Mission Log Book
July 23 & 24 - MISSION DAYS 8 & 9 - Mission Control wakes the crew up at 12:20 p.m. (EDT) and it begins a relaxed routine of checking systems. By 3:56 p.m. the spacecraft passes the midway point of journey homeward, 101,000 nautical miles from splashdown. Later that evening, at 7:03 p.m., the astronauts begin their final color television transmission.
The last day of the mission, July 24, begins with a wake up call from Mission Control at 6:47 a.m. At 12:21 the crew separated the Command and Service modules. Fourteen minutes later the Command module re-enters Earth's atmosphere. Splashdown occurs at 12:51 p.m. approximately 825 nautical miles southwest of Honolulu and about 13 nautical miles from the recovery ship, the U.S.S. Hornet.
At 1:20 p.m., Navy frogmen open the hatch of command module and hand isolation suits to the crew. Eight minutes later the astronauts emerge from the spacecraft in isolation suits and are sprayed with a disinfectant as a guard against the possibility of their contaminating the Earth with moon "germs." About twenty minutes later, the crew of Apollo 11 arrives on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Hornet and immediately walk into the mobile quarantine trailer where they will remain until they arrive at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston early July 27.
At 3:00 p.m. President Nixon welcomes the astronauts, visible through a window of the trailer. Speaking over an intercom, he greets them, extends them an invitation to attend a dinner with him August 13 and tells them: "This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation.... As a result of what you have done, the world's never been closer together .... We can reach for the stars just as you have reached so far for the stars."
So ends the world's first mission to the moon. It has lasted 195 hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds or a little more than eight days. It was recognized as the most trouble-free mission to date, almost completely on schedule and successful in every respect.
July 22 -- MISSION DAY 7 - With the excitement of traversing the surface of the moon now just a vivid memory, the crew begins its trip home in earnest. At 12:56 a.m. (EDT), while 60 nautical miles above the backside of the moon, Mike Collins fires the Command Module's engine to execute the transearth injection burn. Now well on their way home, the astronauts go to sleep at about 4 a.m.
By 1:00 p.m., the crew begins waking for first full day of return trip. Thirty-nine minutes later, the spacecraft passes the point in space (33,800 nautical miles from the moon and 174,000 from the Earth) where the Earth's gravity takes over and begins drawing the astronauts homeward. Later, at 4:02 p.m., Mission Control deems a midcourse correction is necessary to readjust the flight path of the spacecraft.
To cap the day at 9 p.m., the crew enjoys an 18-minute, live TV transmission to Earth. The crewmembers recap their exploits of recently days gone by.
July 21 - MISSION DAY 6 - The morning after.
11:13 a.m.: The astronauts resting inside Eagle on the surface of the moon are awakened. Aldrin announces: "Neil has rigged himself a really good hammock and he's been lying on the hatch and engine cover, and I curled up on the floor."
12:42 p.m.: Answering a question raised before they went to sleep, Aldrin reports: "We are in a boulder field where boulders range generally up to two feet, with a few larger than that... Some of the boulders are lying on top of the surface, some are partially exposed, and some are just barely exposed."
1:54 p.m.: Ascent engine is started and LM, using descent stage as a launch pad, begins rising and reaches a vertical speed of 80 feet per second at 1,000 feet altitude.
The astronauts take with them in the ascent stage the soil samples, the aluminum foil with the "solar wind" particles it has collected, the film used in taking photographs with still and motion picture cameras, the flags and other mementos to be returned to Earth. Behind they leave a number of items, reducing the weight of the ship from 15,897 pounds as it landed on the Moon to 10,821 pounds.
The largest item left behind is the descent stage, that part of the landing craft with the plaque on one of its spidery legs. Others include the TV camera, two still cameras, tools used in collecting samples, portable life support systems, lunar boots, American flag, rod support for the "solar wind" experiment instrument, laser beam reflector, seismic detector, and a gnomon, a device to verify colors of objects photographed.
5:35 p.m.: Eagle redocks with Columbia while circling on the back side of the Moon.
7:42 p.m.: Armstrong and Aldrin, inside the ascent stage just after taking off from the moon, are now back inside the Command Module. The landing craft is jettisoned, and the astronauts are now homeward bound, as they start the first leg of their return trip to Earth.
July 20 -- MISSION DAY 5 -- The day man walks on the moon for the first time.
At 9:27 a.m. (eastern time), Buzz Aldrin crawls into the Lunar Module and starts to power-up the spacecraft. About an hour later, Neil Armstrong enters the LM and together they continue to check the systems and deploy the landing legs.
The landing craft is separated from the command module at 1:46 p.m. and at 4:05 p.m., Armstrong throttles up the engine to slow the LM before dropping down on the lunar surface. The landing is not easy. The site they approach is four miles from the target point, on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Seeing that they are approaching a crater about the size of a football field and covered with large rocks, Armstrong takes over manual control and steers the craft to a smoother spot. His heartbeat has risen from a normal 77 to 156.
