Buzz Aldrin & Apollo 11 Buzz Aldrin & Apollo 11 By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | June 23, 2012 12:51pm ET MORE Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin poses for a snapshot while inside the Lunar Module in this July 1969 NASA image. Aldrin and astronaut Neil Armstrong were the first humans to land and walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Credit: NASA. American astronaut Buzz Aldrin made history when he became the second man to walk on the moon in 1969, just after Neil Armstrong in the Apollo 11 mission (the feats came eight years after Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space ). While on a previous mission, Aldrin established a new record for extravehicular activity and helped pioneer underwater training to prepare astronauts for their visit to space. Here is a brief biography with some facts about this well-known astronaut. Personal life Born Jan.

20, 1930 in New Jersey as Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., the astronaut received his nickname “Buzz” when his little sister pronounced the word brother as "buzzer." The family shortened it to Buzz, which Aldrin took as his legal name in 1988. Because Neil Armstrong was responsible for recording images on the moon, most of the Apollo 11 photos are of Buzz Aldrin, including this famous one which reflects the landing vehicle. Credit: NASA Aldrin's father was a Colonel in the Air Force, and his son followed his path, entering the Air Force after his graduation from West Point Military Academy in 1951. Buzz flew 66 combat missions in Korea, where he shot down two MiGs. He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. After the cease-fire between North and South Korea, Aldrin enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics in 1963, with a thesis focusing on rendezvousing piloted spacecraft. He then entered the space program. Aldrin has been married three times and has three children.

Aldrin: Gemini and Apollo missions After joining the space program in 1963, Aldrin relied on his doctoral studies to help him create docking and rendezvous techniques for space craft. He pioneered underwater training techniques, which simulated zero gravity situations and helped astronauts prepare to work in space. . [ Giant Leaps: Top Milestones of Human Spaceflight ] On Nov. 11, 1966, the Gemini 12 mission launched Aldrin and command pilot James Lovell (of Apollo 13 fame) into a four day flight, with the primary objective of rendezvousing and docking with an Agena target vehicle, as well as evaluating extravehicular activity. Aldrin spent five and a half hours outside of the craft, establishing a new record for space walks. Fourteen scientific experiments were also performed, as well. Gemini 12 was the last of the Gemini missions, and was followed by the Apollo missions. Aldrin served as lunar module pilot for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon , traveling with Commander Neil Armstrong and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins. The craft landed in the Sea of Tranquility .

On July 21, 1969, after Armstrong had become the first man on the moon, Aldrin followed Armstrong down the ladder to become the second person to walk on the surface of the moon. As he gazed at the lunar landscape, Aldrin described it as, "Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent desolation." Buzz Aldrin offers a parting salute after being eliminated from ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" on Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Credit: ABC One of Armstrong's roles while on the moon was to document the trip, so the majority of the Apollo 11 pictures are of Aldrin, including the famous visor shot reflecting the Eagle Lander and Armstrong. Eight days after its launch, Apollo 11 returned home, landing in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. Aldrin was decorated with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American peacetime award. He toured the world with his fellow astronauts. After NASA In 1971, Aldrin resigned from NASA, having logged 289 hours and 53 minutes of time in space. Almost 8 hours of his travel were spent outside of a vehicle.

He retired from the Air Force in 1972, after almost two decades. In recent years, Aldrin has used his fame to continue to lobby for the expansion of the space program, specifically calling for a return to moon and manned visits to Mars. In 2009, he called for putting humans on Mars by 2031. He has somewhat famously danced on “ Dancing with the Stars ” and been on Comedy Central’s “ The Colbert Report .” —Nola Taylor Redd Apollo 11 - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Apollo Program: Background The American effort to send astronauts to the moon had its origins in an appeal President John Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal.In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Did You Know?

President Richard Nixon spoke with Armstrong and Aldrin via a telephone radio transmissionshortly after they planted the American flag on the lunar surface. Nixon considered it the "most historic phone call ever made from the White House." Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination. Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida , when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968 Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit.

That May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. Apollo 11 Mission: July 16-July 24, 1969 At 9:32 a.m. EDT on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong , Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (1930-) aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:17 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility.

Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas , a now-famous message: “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the module’s ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation. At 10:56 p.m., as Armstrong stepped off the ladder and planted his foot on the moon’s powdery surface, he spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests and spoke with President Richard Nixon (1913-94) via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed.

