All language subtitles for When We Left Earth_ The NASA Missions - 01x03 - Landing The Eagle.CtrlHD.English.orig.Addic7ed.com

They ride the biggest rocket
ever built to the moon.

It's the culmination

of more than 10 years
of space pioneering

and a foundation
for more than four decades

of exploring worlds
beyond our own.

This is the story
of our greatest adventure.

Just two months after the last
flight of Project Gemini,

NASA is testing the rockets that
will launch men to the moon.

Space was on the
front page of the newspapers.

They would read about it
every day.

They relished in our successes.

We had learned
the new technologies of space.

We had learned
to work with computers.

We had learned to navigate.
We had learned to dock.

We had the confidence now
to take the step go to the moon.

Apollo 1 is the first chance

to test the new
three-man capsule in space.

Rookie astronaut Roger Chaffee
joins a crew of NASA elite.

Ed White -- the first American
to walk in space.

And Commander Gus Grissom,
one of the original Mercury 7

and a good bet to be the first
man to walk on the moon.

The command module is larger

than any other capsule
NASA has launched into space

and the most complex.

It was a new spacecraft.

It was something that we had to
learn from the ground up,

and we had to start
from scratch.

Project Apollo is in overdrive,

racing to get to the moon
by the end of the decade.

There are three years left.

12, 14, 16, 18 hours a day.

Day after day.

Apollo 1 is less
than four weeks from lift-off.

Tests now simulate
realistic launch conditions.

The Apollo 1 crew
was conducting their pad test

at Kennedy Space Center --

a normal procedure that we do
with all our launches.

The pad test requires
running the capsule

on its own electrical power

while pressurized with 16 pounds
per square inch of pure oxygen.

It's a deadly combination.

We should have
drawn the line and said,

"Let's call it off today.
Let's take a break."

But we did not.

A fire breaks out
in the sealed capsule.

Grissom, White, and Chaffee
suffocate from the toxic fumes.

And it was obvious,
walking into that room,

that something horrific
had occurred.

There was a fire, and
the crew got killed, which...

You know, the world stopped
at that point in time.

It changed everything.

The cause is a spark
from wiring under Grissom's seat

accelerated by the oxygen.

The astronauts are dead
within 30 seconds.

We had become complacent.

We had forgotten
the hazards associated

with a pure-oxygen atmosphere.

And we had taken too many things
for granted.

There was no question
we were responsible

for the first
space-flight disaster.

If you put a flame to aluminum
in 16 psi of oxygen,

it will burn.

NASA launches
a full investigation,

exposing deep flaws
in its procedures

and quality control problems
throughout the capsule.

Apollo 1
maybe was the catalyst

that allowed us
to pick up the pieces

and not just get the job done,
but get it done right.

The capsule is redesigned

from the inside out --

shielded wiring,
fireproof materials,

and a new hatch for quicker exit
in an emergency.

Nearly two years later,

Apollo 7 fulfills the mission
of Apollo 1,

testing the command module
in Earth orbit.

From now on we're gonna stand up

and assume responsibility
for every action,

and we'll never stop
learning again.

The next step requires
a lot more rocket power.

It's time to go to the moon.

With just four months
to prepare,

Apollo 8 will be
the first manned flight

to leave Earth orbit
for deep space.

And he said,
"We're thinking about

changing the mission of Apollo 8
and going to the moon.

Do you want to do it?"

And four months is not a long
time to change your mission.

Lot of things happened
on Apollo 8 that were,

you know, unplanned.

Since this was the first
flight on the Saturn 5,

first flight to the moon --

first of a lot of things --
it was a pretty risky flight.

Our primary mission was to go to
the moon, circle it 10 times,

and come home alive.

Borman, Lovell, and Anders

will fly the most powerful
rocket ever -- the Saturn 5.

At 363 feet,

it's the size of
a 35-story office building

and carries a million gallons
of rocket fuel.

It's been flown only twice and
never with men sitting on top.

But no other rocket can launch
a manned spaceship

beyond the bounds
of Earth orbit.

The night before the launch,

Saturn 5 was out there
with floodlights on it.

And somebody had the bad taste
of telling

it was like a two-kiloton
nuclear explosion if it blew up.

So we just hoped
it wouldn't blow up.