4:18 p.m.: The craft settles down with a jolt almost like that of a jet landing on a runway. Armstrong immediately radios Mission Control "The Eagle has landed."
Aldrin, looking out of the LM window, reports: "It looks like a collection of just about every variety of shapes, angularities and granularities, every variety of rock you could find. There doesn't appear to be much of a general color at all; however, it looks as though some of the rocks and boulders are going to have some interesting colors to them."
The first task after landing is that of preparing the ship for launching; of seeing that all is in readiness to make the ascent back to a rendezvous with the command spacecraft orbiting above.
10:39 p.m.: More than five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opens the LM hatch and squeezes through the opening. It is a slow process. Strapped to his shoulders is a portable life support and communications system weighing 84 pounds on Earth, 14 on the Moon, with provision for pressurization; oxygen requirements and removal of carbon dioxide.
Armstrong moves slowly down the 10-foot, nine-step ladder. On reaching the second step, he pulls a "D-ring," within easy reach, deploying a television camera, so arranged on the LM that it will depict him to Earth as he proceeds from that point.
Down the ladder he moves and halts on the last step. "I'm at the foot of the ladder," he reports. "The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches. . . the surface appears to be very, very finegrained, as you get close to it, it's almost like a powder."
10:56 p.m.: Armstrong puts his left foot on the Moon. It is the first time in history that man has ever stepped on anything that has not existed on, or originated from, the Earth.
"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," Armstrong radios. Aldrin is taking photographs from inside the spacecraft.
Armstrong surveys his surroundings for a while and then moves out, testing himself in a gravity environment one-sixth of that on Earth. "The surface is fine and powdery," he says. "I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch. Maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine sandy particles. There seems to be no difficulty in moving around as we suspected. It's even perhaps easier than the simulations."
Feeling more confident, Armstrong begins making a preliminary collection of soil samples close to the landing craft. This is done with a bag on the end of a pole.
"This is very interesting," he comments. "It's a very soft surface, but here and there ... I run into a very hard surface, but it appears to be very cohesive material of the same sort. It has a stark beauty all its own. It's like much of the high desert of the United States."
He collects a small bagful of soil and stores it in a pocket on the left leg of his space suit. This is done early, according to plan, to make sure some of the moon surface is returned to Earth in case the mission has to be cut short.
11:11 p.m.: Aldrin emerges from the landing craft and backs down the ladder, while his companion photographs him.
"These rocks ... are rather slippery," Armstrong says. The astronauts report that the powdery surface seems to fill up the fine pores on the rocks, and they tend to slide over them rather easily.
Armstrong fits a long focal length lens into position on the TV camera and trains it upon a small, stainless steel plaque on one of the legs of the landing craft. He reads: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." Below the inscription are the names of the Apollo crew and President Nixon.
11:41 p.m.: From a leg of the spacecraft, the astronauts take a three-by-five-foot, nylon United States flag, its top edge braced by a spring wire to keep it extended on the windless Moon and erect it on a staff pressed into the lunar surface.
Taken to the Moon are two other U.S. flags, to be brought back and flown over the houses of Congress, the flags of the 50 States, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, the United Nations flag, as well as those of 136 foreign countries.
11:47 p.m.: Mission Control announces: "The President of the United States is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you." Armstrong replies: "That would be an honor."
11:48 p.m.: The astronauts listen as the President speaks by telephone: "Neil and Buzz. I am talking to you from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world I am sure they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what a feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. As you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment, in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one."
As the President finishes speaking, Armstrong replies: "Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but men of peace of all nations; and with interest and a curiosity and a vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today."
The two astronauts stand at attention, saluting directly toward the television as the telephone conversation concludes.
12:54 a.m.: After checking with Mission Control to make sure all chores have been completed, experiments set up, and photographs taken, the astronauts start back up the ladder to re-enter the LM.
1:11 a.m.: The hatch is closed. The astronauts begin removing the portable life support systems on which they have depended for two hours and 47 minutes.
4:25 a.m.: Astronauts are told to go to sleep, after attending to final housekeeping details and answering a number of questions concerning the geology of the moon.
July 19 -- MISSION DAY 4 - At 6:58 a.m. (EDT) the astronauts call Mission Control to inquire about a scheduled course correction and are told it has been cancelled. They are also advised they may go back to sleep.
At 8:32 a.m.- Mission Control signals to arouse crew and to start them on breakfast and housekeeping chores. Armstrong announces: "The view of the moon that we've been having recently is really spectacular. It's a view worth the price of the trip."
12:58 p.m.- The crew is informed by Mission Control: "You are go for LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)." Aldrin replies: "Roger, go for LOI." At 1:13 p.m. the spacecraft passes completely behind the Moon and out of radio contact with the Earth for the first time. At 1:28 p.m. the spacecraft's main rocket, a 20,500-pound-thrust engine, is fired for about six minutes to slow the vehicle so that it can be captured by lunar gravity. It is still behind the moon. The resulting orbit ranges from a low of 61.3 nautical miles to a high of 168.8 nautical miles.