The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:50 p.m. on July 24. Apollo Program: Final Missions There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13 (whose lunar landing was aborted due to technical difficulties). The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan (1934-) and Harrison Schmitt (1935-) of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972.

The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars). The expense was justified by Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability. Tags Apollo 11: First Men on the Moon Apollo 11: First Men on the Moon By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | July 25, 2012 03:39pm ET MORE Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin Aldrin photographed this iconic photo, a view of his footprint in the lunar soil, as part of an experiment to study the nature of lunar dust and the effects of pressure on the surface during the historic first manned moon landing in July 1969. Credit: NASA The historic launch of the Apollo 11 mission carried three astronauts toward the moon. Two of them would set foot on the lunar surface for the first time in human history as millions of people around the world followed their steps on television. The astronauts The crew of Apollo 11 were all experienced astronauts.

All three had flown missions into space before. Cmdr. Neil Armstrong , 38, had previously piloted Gemini 8, the first time two vehicles docked in space. Born Aug. 5, 1930, in Ohio, Armstrong was 38 when he became the first civilian to command two American space missions. Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. Credit: NASA Col. Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin , 39, was the first astronaut with a doctorate to fly in space. Born Jan. 20, 1930, in New Jersey, Aldrin piloted Gemini 12, taking a two-hour, twenty-minute walk in space to demonstrate that an astronaut could work efficiently outside of the vehicle. For Apollo 11, he served as the lunar module pilot. The command module pilot, Lt. Col. Michael Collins, 38, was born in Italy on Oct. 31, 1930. The pilot of Gemini 10, Collins spent almost an hour and a half outside of the craft on a space-walk and became the first person to meet another spacecraft in orbit.

From Earth to the moon Mission planners at NASA studied the lunar surface for two years, searching for the best place to make the historic landing. Using high-resolution photographs taken by the Lunar Orbiter satellite and close-up photographs taken by the Surveyor spacecraft, they narrowed the initial thirty sites down to three. Influencing factors included the number of craters and boulders, few high cliffs or hills, and a relatively flat surface. The amount of sunlight was also a factor in determining the best time to land on the lunar surface. Apollo 11 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:32 a.m. EDT on July 16, 1969. While in flight, the crew made two televised broadcasts from the interior of the ship, and a third transmission as they drew closer to the moon, revealing the lunar surface and the intended approach path. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module, nicknamed the "Eagle" and separated from the Command Service Module — the "Columbia" — headed toward the lunar surface. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin poses with the American flag on the surface of the moon in July 1969.

Credit: NASA The lunar module touched down on the moon's Sea of Tranquility , a large basaltic region, at 4:17 p.m. EDT. Armstrong notified Houston with the historic words, "Houston, this is Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed." For the first two hours, Armstrong and Aldrin checked all of the systems, configured the lunar module for the stay on the moon, and ate. They decided to skip the scheduled four-hour rest to explore the surface. A camera in the Eagle provided live coverage as Armstrong descended down a ladder at 11:56 p.m. on July 20, 1969, and uttered the words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin followed twenty minutes later, with Armstrong recording his descent. Armstrong had the responsibility to document the landing, so most of the images taken from the Apollo 11 mission were of Aldrin. [Images: NASA's Historic Apollo 11 Moon Landing in Pictures ] While on the surface, the astronauts set up several experiments, collected samples of lunar soil and rock to bring home, erected a United States flag, and took core samples from the crust.

They spoke with U.S. President Richard Nixon, whose voice was transmitted from the White House, and placed a plaque that stated: HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON JULY 1969, A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND Memorial medallions with the names of the three astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1 fire and two cosmonauts who were also deceased, including the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin , remained after the astronauts left, as did a one-and-a-half-inch silicon disk with goodwill messages from 73 countries, and as the names of congressional and NASA leaders. Armstrong spent a little over two and a half hours outside of the Eagle. The astronauts traveled a total distance of about 3,300 feet (1 kilometer) as they walked around, traveling as far as 200 feet (60 meters) from the module to visit a large crater. They collected 47.51 pounds (21.55 kilograms) of samples from the moon, and reported that mobility on the moon was easier than anticipated.