This is Apollo Saturn
Launch Control

at 2 hours, 20 minutes
and counting.

Countdown still going
very satisfactory at this time.

We expect that astronauts
Frank Borman, Jim Lovell,

and Bill Anders will be
coming out

in a matter of a few minutes.

We appear to have

a beautiful morning here
for a flight to the moon,

and we're also synchronizing
the clocks in the spacecraft

with the mission control center
in Houston.

I remember
going into mission control.

The sound.
The smell.

The stale pizza and the old
cookies and the burnt coffee.

You can pick up
the hum of the room.

Very shortly we're going to
launch this mission.

We were driven down
to the Saturn 5.

We were the only people, except
for a couple of nervous people,

that were near the vehicle.

It had on board around 5 million
pounds of high explosives.

And of course
there's an old, old joke about,

How does it feel to
sit on top of a vehicle

that was built
by the lowest bidder?

This is Apollo Saturn
Launch Control.

T-minus 16 minutes and counting.

I had decided that there
was about a one-third chance

that the flight
would be totally successful.

Then I thought there was
a one-third chance

that it wouldn't make it back.

The mission was more
important than anything.

It was more important than
our lives, than our families.

That's what we were there for.

We were killed more times
in simulation

than you can shake a stick at.

T-minus 90 seconds
and counting.

It was very, very cold.

We sat in there
and shivered and froze.

50 seconds and counting.
We have the power transfer.

We're now
on the flight batteries

within the launch vehicle.

45 seconds.

You could see up a little bit.

We were flat on our backs.

And I recall that

circling over the spacecraft
were a couple of sea gulls.

I've wondered what happened
to those sea gulls.

They must have been
the most surprised birds

in the world
when that thing lit up.

T-minus 15, 14, 13,

12, 11, 10, 9...

We have ignition sequence start.

The engines are on.

...4, 3, 2, 1, 0.

Lift-off.
The clock is running.

The sideways shaking
was unbelievable.

The vibration was so intense.

You couldn't see
the instrument panel.

We have cleared the tower.

I thought we'd had it,
yeah, during the launch.

Pad's clear.

I was hoping that Frank Borman

didn't have his hand
on the abort control.

He said he took his hand off,

that he'd rather die
than make a false abort.

One minute after lift-off,

the Saturn 5
is already supersonic.

Well, the Saturn 5 is
still the most powerful machine

that man has ever devised.

20 tons of fuel a second.
71/2 million pounds of thrust.

I think we were all surprised
at how strong that thing was.

It had had two or three
iffy missions before ours,

but it was a piece of cake.

It just worked beautifully.
Unbelievable.

Five engines
in the first stage

blast the Saturn 5 to
seven times the speed of sound.

The second stage cut in.
Big bang.

At 40 miles high,
it's still accelerating.

When you staged, you
were thrown forward in the belts

and then backward in the belts.

And I thought
I was being catapulted

through the instrument panel.

And the thrust looks good.

All engines, all sources show

that the stage
is burning perfectly.

The third stage fires twice --

first, the boost into orbit.

The second burn
takes the crew of Apollo 8

where no men have ever been --
deep space.

There was no way
that the Earth's gravity

could hold us back any longer.

So we were on our way.

We could see the Earth.

And we could actually
see the Earth shrink.

It was quite a sensation.

That was a very exciting ride

on that big Saturn,
but it worked perfectly.

Our good commander,
Frank Borman,

had a little problem.

I got nauseous
on the way to the moon.

I won't go
into biological details,

but basically it was a mess
in the spacecraft.

But of course we didn't
want to abort this mission.

That was the one thing
we didn't want to do.

That created an enormous
controversy back on the Earth.

The doctors had
an opportunity to say,

"Maybe we need to recall the
mission" and all that baloney.

There wasn't anything
we could do about it, anyway.

We were gonna go to the moon
whether he was sick or not.

Pretty soon, you know, we just,
"Well, what's for dinner?"

You know?

Apollo 8
hurtles through space

faster than any humans
have ever traveled

on a nonstop flight to the moon
a quarter-million miles away.

Each flight was like
a big open house,

and all the wives and all
the husbands and what have you.

Chris Kraft came over,
and I asked him,

I said, "You know, are you
as confident as Frank is

about getting back?"

It was a risk.
We know nothing is certain.

And particularly in space
flight, is anything certain?

