Apollo 11

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Apollo 11
Mission Insignia
Image:Apollo 11 insignia.jpg
Mission Statistics<ref name="Orloff">Template:Cite web</ref>
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, Florida
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 (47.5 lb)
Splashdown:July 24, 1969
16:50:35 UTC
Template:Coor dm
Time in
lunar orbit:		59 h 30 min 25.79 s
Mass:CSM: 30,320 kg </br> LM: 16,448 kg
Crew Picture
Image:Ap11-s69-31740.jpg
L-R: Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin
Apollo 11 Crew

Apollo 11 was the fifth human spaceflight of the Apollo program, the third human voyage to the moon, and the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It launched on July 16, 1969 carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin. On July 21, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.

The mission fufilled President John F. Kennedy's goal of landing a human on the Moon by the end of the 1960s and returning them safely to the Earth.

Contents

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Crew

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Backup crew

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Support crew

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Mission highlights

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Launch and lunar landing

The Apollo 11 Saturn V launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969 at 13:32 UTC (9:32 A.M. local time) and entered Earth orbit 12 minutes later<ref name="Orloff"/>. After one and a half orbits, the S-IVB third-stage engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon. About 30 minutes later, the command/service module pair separated from the last remaining Saturn V stage, turned around, and docked its nose to the top of the lunar module still nestled in the Lunar Module Adaptor

Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon on July 19 and soon after fired its main rocket, entering lunar orbit. In the several orbits that followed, the crew got passing views of their landing site.

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 Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) challengesTemplate:Citeneeded. Armstrong bestowed the name Tranquillity Base on the landing site immediately after touchdown.<ref name="ALSJ 1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Image:Apollo 11 bootprint.jpg

On July 20, 1969, while on the far side of the Moon, the lunar module, called Eagle, separated from the Command Module, named Columbia (Some internal NASA planning documents referred to the callsigns as Snowcone and Haystack; these were quietly changed before being announced to the press.<ref name="Snowcone">Template:Cite web</ref>). Collins, now alone aboard Columbia, carefully inspected Eagle as it pirouetted before him. Soon after, Armstrong and Aldrin fired Eagle's engine and began their descent. They soon saw that they were "running long"; Eagle was 4 seconds further along its descent trajectory than planned, and would land miles west of the intended site. The LM navigation and guidance computer reported several unusual "program alarms" as it guided the LM's descent. These alarms tore the crew's attention away from the scene outside as the descent proceeded. In NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, a young controller named Steve Bales told the flight director that it was safe to continue the descent in spite of the alarms. Once they returned their attention to the view outside, the astronauts saw that their computer was guiding them toward a landing site full of large rocks scattered around a large crater. Armstrong took manual control of the lunar module at that point, and guided it to a landing at 20:17 UTC on July 20 with about 50 seconds of fuel left<ref name="ALSJ 1"/>.

Image:Ap11-KSC-69PC-442.jpg

The program alarms were "executive overflows", indicating that the computer could not finish its work in the time allotted. The cause was later determined to be the LM rendezvous radar being left on during the descent, causing the computer to spend unplanned time servicing the unused radar.<ref name="Martin">Template:Cite web</ref> Steve Bales received a Medal of Freedom for his "go" call under pressure. Although Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than other missions, they also encountered a premature low fuel warning. It was later found caused by the lunar gravity permitting greater propellant 'slosh', uncovering a fuel sensor; extra baffles in the tanks were subsequently added<ref name="ALSJ 1"/>.

Shortly after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin broadcast that:

This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.<ref name="ALSJ 2">Template:Cite web</ref>

He then took Holy Communion, privately. At this time, NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by Madalyn Murray O'Hair (who had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis), which demanded that their astronauts refrain from religious activities while in space. As such, Aldrin (an Episcopalian) chose to refrain from directly mentioning this. He had kept the plan quiet, not even mentioning it to his wife, and did not reveal it publicly for several yearsTemplate:Citeneeded.

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Lunar surface operations

Image:First step on moon.jpgAt 2:56 UTC on July 21, six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong made his descent to the Moon surface and took his famous "one giant leap for mankind"<ref name="Orloff"/>. Aldrin joined him, and the two spent two-and-a-half hours drilling core samples, photographing what they saw and collecting rocks.

Template:Video

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.Template:Citeneeded

Image:As11-40-5903HR.jpg

The Remote Control Unit controls on Armstrong's chest prevented him from seeing his feet. While climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle's side and activate the TV camera<ref name="ALSJ 4">Template:Cite web</ref>. The first images used a Slow-scan television system and were picked up at Goldstone in the USA but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek in Australia. Minutes later the TV was switched to normal television, and the feed was switched to the more sensitive radio telescope station at the Parkes Observatory in Australia. Despite some technical and weather difficulties, ghostly black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and were immediately broadcast to at least 600 million people on EarthTemplate:Citeneeded.