Apollo 11 astronauts, still in their quarantine van, are greeted by their wives upon arrival at Ellington Air Force Base on July 27, 1969. Credit: NASA At 1:54 p.m. EDT, having spent a total of 21 and a half hours on the moon , the lunar module blasted back to where Collins sat in the Columbia. The two vehicles docked, and the crew and samples transferred to the Command Service Module before the Eagle was jettisoned into space. The astronauts headed back home. The team splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:50 p.m. EDT on July 24, only a few miles from the recovery ship, the U.S.S. Hornet. After donning biological isolation garments, the crew left the Columbia and climbed into a rubber boat, where they were rubbed down with iodine in an effort to stem potential contamination. They traveled by helicopter to a Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard the ship before being taken to Houston. They remained quarantine until Aug. 10, having completed the national goal set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961, to perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.

This is part of a SPACE.com series of articles on the Greatest Moments in Flight, the breakthrough events that paved the way for human spaceflight and its next steps: asteroid mining and bases on the moon and Mars. Related: Armstrong walks on moon - Jul 20, 1969 - HISTORY.com Armstrong walks on moon Publisher A+E Networks At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy’s bold proposal.

In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination. Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire. Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit. Then in May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission. At 9:32 a.m.

on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: “The Eagle has landed.” At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the lunar module’s ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation.

At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be “that’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” He then planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface, took a cautious step forward, and humanity had walked on the moon. “Buzz” Aldrin joined him on the moon’s surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module.

Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon–July 1969 A.D–We came in peace for all mankind.” At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars).

The expense was justified by Kennedy’s 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability. Related Videos Apollo 11 (AS-506) | National Air and Space Museum Apollo 11 (AS-506) Lunar Landing Mission Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. The first steps by humans on another planetary body were taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969. The astronauts also returned to Earth the first samples from another planetary body. Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission - to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth - and paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow. Summary of Events The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched from Cape Kennedy at 13:32:00 UT on July 16, 1969. After 2 hr and 33 min in Earth orbit, the S-IVB engine was reignited for acceleration of the spacecraft to the velocity required for Earth gravity escape. Lunar-orbit insertion began at 75:50 ground elapsed time (GET).

The spacecraft was placed in an elliptical orbit (61 by 169 nautical miles), inclined 1.25 degrees to the lunar equatorial plane. At 80:12 GET, the service module propulsion system was reignited, and the orbit was made nearly circular (66 by 54 nautical miles) above the surface of the Moon. Each orbit took two hours. Photographs taken from lunar orbit provided broad views for the study of regional lunar geology. The lunar module (LM), with Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin aboard, was undocked from the command-service module (CSM) at 100:14 GET, following a thorough check of all the LM systems. At 101:36 GET, the LM descent engine was fired for approximately 29 seconds, and the descent to the lunar surface began. At 102:33 GET, the LM descent engine was started for the last time and burned until touchdown on the lunar surface. Eagle landed on the Moon 102 hr, 45 min and 40 sec after launch.

Immediately after landing on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared the LM for liftoff as a contingency measure. Following the meal, a scheduled sleep period was postponed at the astronauts' request, and the astronauts began preparations for descent to the lunar surface. Astronaut Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first. While descending, he released the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) on which the surface television camera was stowed, and the camera recorded humankind's first step on the Moon at 109:24:19 GET (pictured at left). A sample of lunar surface material was collected and stowed to assure that, if a contingency required an early end to the planned surface activities, samples of lunar surface material would be returned to Earth. Astronaut Aldrin subsequently descended to the lunar surface.

The astronauts carried out the planned sequence of activities that included deployment of a Solar Wind Composition (SWC) experiment, collection of a larger sample of lunar material, panoramic photographs of the region near the landing site and the lunar horizon, closeup photographs of in place lunar surface material, deployment of a Laser-Ranging Retroreflector (LRRR) and a Passive Seismic Experiment Package (PSEP), and collection of two core-tube samples of the lunar surface. Approximately two and a quarter hours after descending to the surface, the astronauts began preparations to reenter the LM, after which the astronauts slept. The ascent from the lunar surface began at 124:22 GET, 21 hours and 36 minutes after the lunar landing. In transearth coast only one of four planned midcourse corrections was required. The CM entered the atmosphere of the Earth with a velocity of 36,194 feet per second (11,032 meters per second) and landed in the Pacific Ocean. From NASA SP-214, Preliminary Science Report. Apollo 11 Moon Landing 45 Years Ago on July 20, 1969: Relive the Moment!