He thought for a minute
and said, "You know, Susan,

I think we've got a good 50/50
chance of getting them back."

And I said, "Oh, thank you!

'Cause that's a lot better
than what I was thinking."

Apollo 8 is shooting
blindly for the moon.

Computers calculate
their trajectory.

If the numbers are off
by even a little,

they'll either crash
into the lunar surface

or miss the moon completely
and just keep going.

Apollo 8, Houston.

One minute to L.O.S.
All systems go.

This was one of the more
exciting parts of the flight

because we knew that
if we lost radio communication

when we were masked by the moon

when we were supposed to
on the flight plan,

we were exactly on trajectory.

All right. Roger.

Going Command reset,
tape recorder forward,

low bit rate.

We were upside down and
backwards in complete darkness.

The biggest thing on our minds,
Were we gonna hit the moon?

And at the exact millisecond

we were supposed to lose
the radio, we lost it.

You stop to think --
going 240,000 miles

and then aiming for a point
60 miles above a surface...

But I think we came out
within a mile and a half

of where we were supposed to be.

And I looked out,

and I could see
there were stars everywhere

except this big, black hole.

It was blacker than pitch.
And that was the moon.

And it made the hair stand up
on my neck.

It looked like a mess.

It had all kinds
of meteor craters and volcanoes.

And it looked very,
very unfriendly.

.5 by 60.5.

For the first time
in human history,

men look upon
the far side of the moon

with their own eyes

They're just 70 miles away.

Good to hear your voice.

Well, it was on, I don't know,

sixth or seventh or eighth
revolution, we looked up.

And that's when,
when we came into sunlight,

we were all totally amazed
by the Earthrise.

A beautiful sight.

There was a big scramble
for cameras.

Everybody started snapping away.

Fortunately for me, I had
a color film and a long lens.

Every newspaper,
every print magazine,

I think it's been on everything.

And true, it is probably one of
the greatest photographs

of that century,

seeing the Earth
as it really is.

It's tiny out there.
It's inconsequential.

It was ironic that we had come
to study the moon

and was really discovering
the Earth.

Just prior to Christmas Eve,

we read from the first few
verses of the Book of Genesis.

It wasn't just Borman,
Anders, and Lovell.

It was representative
of mankind

stepping away
from their home planet

for the first time.

The words were so beautiful.

Christmas.
The moon.

They were so far away.

Overwhelming.

Everybody cried.

The most apprehensive moment

I have ever spent
in mission control

was the disappearance
of that vehicle around the moon

on Apollo 8 for the 10th time --

to fire those rockets
to come back to the Earth.

That was the most apprehensive
time of my life.

Apollo 8 orbits
the moon for 20 hours.

One final critical burn will
lift them out of lunar orbit

and blast the command module
on a path

to intersect the Earth.

Had that rocket not fired,
I'd still be orbiting the moon.

Forever.

And I really didn't
want to do that.

That burn out of lunar
orbit was one of the biggies.

A bunch of the girls
were sitting there,

and it was pretty quiet.

And I was
extremely apprehensive.

They could go anywhere.

They could be off,
going into deep space.

Could have hit
the surface of the moon.

Anything.

The vehicle itself
could have blown up,

and we wouldn't have known
anything about it.

You light your rocket.

You do it behind the moon
to give you enough velocity

to escape lunar gravity.

And then the Earth's gravity
takes over,

and you continually accelerate.

You fall back to the Earth.

On their return journey,

the heat shield will hit
the Earth's atmosphere

at record speed.

And another NASA first --
a dawn splashdown.

By the time you approach
the Earth's atmosphere,

you're going 25,000 miles
an hour again.

It's a pretty exciting time.

Things started
getting pink and then red

and then orange and then yellow.

There's fire all around
the spacecraft.

6,000-degrees centigrade.

I kept thinking for sure

there was a hole being burned
in the bottom of the spacecraft.

You dig into the Earth's
atmosphere a little bit

and then come back out
to relieve the heat load,

then roll over 180 degrees
and go back in.

It gets like a roller coaster.

Then finally you go slow enough

that you're dropping
straight down.

We hit the water quite hard.

So here we were,
conquering heroes from the moon,

hanging in our straps

with all the trash
in the spacecraft

raining down on our faces.

