes?

- Hell, yeah.

Any rocks?

[laughter]

- Damn, I knew we went for something.

[laughter]

- Congratulatory messages on the Apollo 11 mission

have been pouring into the White House

from world leaders in a steady stream all day.

Among the latest are telegrams

from Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Great Britain

and the king of Belgium.

The world's press has been dominated by news of Apollo 11.

Some newsmen estimate that more than 60%

of the news used in papers across the country today

concern your mission.

You're probably interested in the comments

that your wives have made.

Neil, Jan was asked if she considered the moon landing

the greatest moment in her life.

She said, "No, that was the day we were married."

- [chuckles]

- And, Mike, Pat said simply,

"It was fantastically marvelous."

Buzz, Joan said--

Apparently couldn't quite believe the EVA on the moon.

She said, "It was hard to think it was real

"until the men actually moved.

After the moon touchdown, I wept because I was so happy."

But she added, "The best part of the mission

will be the splashdown."

- Apollo 11, Apollo 11.

This is Hornet. Hornet, over.

- The world waited.

Never before had so many people been attuned to one event

at one time.

- So America has been to the moon and back

safely and successfully

and in the act of doing this rediscovered itself.

- The lunar age has begun...

[cheers and applause]

With a small step for man,

a giant leap for mankind,

in Armstrong's unforgettable words.

The date's now indelible.

It's going to be remembered as long as man survives:

July 20, 1969,

the day man reached and walked on the moon.

[cheers and applause]

- 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.

That challenge is one that we're willing to accept,

one we are unwilling to postpone,

and one we intend to win.

- Back on Earth, I said to Neil and Mike,

"Look, everyone's celebrating, and we missed the whole thing."

40 years later, the world is still different

thanks to all the thousands of men and women

who sent Neil, Mike, and me to the moon.