- With an Image Gallery and Watch the Restored EVA Here - Universe Today Apollo 11 Moon Landing 45 Years Ago on July 20, 1969: Relive the Moment! – With an Image Gallery and Watch the Restored EVA Here Article Updated: 23 Dec , 2015 by Ken Kremer The Eagle Prepares to Land The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia. Inside the module were Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. The long rod-like protrusions under the landing pods are lunar surface sensing probes. Upon contact with the lunar surface, the probes sent a signal to the crew to shut down the descent engine. Image Credit: NASA Watch the restored EVA video below and on NASA TV on July 20 starting at 10:39 p.m.

EDT[/caption] Man first walked on the Moon 45 years ago today on July 20, 1969 when American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin opened the hatch to the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, climbed down the ladder and set foot on the surface – marking mankind’s greatest achievement. They came in peace for all mankind! You can relive the historic moment with the gallery of Apollo 11 NASA images collected here and by watching NASA’s restored video of the moonwalk, or extravehicular activity (EVA) by Armstrong and Aldrin – watch video below. The Apollo 11 EVA began at 10:39:33 p.m. EDT. NASA TV is also broadcasting a replay of the historic moonwalk tonight (July 20) to commemorate the anniversary starting at 10:39 p.m. EDT, with the restored footage of Armstrong and Aldrin’s historic steps on the lunar surface. You can view the NASA TV Apollo 11 EVA webcast – here .

The Eagle had landed on the Moon’s desolate surface on the Sea of Tranquility (see map below) barely 6 hours earlier at 4:18 p.m EDT. And only 30 seconds of fuel remained as Armstrong searched for a safe landing spot. Neil Armstrong was the commander of the three man crew of Apollo 11, which included fellow moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and Command module pilot Michael Collins. Here is NASA’s restored video of the Apollo 11 EVA on July 20, 1969: Video Caption: Original Mission Video as aired in July 1969 depicting the Apollo 11 astronauts conducting several tasks during extravehicular activity (EVA) operations on the surface of the moon. The EVA lasted approximately 2.5 hours with all scientific activities being completed satisfactorily. The Apollo 11 EVA began at 10:39:33 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969 when Astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first. While descending, he released the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly on the Lunar Module’s descent stage.

The trio blasted off atop a 363 foot-tall Saturn V rocket from Launch Complex 39A on their bold, quarter of a million mile moon mission from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida on July 16, 1969 to fulfill the lunar landing quest set by President John F. Kennedy early in the decade. The three-stage Saturn V generated 7.5 million pounds of thrust and propelled the trio into space and immortality. Apollo 11 Official Crew Portrait. Official crew photo of the Apollo 11 Prime Crew. From left to right are astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module Pilot. Image Credit: NASA The Apollo 11 mission was truly a global event. Armstrong and Aldrin safely touched down at the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969 at 4:18 p.m EDT as hundreds of millions across the globe watched in awe and united in purpose. “Houston, Tranquility Base here.

The Eagle has landed !,” Armstrong called out and emotional applause erupted at Mission Control – “You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.” Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong stands on the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969, the first human to do so. Credit: NASA/CBS/YouTube (screenshot) Armstrong carried all of humanity with him when he stepped off the footpad of NASA’s Apollo 11 Lunar Module and became the first representative of the human species to walk on the surface of another celestial body. Armstrong’s first immortal words: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” During their 2 ½ hours moonwalk Armstrong and Aldrin unveiled a plaque on the side of the lunar module. Armstrong read the words; “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” On the Lunar Surface – Apollo 11 astronauts trained on Earth to take individual photographs in succession in order to create a series of frames that could be assembled into panoramic images.