We were floating
in the Atlantic

in the pitch dark
in a rough sea.

I got seasick and threw up
all over Anders and Lovell.

So that was the humble end
to a great mission.

The achievements
of Apollo 8 can't be overstated.

It paves the way for
every Apollo mission to follow.

But just circling the moon
isn't enough.

NASA still needs a spacecraft

that can land
on the lunar surface.

We couldn't go to the moon
until we figured out

if the lunar module's
gonna work or not.

That was our job.

We want to develop
the techniques

that we're gonna have to use
around the moon,

and we're gonna take
the first shot at them

here around the Earth.

Whenever I saw a model
of the lunar module,

it had these rigid sides
and really looked strong.

Turns out that the external
portions of the lunar module

are made up of Mylar
and cellophane

and is put together
with Scotch tape and staples.

We had to have pads
on the floor.

'Cause if you dropped
a screwdriver,

it would go
right through the floor.

Holy Christmas.

And we're gonna try to fly
this thing?

We had a test rig
at NASA Langley

held up by a cable that
represented five-sixths gravity,

so we had one-sixth gravity
in the spacecraft.

We flew that for a while, and
then we had a thing called LLTV.

LLTV is the ugliest-looking
contraption in the world.

It was not an exact simulation
of the lunar module.

It didn't simulate the cockpit.

But it was your own fanny
hanging out there.

In a simulator --

"Stop. You just crashed.
Let's go out and talk about it."

In the Lunar Landing
Training Vehicle, the LLTV,

you either landed it
or you ejected

or you killed yourself.

We started out
with four of these things.

They were very unstable,
and three of the four crashed.

Three people ejected,

including Neil Armstrong
during his training process.

When Armstrong ejected
from the LLTV,

ejected nearly horizontal.

Have you ever seen pictures
of him doing -- Yeah.

Scary, isn't it?

Every flight we flew
leading up to Apollo 11

was absolutely essential.

Lift-off.

We have lift-off at 11:00 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time.

Apollo 9.

David Scott, Rusty Schweickart,
and Jim McDivitt.

Their mission --

test-fly the lunar module --
the LM -- in Earth orbit.

Apollo 9,
you are go all the way.

Everything looks good.

9 was the first time we ever put
two crewmen in a spacecraft

that couldn't reenter
into the Earth's atmosphere.

And, Apollo 9, at 5 minutes,

everybody is
as happy as a clam here.

Looking good.

The command module
is sort of divided

into two environments --

one where you're lying
on your back,

looking at an instrument panel
up here.

And then the navigation station.

And you can stand up,
move around down there.

So they were really
two different things.

And then when you wanted to go
into the lunar module --

The lunar module's upside down.

So you got to turn back around.

It was the first flight

where we had
all these things together.

The LM
is the last essential piece

in the Apollo flight plan --

a spacecraft
that can land on the moon,

then rendezvous and dock
with the command module

in lunar orbit.

Flying the lunar module for the
first time was a real challenge.

3, 2, 1.
Lift-off.

All test pilots
like to be a guy

who flies the first flight
on any vehicle.

I'm sure it was in Rusty's mind,

and I know darn well
it was in my mind --

We better get back to this place
or we're gonna be toast.

I really mean toast.

Roger. I'd like there
to be light down there.

More than 17,000 miles an hour

in a machine so fragile

a few grains of sand
rushing through space

could tear it up.

The interesting thing
about the lunar module

is that you fly it standing up.

All the gauges, the panels, were
set up so we could stand up.

And the reason for that was

you get a lot better view
trying to land out the front

if you can see up close
to the window.

Fired the engine, moved away.

We went out, staged.

We blew the descent stage off.

Then we lit the ascent stage.
It worked fine.

And we maneuvered on to where we
could do the final rendezvous.

Worked just like it was planned.

The LM can fly...
at least around the Earth.

With only nine months
before the end of the decade,

there is one final test

before NASA can attempt
to land on the moon.

You know, Apollo 10 was

only the second flight
of the lunar module ever.

And we were gonna take it
to the moon.

The Apollo 10
was a total dress rehearsal

for the first lunar landing,

with the exception
of the landing itself.

Apollo 10.

You can tell
the world that we have arrived.

Apollo 10--
Tom Stafford, John Young,

and lunar module pilot
Gene Cernan.

