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| Mission Insignia | |
|---|---|
| Mission Statistics | |
| Mission Name: | Apollo 11 |
| Call Sign: | Command module: Columbia Lunar module: Eagle |
| Number of Crew: | 3 |
| Launch: | July 16, 1969 13:32:00 UTC Kennedy Space Center LC 39A |
| Lunar Landing: | July 20, 1969 20:17:40 UTC Sea of Tranquility 0° 40' 26.69" N, 23° 28' 22.69" E (based on the IAU Mean Earth Polar Axis coordinate system) |
| Lunar EVA length: | 2 h 31 min 40 s |
| Lunar Surface Time: | 21 h 36 min 20 s |
| Lunar Sample Mass: | 21.55 kg |
| Landing: | July 24, 1969 16:50:35 UTC 13° 19' N — 169° 9' W |
| Time in Lunar Orbit: | 59 h 30 min 25.79 s |
| Mass: | (see mission parameters) |
| Crew Picture | |
L-R: Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin | |
| Apollo 11 Crew | |
The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned lunar landing. It was the fifth manned mission in the Apollo program.
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
― Neil Armstrong
On July 20, while on the far side of the moon, the lunar module, called "Eagle," separated from the "Columbia". Collins remained aboard Columbia while Eagle, carrying Armstrong and Aldrin, descended to the surface. After a careful visual inspection, Eagle fired its engine and began its descent. During the descent to the lunar surface, the astronauts noticed that the intended landing site was rockier than surveillance photographs had indicated. Armstrong took manual control of the lunar module at that point, and guided it to a landing at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 20 with less than 30 seconds' worth of fuel left in the lunar module.
The first Apollo landing site, in the southern Sea of Tranquility about 20 km (12 mi) southwest of the crater Sabine D, was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers, as well as by Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft, and therefore unlikely to present major landing or EVA challenges.
At 2:56 UTC, six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong made his descent to the moon surface and took his famous "one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin joined him, and the two spent two-and-a-half hours drilling core samples, photographing what they saw and collecting rocks.
They planned placement of the Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package (EASEP) and the U.S. flag by studying their landing site through Eagle's twin triangular windows, which gave them a 60° field of view. Preparation required longer than the two hours scheduled. Armstrong had some initial difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his PLSS. According to veteran moonwalker John Young, a redesign of the LM to incorporate a smaller hatch was not followed by a redesign of the PLSS backpack, so some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress.
The Remote Control Unit controls on Armstrong's chest prevented him from seeing his feet. While climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled the D-ring which deploys the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle's side and activated the TV camera. Ghostly black and white images of the first lunar EVA were immediately broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth.
After describing the surface ("very fine grained... almost like a powder"), Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and into history as the first human to set foot on another world. He reported that moving in the Moon's gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "perhaps even easier than the simulations."
In addition to fulfilling President John F. Kennedy's mandate to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s, Apollo 11 was an engineering test of the Apollo system; therefore, Armstrong snapped photos of the LM so engineers would be able to judge its post-landing condition. He then collected a contingency soil sample using a sample bag on a stick. He folded the bag and tucked it into a pocket on his right thigh. He removed the TV camera from the MESA, made a panoramic sweep, and mounted it on a tripod 12 m (40 ft) from the LM. The TV camera cable remained partly coiled and presented a tripping hazard throughout the EVA.
Aldrin joined him on the surface and tested methods for moving around, including two-footed kangaroo hops. The PLSS backpack created a tendency to tip backwards, but neither astronaut had serious problems maintaining balance. Loping became the preferred method of movement. The astronauts reported that they needed to plan their movements six or seven steps ahead. The fine soil was quite slippery. Aldrin remarked that moving from sunlight into Eagle's shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit, though the helmet was warmer in sunlight, so he felt cooler in shadow.
Together the astronauts planted the U.S. flag - the ground was too hard to permit them to insert the pole more than about 20 cm (8 in) - then took a phone call from President Richard Nixon.
The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow, slowing work somewhat. As they worked, the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust which soiled the outer part of their suits, the integrated thermal meteoroid garment.
They deployed the EASEP, which included a passive seismograph and a laser ranging retroreflector. Then Armstrong loped about 120 m (400 ft) from the LM to snap photos at the rim of East Crater while Aldrin collected two core tubes. He used the geological hammer to pound in the tubes - the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documented sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 min.
During this period Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong that his metabolic rates were high and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. Rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, however, so Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15 minute extension.
Aldrin entered Eagle first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing more than 22 kg (48 lb) of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor. Armstrong then jumped to the ladder's third rung and climbed into the LM.
After transferring to LM life support, the explorers lightened the ascent stage for return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks, lunar overshoes, one Hasselblad camera, and other equipment. Then they lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage to rejoin CMP Michael Collins aboard the CM Columbia in lunar orbit.
After more than 21½ hours on the lunar surface, they returned to Collins on board "Columbia," bringing 20.87 kilograms of lunar samples with them. The two Moon-walkers had left behind scientific instruments such as a retroreflector array used for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. They also left an American flag and other mementos, including a plaque bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and the U.S. President at the time. The inscription read:
The astronauts returned to earth on July 24, welcomed as heroes. The splashdown point was 13 deg 19 min N, 169 deg 9 min W, 400 miles (640 km) SSW of Wake Island and 24 km (15 mi) from the recovery ship USS Hornet.
The command module is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has a copy of the following contingency memo dated July 18, 1969, which was prepared for President Nixon to read on television, in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the moon.
The last line of the statement is reminiscent of a Rupert Brooke poem called The soldier. The poem starts:
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