At 5:44 p.m. a second burn of the spacecraft's main engine, this one for 17 seconds, is employed while the spacecraft is on the back side of the moon to stabilize the orbit at about 54 by 66 nautical miles. Armstrong and Aldrin crawl through the tunnel into the lunar module to give it another check. The spacecraft is orbiting the moon every two hours.
July 17, 18 - MISSION DAYS 2 & 3 -- Now headed for the moon, the astronuats are given a brief review of the morning's news from Mission Control including sports developments. They are informed about the progress of the Russian space ship Lunar 15, and that Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, ranking government official at the Apollo 11 blastoff, has called for putting a man on Mars by the year 2000.
At 12:17 p.m. (EDT) a midcourse correction is made with a three-second burn, sharpening the course of the spacecraft and testing the engine that must get them in and out of lunar orbit.
After breakfast, on Mission Day 3, they begin housekeeping chores, such as charging batteries, dumping waste water, and checking fuel and oxygen reserves. Later, Mission Control tells them that course corrections scheduled for afternoon will not be necessary. By 4:40 p.m. the spacecraft is 175,000 nautical miles from Earth and only 48,000 from the moon. The hatch to the LM is opened and Neil Armstrong squeezes through the 30-inch-wide tunnel to inspect it. He is followed by Aldrin.
July 16 - MISSION DAY 1 -- At 4:15 a.m., Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr., are awakened. After a breakfast of orange juice, steak, scrambled eggs, toast and coffee, they begin suiting up. At 6:27 a.m., they leave in an air-conditioned van for the launch pad eight miles away.
Watching is a world-wide television audience and an estimated million eyewitnesses, standing three and one-half miles away on the Florida sandflats. The weather is highly suitable with winds at 10 knots from the southeast, the temperature in the mid-80's, and clouds at 15,000 feet.
At 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11 blasts off from Launch Pad 39A at Cape Kennedy, Fla., starting what is looked upon as the greatest single step in human history -- a trip to the Moon; a manned landing and a safe return to Earth.
As the rocket clears the tower, the last words from Launch Control are: "Good luck and Godspeed." Commander Armstrong replies, "Thank you very much. We know this will be a good flight."
Approximately three hours after liftoff, the Saturn V breaks from of Earth's gravity and heads for the moon and a place in history.
July 15 - COUNTDOWN AT 1 -- The Apollo 11 team exuded a determined confidence, expressing fear only that the teeming Cape Kennedy area would not be able to handle the onslaught of moon-shot visitors. "One thing we have not simulated that will probably be a problem is the traffic pattern," said Dr. Kurt Debus, Kennedy Space Center director and boss of the 22,000-man launch team.
After a rigorous training schedule, the astronauts held a unique televised press conference while in quarantine at KSC, some 15 miles away from their questioners. "We're willing and ready to achieve our national goal," Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong told the press. When asked if they were afraid, there was a long pause while each waited for the other to answer. Armstrong finally said, "I wouldn't say fear is an unknown emotion to us. There is knowledge that there may be something you haven't thought of...or can't cope with. But as a crew ... we have no fear of launching out on this expedition," he said. Buzz Aldrin added, "Anticipation characterizes my feelings." Mike Collins complained: "I have no TV (in the mother ship) ... I'm one of the few Americans who won't be able to see the EVA (moonwalk)."
July 14 - COUNTDOWN AT 2 -- The Apollo 11 astronauts spent a quiet day at their moonport. Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin spent most of the day in the astronaut apartments at the Kennedy Space Center. Most of the Apollo launch team also took at least part of the day off for some rest. The countdown was stopped for 16 hours -- as scheduled -- to allow a pause in the hectic preparations. In the "firing room" of the launch control center, fewer than 100 people kept watch over the giant rocket. That number would grow to 600 at blastoff time.
July 13 COUNTDOWN at 3 -- The Apollo 11 astronauts, in their final few days before going to the moon, eased up on their rigid training and did some "fun" flying. The crew started the day inside spacecraft trainers, but two of them broke away in the afternoon to sharpen their piloting skills above the flat Florida landscape. The countdown for their historic lunar journey moved along smoothly through the day, still aimed at a 9:32 a.m. blastoff of the giant Saturn V rocket on Wednesday, July 16.
July 12 - COUNTDOWN AT 4 -- Three healthy astronauts and a healthy Apollo 11 moon rocket moved a step closer to a lunar launch on July, 12, 1969. Doctor Charles Berry pronounced astronauts Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin "ready for flight." The countdown moved through its first full day with only two minor problems - both having been corrected -- and officials remained confident of an on-time blastoff, July 16, at 9:32 a.m. EDT.