And we were gonna
separate from the command module

and go down over the
landing site about 47,000 feet

a couple times
and re-rendezvous.

So it was somewhat
of a hairy mission.

But, you know,
that's what we were there for.

Our target was to cross
the landing site for Apollo 11

at about 47,000 feet.

Man, we came
scooting in going, what,

3,000 miles an hour over the --

At 47,000 feet, you are really,
really hauling the mail

at that point in time.

I almost felt like
I had to pick up my feet

to keep them from dragging on
the top of those mountaintops.

I mean, we really came in
low and fast.

Being the first or second man
on the moon

wasn't important to me
at that point in time,

but landing on the moon was.

What an opportunity.
What a challenge.

Well, we came close,
and we didn't land.

And Apollo 10,
I think a lot of people

thought about the kind of people
we were and, you know --

"Don't give those guys
an opportunity to land,

'cause they might."

So the ascent module --

the part we lifted off the lunar
surface with, was short-fueled.

The fuel tanks weren't full.

So had we literally tried
to land on the moon,

we never could have gotten off.

Hey, Joe,
we're about ready to dock.

Roger that.

So we did
everything except --

You know, I tell Neil I painted
a white line in the sky

so he wouldn't get lost.

And that's about what we did.

And they were able
to concentrate pretty much

on the descent itself,

which, you know,
turned out to be,

obviously,
a pretty big challenge for them.

With the success
of Apollo 10,

NASA is ready to land
the next mission on the moon.

The crew training for Apollo 11

are all veterans of space flight
from the Gemini program.

Neil Armstrong
is mission commander.

Michael Collins,
command module pilot.

And Buzz Aldrin,
lunar module pilot.

They're training
for the mission of a lifetime.

Apollo 7, 8, 9,
and 10 had all done a great job.

Each flight achieved
all its important objectives,

giving Apollo 11 all the
information that was needed

to try a descent
to the lunar surface.

Neil Armstrong was
what I'd say the quiet type.

He was very focused.

He was obviously the commander.

You could look at him,
knew he was the guy in charge.

Buzz Aldrin
was absolutely a whiz

in the operation
of the computer.

I think he knew what was
going on inside the machine.

He understood the beauty,
the complexity.

Mike Collins --

the guy that you wanted
in case you ran into problems.

Extremely competent
in his judgment.

Training for Apollo 11
is extremely intensive.

You have the training
for all of the launch phase

and all the aborts
that may occur.

You had the training
for what you were going to do

on the surface of the moon,
the extravehicular operation.

Every phase of the mission.

Only Armstrong and
Aldrin will walk on the moon.

But mission planners
are giving them plenty to do

when they get there.

We were all going
through geology training.

And frankly,
it was a real eye-opener to me.

But somehow it just seemed
a little make-believe

for us to be geologists
for that brief period of time.

So I felt some of the training
that we did was...

Not really a charade --

It was more put on for show
for the cameras

and the people watching.

And "Yeah, we'll go through
these exercises."

I guess that is a little bit
the way I looked at it.

The public's appetite
for the new celebrities of space

is insatiable and exhausting.

About two weeks before launch,

you're in
your almost fine count.

You're getting ready
for the flight-readiness review.

And we have an enormous stack
of checklists and procedures

and flight plans
that we go through.

What you want to do is
you want to get away from it all

and then start going through
your own personal preparation,

your countdown,
your last few simulations.

So it's really essential
to find some quiet time.

Eight years,
one month, and 22 days

after John Kennedy
challenged America

to land a man on the moon,

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins
are ready to fly.

The astronauts
then sat down to breakfast.

They had a menu of filet mignon,
scrambled eggs,

toast, coffee, and tea.

This is Apollo Launch Control.

We're still aiming
toward our planned lift-off

at the start
of the lunar window,

9:32 a.m. Eastern Daylight.

All the flights
sort of can be looked at

as a dangerous endeavor.

You're flying machines,
and machines break.

Nobody, you know,
wrung their hands about,

"Oh, my God.
Why am I doing this?

Look at this.

All these things can go wrong,
and this thing can break.

It's crazy.
Let's don't do it."

Everybody's standing in line.
"Let's go.

If you don't want to go,
I'll go."

This is Apollo Launch Control.

T-minus 3 hours, 4 minutes,
32 seconds and counting.