This frame from fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s panorama of the Apollo 11 landing site is the only good picture of mission commander Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface. Credit: NASA The duo collected about 50 pounds (22 kg) of priceless moon rocks and set out the first science experiments placed by humans on another world. The moon rocks were invaluable in informing us about the origin of the Earth – Moon system. Aldrin on the Moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle during the Apollo 11 mission. Mission commander Neil Armstrong took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins remained with the command and service modules in lunar orbit. Image Credit: NASA Altogether Armstrong and Aldrin spent about 21 hours on the moon’s surface. Then they said goodbye to the greatest adventure and fired up the LM ascent engine to rejoin Michael Collins circling above in the Apollo 11 Command Module.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the Lunar Surface during 1st human moonwalk in history 45 years ago on July 20, 1969 during Apollo 1l mission. Credit: NASA Following the triumphant moonwalk and docking, the crew set their sights for the journey back to the Home Planet. Apollo 11 logo The Apollo 11 mission ended with a successful splash down off Hawaii on July 24. The crew, NASA and America achieved President Kennedy’s challenge of men walking on the Moon before the decade was out and returning safely to Earth. Armstrong passed away at age 82 on August 25, 2012 due to complications from heart bypass surgery. Read my prior tribute articles: here and here Surviving crew members Aldrin and Collins will join NASA Administrator Charles Bolden at a ceremony on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center. Bootprint. A close-up view of astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with the 70mm lunar surface camera during Apollo 11’s sojourn on the moon. Image Credit: NASA Altogether a dozen Americans have walked on the Moon during NASA’s five additional Apollo lunar landing missions.

No human has returned since the final crew of Apollo 17 departed the Moon’s surface in December 1972. One legacy of Apollo is the International Space Station (ISS) where six astronauts and cosmonauts work together on science research to benefit mankind. Notably, the Cygnus commercial cargo ship berthed at the ISS on the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 liftoff bringing over 3600 pounds of science experiments and supplies to the station. NASA’s next big human spaceflight goals are building commercial ‘space taxis’ to low Earth orbit in this decade, an asteroid retrieval mission in the 2020s and voyages to Mars in the 2030s using the new SLS rocket and Orion deep space crew capsule currently under development. Stay tuned here for Ken’s Earth & Planetary science and human spaceflight news. By Ken Kremer - Dr.

Ken Kremer is a speaker, research scientist, freelance science journalist (Princeton, NJ) and photographer whose articles, space exploration images and Mars mosaics have appeared in magazines, books, websites and calendars including Astronomy Picture of the Day, NBC, FOX, BBC, SPACE.com, Spaceflight Now, Science and the covers of Aviation Week & Space Technology, Spaceflight and the Explorers Club magazines. Ken has presented at numerous educational institutions, civic & religious organizations, museums and astronomy clubs. Ken has reported first hand from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, NASA Wallops, NASA Michoud/Stennis/Langley and on over 70 launches including 8 shuttle launches. He lectures on both Human and Robotic spaceflight - Follow Ken on Facebook and Twitter NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details Apollo 11 Command and Service Module (CSM) NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 1969-059A Description Apollo 11 was the first mission in which humans walked on the lunar surface and returned to Earth. On 20 July 1969 two astronauts (Apollo 11 Commander Neil A. Armstrong and LM pilot Edwin E.

"Buzz" Aldrin Jr.) landed in Mare Tranquilitatis (the Sea of Tranquility) on the Moon in the Lunar Module (LM) while the Command and Service Module (CSM) (with CM pilot Michael Collins) continued in lunar orbit. During their stay on the Moon, the astronauts set up scientific experiments, took photographs, and collected lunar samples. The LM took off from the Moon on 21 July and the astronauts returned to Earth on 24 July. Mission Profile After launch on Saturn V SA-504 on 16 July 1969 at 13:32 UT (9:32 a.m. EDT) from pad 39A of Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 11 entered Earth orbit. After 1 1/2 Earth orbits, the S-IVB stage was re-ignited at 16:16:16 UT for a translunar injection burn of 5 minutes, 48 seconds putting the spacecraft on course for the Moon. The CSM separated from the S-IVB stage containing the LM 33 minutes later, turned around and docked with the LM at 16:56:03 UT.

About an hour and 15 minutes later the S-IVB stage was injected into heliocentric orbit. During translunar coast a color TV transmission was made from Apollo 11 and on 17 July a 3-second mid-course correction burn of the main engine was performed. Lunar orbit insertion was achieved on 19 July at 17:21:50 UT by a retrograde firing of the main engine for 357.5 seconds while the spacecraft was behind the Moon and out of contact with Earth. A later 17 second burn circularized the orbit. On 20 July Armstrong and Aldrin entered the LM for final checkout. At 17:44:00 the LM and CSM undocked. After a visual inspection by Collins, at 18:11:53 a separation maneuver was performed, moving the two spacecraft apart. The LM descent engine fired for 30 seconds at 19:08 UT, putting the craft into a descent orbit with a closest approach 14.5 km above the Moon's surface.