After describing the surface dust ("fine and powdery ... I only go in a small fraction of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots"<ref name="ALSJ 4"/>), Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and into history as the first human to set foot on another world, famously describing it as "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He reported that moving in the Moon's gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "even perhaps easier than the simulations ... It's absolutely no trouble to walk around"<ref name="ALSJ 4"/>.

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.

Image:Apollo 11 plaque closeup on Moon.jpg

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<ref name="ALSJ 4"/>.

Image:Apollo 11 launch.jpg

Together the astronauts planted the U.S. flag, 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.

Image:As11-40-5886.jpg

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.<ref name="ALSJ 6">Template:Cite web</ref>

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Lunar ascent and return

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. They then repressurised the LM, and settled down to sleep.<ref name="ALSJ 7">Template:Cite web</ref>

While moving in the cabin Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker that armed the main engine for lift off from the moon. There was initial concern this would prevent firing the engine, which would strand them on the moon. Fortunately a felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.<ref name="ALSJ 7"/> Had this not worked, the Lunar Module circuitry could have been reconfigured to allow firing the ascent engine.<ref name="Murray">Template:Cite book</ref>

After about seven hours of rest, they were awoken by Houston to prepare for the return flight. Two and a half hours later, at 17:54 UTC, they lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage, carrying 21.5 kilograms of lunar samples with them, to rejoin CMP Michael Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit<ref name="Orloff"/>.

After more than 2½ hours on the lunar surface, they had left behind scientific instruments such as a retroreflector array used for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. They also left an American flag and a plaque (mounted on the LM Descent Stage ladder) bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and Richard Nixon. The inscription read Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We Came in Peace For All Mankind.

After rendezvous with Columbia, Eagle was jettisoned and left in lunar orbit. Later NASA reports mentioned that Eagle's orbit had decayed resulting in it impacting in an "uncertain location" on the lunar surface.Template:Citeneeded

The astronauts returned to earth on July 24, welcomed as heroes. The splashdown point was Template:Coor dm, 2,660 km (1,440 nm) east of Wake Island, or 380 km (210 nm) south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 km (15 mi) from the recovery ship, USS Hornet. They were picked up after an hour afloat<ref name="Orloff"/>

The command module is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

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Contingency television address

The National Archives in Washington, D.C. has a copy of a contingency memo titled "In Event of Moon Disaster" and dated July 18, 1969, which was prepared by William Safire for President Nixon to read on television, in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. Following this address, radio communications with the moon would have been cut off, the astronauts left alone to die, while a clergyman was to commend their souls to "the deepest of the deep" in the fashion of a burial at sea.<ref name="safire">[http://www1.jsc.nasa.gov/aiaa/horizons/jun99.html Jim Mann, The Story of a Tragedy That Was Not To Be] Horizons vol. 23 no. 9, p. 17</ref>

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Gallery

Aldrin stands next to the Passive Seismic Experiment Package with the Lunar Module in the background.

Aldrin inspects the LM landing gear.

Aldrin unpacks experiments from the LM.

Aldrin with the U.S. flag

Panoramic Assembly of East Crater

Panoramic Assembly showing Neil Armstrong

Armstrong on lunar surface with gold visor raised. From 16 mm film (NASA).

The crew of Apollo 11 in quarantine after returing to earth, visited by Richard Nixon.

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Communications link

Early in the planning of the Project Apollo, NASA decided to combine all communications between spacecraft and Earth into a single multiplexed feed called 'The Unified S-Band System', including audio communications, television images, crew medical telemetry and the spacecraft systems telemetry.

The signal was picked up by three purpose-built stations (Goldstone (California), Honeysuckle Creek (Australia) and Fresnedillas (Spain) and backed-up by deep space network stations (known as 'wing stations') in Australia, Spain and the United States. At first, the signal was routed to Greenbelt, Maryland, by way of submarine telephone cables, using twelve voice circuits. The signal was divided into twelve parts using inverse multiplexing, sent onto the circuits, and reintegrated in Maryland, before being sent on to NASA in Houston.

Intelsat satellites began taking over the trans-oceanic transmissions toward the end of the 1960s, and NASA ended its contracts for the submarine telephone circuits, which were then reallocated by telephone administrations for normal voice use.