Right on time

as far as the astronaut
countdown is concerned.

The prime crew now departing
from their crew quarters

here at
the Kennedy Space Center.

The transfer van now departing

on the start
of its eight-mile trip

to Launchpad "A"
here at Complex 39.

Right now our count
at three hours, three minutes

and counting.

Well, my position in the launch

was gonna be in the center

with Neil on the left
in the commander's position

and Mike Collins on the right.

But that meant that I would be
the last one

to be put into the spacecraft.

Astronaut Edwin Aldrin
will stand by in the elevator,

seated in a chair,

while his two comrades
first board the spacecraft.

So I had
my little air-conditioning unit

all by myself.

I could look out and see the sun
beginning to come up.

And I could sort of see
the evidence

of people out there
gathered to watch.

I could see them, and they
couldn't quite see me, I guess.

Once Armstrong and Collins
are aboard,

then Aldrin will be called,

and he will take the middle seat
in the spacecraft.

This was a lonely situation.

Here I am on the outside
of this rocket.

We're gonna be
on the inside pretty soon.

And we're not gonna see
the outside again anymore

if things go right.

This is
Apollo Saturn Launch Control.

We've passed the 6-minute mark
in our countdown for Apollo 11,

the flight to land
the first men on the moon.

The swingarm now coming back
as our countdown continues.

Firing command coming in now.

We're on an automatic sequence

as the master computer
supervises hundreds of events

occurring over
these last few minutes.

T-minus 15 seconds.
Guidance is internal.

12, 11, 10, 9...

Ignition sequence start.

...6...

Once the spacecraft
rockets out of Earth orbit,

the moon is a three-day journey.

The crew
is the tip of the iceberg.

In Apollo 11, there were
400,000 people underneath

that all had to do their job
or we weren't gonna make it.

And I think every crew
realized that.

It was a team effort of NASA
that got us to the moon.

These are probably

the finest systems engineers
in the world.

They're all young.
Average age was 26.

I was the oldest guy that day.
I was 36.

"Okay, guys, it's now time
to get down to business.

We're about ready
to land a man on the moon."

And I start talking to them

because I feel compelled
to talk.

I was probably
the most emotional

of the flight directors.

"From the day of our birth,

we were meant
for this time and place.

And 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."

Then I tell my ground controller
to lock the control-room doors.

And 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.

The first thing, obviously,

that we're gonna have to do

is to undock
from the command module.

And then we rotated around

so that Mike could sort of
make a quick check

of our landing gear.

Then the first thing
we need to do

is to establish communication
with the Earth.

Houston -- Eagle.
How do you read?

Five-by Eagle.

We're standing by
for your burn report. Over.

Roger.
The burn was on time.

Tempo in the room picks up

right as we acquire
spacecraft telemetry,

and we immediately got problems.

"X" and "Z" nulled...

We got communications
problems you cannot believe.

Please have him reacquire
on the high gain. Over.

We couldn't communicate
with the lunar module.

Mike Collins could
because he could see them.

He could point his antennas
at them and talk to them.

So what we would do
is we would say,

"Mike, have the crew
select a different antenna."

Houston, we've lost them.
Tell them to go aft Omni. Over.

Take Omni Bravo or Omni Delta.

Will you roll the spacecraft
a little bit for us?

He'd roll the spacecraft,
we'd get data.

Eagle -- Houston.
We recommend you yaw 10 right.

It will help us on the high-gain
signal strength. Over.

Yeah, you should
have him now, Houston.

Eagle, we got you now.
It's looking good. Over.

And at descent minus 5 minutes,

I give the go
for a power descent.

Go. You're a go
to continue powered descent.

You're a go
to continue powered descent.

The descent
was very tricky business.

Our plan was to start
at about 50,000 feet altitude,

3,000 miles per hour, to use
one continuous rocket burn

to decelerate
to a hover in the landing area.

Eagle -- Houston.

Everything's looking good here.
Over.

Throttle up,
and I get confirmed throttle up.

And telemetry drops out again,

and I'm back
in this ground role.

Do I have enough information
to continue the descent or not?

All flight controllers,
gonna go for landing.

- RETRO.
- Go.

- FI DO.
- Go.

- Guidance.
- Go.

- Control.
- Go.

- GC.
- Go.