At 20:05 the LM descent engine fired for 756.3 seconds and descent to the lunar surface began. The LM landed at 20:17:40 UT (4:17:40 p.m. EDT) in Mare Tranquilitatis (the Sea of Tranquility), Armstrong reporting, "Houston, Tranquility Base here - the Eagle has landed." Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface at 02:56:15 UT on 21 July (10:56:15 p.m. July 20 EDT) stating, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", and Aldrin followed 19 minutes later. The astronauts deployed the EASEP and other instruments, took photographs, and collected 21.55 kg of lunar rock and soil. The astronauts traversed a total distance of about 250 meters. The EVA ended at 5:11:13 UT when the astronauts returned to the LM and closed the hatch.

The LM lifted off from the Moon at 17:54:01 UT on 21 July after 21 hours, 36 minutes on the lunar surface. After docking with the CSM at 21:34:00 UT, the LM was jettisoned into lunar orbit at 00:01:01 UT on 22 July. Transearth injection began at 04:54:42 UT on 22 July with a 2 1/2 minute firing of the CSM main engine. A mid-course correction was made later on 22 July. The CM separated from the SM at 16:21:13 UT on 24 July. Apollo 11 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 24 July 1969 at 16:50:35 UT (12:50:35 p.m. EDT) after a mission elapsed time of 195 hrs, 18 mins, 35 secs.

The splashdown point was 13 deg 19 min N, 169 deg 9 min W, 400 miles SSW of Wake Island and 24 km (15 mi) from the recovery ship USS Hornet. The performance of the spacecraft was excellent throughout the mission. The primary mission goal of landing astronauts on the Moon and returning them to Earth was achieved. Armstrong was a civilian on his second spaceflight (he'd previously flown on Gemini 8), Aldrin was a USAF Colonel on his second spaceflight (Gemini 12), Collins was a USAF Lt. Colonel also on his second flight (Gemini 10). The backup crew for this mission was Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and William Anders. The Apollo 11 Command Module is on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Spacecraft and Subsystems As the name implies, the Command and Service Module (CSM) comprised two distinct units: the Command Module (CM), which housed the crew, spacecraft operations systems, and re-entry equipment, and the Service Module (SM) which carried most of the consumables (oxygen, water, helium, fuel cells, and fuel) and the main propulsion system. The total length of the two modules attached was 11.0 meters with a maximum diameter of 3.9 meters. Block II CSM's were used for all the crewed Apollo missions. The Apollo 11 CSM mass of 28,801 kg was the launch mass including propellants and expendables, of this the Command Module (CM 107) had a mass of 5557 kg and the Service Module (SM 107) 23,244 kg. Telecommunications included voice, television, data, and tracking and ranging subsystems for communications between astronauts, CM, LM, and Earth. Voice contact was provided by an S-band uplink and downlink system. Tracking was done through a unified S-band transponder.

A high gain steerable S-band antenna consisting of four 79-cm diameter parabolic dishes was mounted on a folding boom at the aft end of the SM. Two VHF scimitar antennas were also mounted on the SM. There was also a VHF recovery beacon mounted in the CM. The CSM environmental control system regulated cabin atmosphere, pressure, temperature, carbon dioxide, odors, particles, and ventilation and controlled the temperature range of the electronic equipment. Command Module The CM was a conical pressure vessel with a maximum diameter of 3.9 m at its base and a height of 3.65 m. It was made of an aluminum honeycomb sandwhich bonded between sheet aluminum alloy. The base of the CM consisted of a heat shield made of brazed stainless steel honeycomb filled with a phenolic epoxy resin as an ablative material and varied in thickness from 1.8 to 6.9 cm. At the tip of the cone was a hatch and docking assembly designed to mate with the lunar module. The CM was divided into three compartments.