On 14 July 1969, the Intelsat satellite over the Atlantic failed. A replacement was launched on 16 July, but went into a useless orbit and would not be reoriented in time to be used. The Early Bird satellite was activated, but thought it might not have enough power to get a signal to the United States. The Australia station was vital to picking up the signal during the moonwalks, or keeping the astronauts waiting on the moon eight hours before venturing out. A communications team was dispatched to Spain to begin setting up the telephone circuits for NASA's inverse multiplexed signal.

European telecommunications administrators, mostly government post offices, were not accustomed to doing the business required: they would normally require telegram messages to be exchanged, with top level administrative approval, but the twelve circuits had to be recovered from six countries to be made available to NASA, which had set a time limit two hours before launch, or the launch would be canceled. Other launch windows had been missed due to spacecraft equipment problems. An official with the Spanish communications authority helped the team secure the circuits with his own personal list of contacts.

The last circuit using inverse multiplexing was accepted by NASA just minutes before the time limit. Three days later, the transmissions from the Moon were picked up in Spain, relayed to the United States over the undersea circuits, and made available by NASA to the Americas. They were beamed across the Pacific Ocean, and from the Far East were carried on the Indian Ocean satellite.

The postal/telephone authority in West Germany turned a large radio dish to aim at the Indian Ocean satellite, picking up the signal from Australia and providing it to Western Europe, therefore, viewers in Western Europe saw Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon a full half second later than those in the United States, and some 1.8 seconds after it actually happened.

Had this vital communications link not been restored, the pledge of President John F. Kennedy to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade would have been missed.


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Mission insignia

The familiar patch of Apollo 11 was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States." He picked an eagle as the symbol, put an olive branch in its beak, and drew a moon background with the earth in the distance. (Collins drew the light shining on the earth from the wrong direction; it would have shone from the top of the patch.) NASA officials said the talons of the eagle looked too "warlike" and after some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the claws. The crew decided the Roman numeral XI would not be understood in some nations and went with Apollo 11; they decided not to put their names on the patch to "allow it t symbolize everyone who worked on the moon landing." All colors are natural, with blue and gold borders around the patch. The LM was named Eagle to match the insignia. When the Eisenhower silver dollar was revived a few years later, the patch design provided the eagle for the back of the coin; the design was kepf for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar.

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Mission trivia and urban legends

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Trivia

  • Several books indicate that early mission timelines had Buzz Aldrin, not Neil Armstrong, as the first man on the Moon.Template:Citeneeded
  • A replica of the footprint left by Neil Armstrong is located in Tranquility Park in Houston, Texas; the park was dedicated in 1979, a decade after the first moon landing.
  • The Australian movie, The Dish (2000), tells the (slightly fictionalised) story of how the images of the moon-walk were received by the radio telescope at Parkes Observatory, New South Wales.
  • According to the HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, Michael Collins made the following suggestion as to what Armstrong should say upon stepping onto the lunar surface: "If you had any balls, you'd say 'Oh, my God, what is that thing?' then scream and cut your mic."
  • Armstrong claims to have said "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.", although the "a" is not at all clear in recordings made at ground control. It has been pointed out that the audio and video links were somewhat intermittent (partly due to storms near Parkes Observatory). Recently, digital analysis of the tape by NASA revealed the "a" may have been spoken, but obscured by static.<ref name="Straight Dope">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="snopes a">Template:Snopes</ref>
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Folklore

  • At some point while on the moon Armstrong supposedly said "Good luck Mr. Gorsky". This story is untrue. <ref name="Gorsky">Template:Snopes</ref>
  • Neil Armstrong apparently took a tartan where no tartan had been worn before. A tiny swatch of the Clan Armstrong plaid was affixed to his suit when he walked on the Moon. Another item that Armstrong took with him was a special diamond-studded astronaut pin which was given to Deke Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. The pin had been intended to be flown in Apollo 1, then given to Deke after the mission, but due to the disaster, the widows ended up giving the pin to him after the funerals. Deke gave the pin to Neil to leave at Tranquility Base.
  • Two main conspiracy theories surround the mission.
    • Firstly that the landing was a hoax. This is generally discounted, although it has slowly grown in popularity, particularly since the release of the movie Capricorn One (1978), which portrays a NASA attempt to fake a landing on Mars.
    • Secondly, a less well known urban legend suggests that they were being 'watched' while on the Moon, and had seen alien vehicles there. This grew in popularity after the book Someone else is on our Moon was published.
  • According to another legend, a survey undertaken in the 1980s in Morocco revealed that a substantial percentage didn't think humans had landed on the Moon; this was not due to conspiracy theory, but rather to that segment not having been informed.
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See also

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External links

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References

<references/>

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