- Surgeon.
- Go.

Cap Com, we're go for landing.

Houston, you're a go
for landing. Over.

Program alarm.

And about that time,
we got a computer alarm of 1202.

1202.

The computer
was giving us trouble.

It was a big attention-getter.

My first thought, "Oh, no.

We've lost it.
We're not gonna make it."

All we had was 1202,
which is kind of disconcerting.

You lose information,
plus you've got an alarm,

and you don't really know
what it is.

Give us the reading
on the 1202 program alarm.

I was reaching for my checklist

to turn to this program alarm

when the guidance guy,
Steve Bales,

said, "We're go, Flight,
on that alarm."

Gene took his word.
You know, "Okay, we're go."

He didn't ask
for an explanation.

We're go.

Now the landing radar
can begin to pick up range

and velocity
of the ground beneath us.

And it compares that

with what the computer thinks
it ought to be,

and there's a big difference.

- Roger.
1201.

Well, this is extremely serious.

Is the computer breaking?

Is it telling us
it's not functioning right?

- 1201.
- Roger. 1201 alarm.

What is the alarm telling us?

We're go.
Same type. We're go.

Same type. It was a different
number, but same type.

He said, "Same type, Flight.
We're go."

47 degrees. Roger.

The computer was so busy,

and it couldn't get
all the jobs done.

So it was dropping off
these other little jobs

down on the end
and not doing them,

which were jobs that weren't
really that critical.

Just as Mission Control

decides to ignore
the computer alarms,

the LEM sends
another strange signal.

47 degrees.

We just saw
this strange trajectory

that we'd never seen
in training.

300 feet, down 31/2.
47 forward.

He went down to about 400 feet,

stopped his descent,
and leveled off

and started flying horizontally
across the moon.

He didn't tell us,
but out the window

what they were seeing
was a big boulder field.

Our computer
was steering us toward

football-stadium-sized craters
surrounded by steep slopes

and covered
with very large boulders.

250 down at 21/2.
19 forward.

Altitude, velocity light.

Neil had the one thing
we did not have.

He had the out-the-window view.

16 forward.

He knew whether he was
over a safe place to land...

200 feet.

...or over a boulder field.

My job was to tell him
how much fuel he had.

And when it had zero,
that was our best knowledge.

We had zero.

51/2 down.

9 forward.

The fuel states were falling.

And were getting close to what
was gonna be an abort situation.

100 feet, 31/2 down.
9 forward.

When we got to about 100 feet,
the low-level light came on,

and Charlie Duke gave us a call
of 60 seconds.

Simple call --
"Eagle, 60 seconds."

60 seconds.

We better get
on the ground pretty soon.

He had 60 seconds to land.

And after that 60 seconds,
it would be abort.

Down 21/2.

I didn't want to disturb
Neil's concentration

'cause I knew he was
really working that problem.

Picking up some dust.

And now the crew
is kicking up some dust.

So we know they're darn close
to the surface.

But they were scooting
pretty fast across it

last time we heard.

4 forward,
drifting to the right a little.

We used most
of our remaining fuel

finding a relatively level
and smooth landing spot.

101/2.

30 seconds.

We had 30 seconds to land.

I mean, it was deathly silent.

And I don't think he was
gonna actually abort.

I mean, that wouldn't
have been the right stuff.

Contact light.

Okay, engine stop.

ACA out of detent.

I looked over at him,
and he looked at me.

And there was not
a great emotion,

but there was a smile
of satisfaction

on both of our faces.

We shook hands.

413 is in.

And you finally can say,
"We just landed on the moon."

We hit the moon with 17 seconds
of fuel remaining.

Houston, this is Neil.
Radio check.

Neil, this is Houston.
Loud and clear.

Inside the LEM,

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
suit up for the most remarkable

extravehicular activity
of all time --

the first EVA on the moon.

Break, break.
Buzz, this is Houston.

Radio check and to verify
TV circuit breaker in.

We changed shifts.

My Cap Com replacement
was Bruce McCandless.

Bruce came in, and I told him
about the status of everything

and said, "Adios".

And I went home
and turned on my TV.

And I watched it
with everybody else

and my little kids and my wife.

And we were home watching
the first step on the moon.

Okay, Neil.

We can see you coming down
the ladder now.