The forward compartment in the nose of the cone held the three 25.4 m diameter main parachutes, two 5 m drogue parachutes, and pilot mortar chutes for Earth landing. The aft compartment was situated around the base of the CM and contained propellant tanks, reaction control engines, wiring, and plumbing. The crew compartment comprised most of the volume of the CM, approximately 6.17 cubic meters of space. Three astronaut couches were lined up facing forward in the center of the compartment. A large access hatch was situated above the center couch. A short access tunnel led to the docking hatch in the CM nose. The crew compartment held the controls, displays, navigation equipment and other systems used by the astronauts. The CM had five windows: one in the access hatch, one next to each astronaut in the two outer seats, and two forward-facing rendezvous windows. Five silver/zinc-oxide batteries provided power after the CM and SM detached, three for re-entry and after landing and two for vehicle separation and parachute deployment. The CM had twelve 420 N nitrogen tetroxide/hydrazine reaction control thrusters. The CM provided the re-entry capability at the end of the mission after separation from the Service Module.

Service Module The SM was a cylinder 3.9 meters in diameter and 7.6 m long which was attached to the back of the CM. The outer skin of the SM was formed of 2.5 cm thick aluminum honeycomb panels. The interior was divided by milled aluminum radial beams into six sections around a central cylinder. At the back of the SM mounted in the central cylinder was a gimbal mounted re-startable hypergolic liquid propellant 91,000 N engine and cone shaped engine nozzle. Attitude control was provided by four identical banks of four 450 N reaction control thrusters each spaced 90 degrees apart around the forward part of the SM. The six sections of the SM held three 31-cell hydrogen oxygen fuel cells which provided 28 volts, two cryogenic oxygen and two cryogenic hydrogen tanks, four tanks for the main propulsion engine, two for fuel and two for oxidizer, and the subsystems the main propulsion unit. Two helium tanks were mounted in the central cylinder. Electrical power system radiators were at the top of the cylinder and environmental control radiator panels spaced around the bottom.

Apollo Program The Apollo program included a large number of uncrewed test missions and 12 crewed missions: three Earth orbiting missions (Apollo 7, 9 and Apollo-Soyuz), two lunar orbiting missions (Apollo 8 and 10), a lunar swingby (Apollo 13), and six Moon landing missions (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17). Two astronauts from each of these six missions walked on the Moon (Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Gene Cernan, and Harrison Schmitt), the only humans to have set foot on another solar system body. Total funding for the Apollo program was approximately $20,443,600,000.

For information on the Lunar Module and details of activities on the lunar surface, see: Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States Mass: 28801.0 kg NASA-Office of Manned Space Flight (United States) Disciplines Amazon.com: Apollo 11: The Eagle Has Landed: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin Jr, Robert Garofalo: Movies & TV $39.94 Prime Editorial Reviews On July 16th 1969, Apollo 11 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the Apollo 11 mission was to land men on the lunar surface and to return them safely to Earth. On board were astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr, Lunar Module Pilot. 76 hours after launch, the spacecraft was inserted into lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Lunar Module preparing for descent to the lunar surface. Twenty four hours later the two spacecraft were undocked and the Command and Service Modules separated from the Lunar Module.

On the 20th July 1969, after four days in space, the now legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the surface of the Moon, uttering the unforgettable and now famous statement, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". This momentous occasion of Neil Armstrong, shortly followed by Buzz Aldrin, setting foot on the 'Sea Of Tranquility' from the lunar module 'Eagle', was broadcast live to a staggering 600 million people around the world. This ninety minute feature length 'award-winning' documentary, voiced by TV's 'Dr Who', Tom Baker, is a fascinating and compelling insight into the story of Apollo 11 and man's conquest of spce and the race for the moon. One of the greatest moments of the 20th Century DVD Extras: "Remembering Apollo 11" A Talk By Michael Collins And Jim McDivitt.

Special Features Apollo 11, Untold Stories of the Moon Landing, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin - ABC News ABC News Apollo 11: Untold Stories of the Moon Race By NED POTTER Email "That's one small step for a man...." said Neil Armstrong -- but depending on whom you ask, they may not have been the first words spoken from the moon. They weren't? Armstrong's crewmate, Buzz Aldrin, sometimes claims that he got in the first line. Six hours earlier, as the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle touched down, it was Aldrin who called out, "Contact light." Forty years after that historic day, myths and forgotten stories continue to hover over what Armstrong called Tranquility Base. Here, in a similar spirit, are a half dozen things you may never have heard about Apollo 11. Play null It Almost Didn't Happen The computer on board Eagle was not much more powerful than a digital watch today, and as the ship descended, its rocket engine at full blast, Armstrong realized the system was steering the astronauts toward a rugged crater the size of a football field. Click HERE for full coverage of Apollo 11's 40th anniversary.

He took over control, and went shooting over the landscape in search of smoother ground. As he went, Eagle gulped fuel. They ran so low that Aldrin called out, "Contact light," just 17 seconds before mission control would have told the astronauts to jettison the ship's landing stage, fire the ascent engine and abort the landing. Would Armstrong, knowing by then he was so close, actually have made that risky move? We will never know. Armstrong: Luck of the Draw Armstrong's name will live in history. Many people thought at the time he was hand-picked by NASA for the moon landing; he happened to be the only Apollo commander who wasn't a military officer at the time. But the astronauts' boss, Deke Slayton, had a system of rotating crews among missions. He picked six three-man teams . Each would be the backup crew for one flight, and then actually fly three flights later. Neil Armstrong happened to be the backup commander of Apollo 8, which made him the commander of Apollo 11 – which would not have been the lunar landing flight if Apollo 9 and Apollo 10 had gone badly. First Man on the Moon: Frank Borman? Do you remember Borman's name?

He, James Lovell and William Anders flew Apollo 8 around the moon on Christmas Eve, 1968 -- and Slayton thought that experience might make the difference between success and failure for the actual landing. So, breaking with his system, he offered Borman the chance to jump ahead in line and make the lunar landing flight. Andrew Chaikin, co-author with Victoria Kohl of "Voices from the Moon," interviewed both men, and says Borman turned the offer down. "He was a team player, a military man, happy to have made a big play, but he didn't feel the need to score the touchdown," said Chaikin. "And his wife was anxious for him to stop flying and risking his life." So Slayton went back to his regular crew-rotation system, and it is Armstrong's name we are hearing today. No Pictures, Please Think of all the vivid color photographs you've seen of the Apollo 11 astronauts on the lunar surface. Almost all the pictures are of Buzz Aldrin, not of Armstrong. It is one of those nasty little details of history that Neil Armstrong carried the only still camera on the moon walk – so the pictures are by him, not of him.

He got Aldrin coming down the ladder to the ground, posing with the American flag, setting up experiments, etc., but Aldrin did not return the favor. Apollo 11: the Lost Stories Armstrong did lend Aldrin the camera for a few minutes, during which he mostly shot rocks. Aldrin did shoot one panorama of the landing site, and Armstrong is seen in the corner of one frame. From the rear. The Russians Are Coming John F. Kennedy was candid about his reasons for the moon race: he wanted to beat the Russians there. By 1969 it was clear the Americans were ahead, but it's been revealed since that up until the last, the Soviets were still trying to win. Theirs was a high-risk, go-for-broke plan. They built a giant rocket, called the N-1, 345 feet tall, with no fewer than 30 rocket nozzles in its first stage. It was more powerful than the Saturn V that launched the Apollo missions. The Soviets would have launched two cosmonauts, and only one of them would have landed on the moon. One man, alone, on an entire world. But the N-1 proved too complex for its own good.

It never had a successful test launch, and after Apollo's success, it was abandoned. Apollo 13 Could Have Ended It Public interest in the moon waned quickly after Apollo 11. But then came Apollo 13 in April 1970, and the oxygen tank explosion that almost killed astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise. Suddenly, the public focused again on space -- in a way that made many in Washington and Houston nervous. In the end, says author Andrew Chaikin, Apollo 13 proved to be "NASA's finest hour." The 1994 movie, starring Tom Hanks as Lovell, was nominated for a best picture of the year Oscar. But in 1970, there were a lot of nervous officials in Houston, and in the administration of President Richard Nixon. "There were people saying to Nixon, 'You're liable to have a disaster on your watch and you shouldn't keep this thing going,'" says Chaikin. In the end, Nixon let the program continue. "It turns out," says Chaikin, "that Richard Nixon liked heroes." 0 Shares

Question: What was the name of Apollo 11's Lunar Module that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the moon in 1969?
Answer: Eagle