I could see the moon,
and intellectually I knew

that there were friends of mine
on the moon

and that I was gonna talk
to them

and they were gonna go out
and walk around.

But I couldn't bring myself
to believe it

because the moon didn't look
any different, you know,

and surely it should have.

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

The marvel of it all.
The miracle of it all.

My God, we not only
landed on the moon,

we're getting ready
to go out and walk.

And look at those guys --

a bunch of kids seeing something
for the first time.

And you're pointing
at these things.

And it's like a --
just a joyous ride

where you hope that the ride
will never end,

that you'll never
have to get off.

You're gonna get
the contingency sample.

Okay, that's good.

As the first priority, they had
to take a scoop of lunar soil,

put the bag in a pocket
in the pressure suit.

And that guaranteed that
even if something went wrong

three or four minutes
into the space walk

that we would have some, you
know, sample of lunar material

to bring home.

Kennedy's challenge was

we would land on the moon
and we would return safely.

Didn't say anything
about picking up any rocks.

Just said, "Land on the moon."

But if one of you are gonna land
on the moon,

you ought to pick up some rocks.

15 minutes later,
Buzz Aldrin is ready

to join Armstrong
on the surface of the moon.

I could care less
who went out first

as long as they both got out
and got back in safely.

'Cause I needed both crewmen
inside the spacecraft

to accomplish my part
of the mission.

There you go.

For those
who haven't read the plaque,

we'll read the plaque

that's on the front landing gear
of this LEM.

We had a couple of things to do,

and one was to unveil the plaque
that was on the landing gear.

"We came in peace
for all mankind."

That statement really, to me,

was a very symbolic one
of not just our mission,

but all of the Apollo effort.

Columbia, this is Houston.

Reading you loud and clear.
Over.

Nearly 60 miles above them,

Michael Collins orbits the moon
alone in the command module.

Reading 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.

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

Tell me if you've got
a picture, Houston.

We got
a beautiful picture, Neil.

The flag was kind of
wrapped around the upper pole.

And as it unfurled,

there was a rod
that would snap into position.

See if you can pull that end.

But it didn't do that.

And it was sort of bunched
in one end,

so we had to even it out.

Straighten that end up a little.

And I tell people that
of all the six flags up there,

that clearly ours
was the best-looking one.

They've got the flag up now.

You can see the Stars and
Stripes on the lunar surface.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

If you look real close,

you can see that I'm saluting
the flag.

And for a military person,

that was indeed a very,
very proud moment

to be on the moon
saluting the flag.

Beautiful view.

Isn't that something?

Magnificent sight out here.

Magnificent desolation.

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.

Well, this was kind of the last
thing I thought would happen.

And I felt like I was a silent,
stuttering observer.

That would be an honor.

Go ahead, Mr. President.

I'm sure that Neil knew
that this might happen.

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 you've done.

For every American,

this has to be the proudest day
of our lives.

It was a particular moment

that was gonna be very symbolic
to people on the ground

to have the President talk
to the two guys on the moon.

For one priceless moment
in the whole history of man,

all the people on this Earth
are truly one.

I was with Mr. Nixon
in the White House.

There was some pretty long
speech he was supposed to make,

and I wrote, "I think this
would be a great mistake.

You'd be taking up airtime.

You didn't really have a lot
to do with this program.

You inherited it.

You ought to keep it simple
and keep it short."

And he did.

And thank you very much,
and I look forward --

All of us look forward to seeing
you on the Hornet on Thursday.

Armstrong and Aldrin
spend just over two hours

exploring the surface
of the moon.

You've got your feet
underneath you.

They climbed back inside,
closed the hatch,

repressurized the lunar module,
and then took a nap,

and that was basically
the space walk.

It was a technical
tour de force.

It went very nicely.

9, 8, 7, 6, 5.

Abort stage, engine-arm, ascent,
proceed.

With the planting
of the flag on the moon

by Buzz and Neil,

Kennedy's political objective
was satisfied.

Humans -- just happened
to be Americans --

actually broke free
of their own planet.

They traveled to another planet

and eventually landed on it
and explored it.

The legacy of Apollo is,

when a group of people
sees a challenge,

human beings can accept
a challenge and chart a course

and do just remarkable things.

Given a task to do,
one that seems impossible,

given the desire to do it,

humans can accomplish
almost anything.