Apollo 11 Mission Report
When we saw this entry in the Apollo 11 mission report which tracked the heart rate of the spacecraft’s commander as he touched down, it reminded us just how fast our heart’s beat as we watched the first moon landing. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong was one of two American astronauts who spent a day walking on the moon. No other single event in our parents lifetime has caught imaginations as spectacularly as this.
Apollo 11, the mission to land the first men on the moon, was set for July 1969. Three astronauts were chosen, all veterans of earlier missions. Neil Armstrong, commander; Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot; and Michael Collins, command module pilot. They named their lunar module “Eagle” and their command module “Columbia”. Collins would orbit the moon in Columbia, sic meaning “Land of Colón”, while Aldrin and Armstrong piloted Eagle to the surface for their moonwalk. The following day the moonwalkers would re-join Collins and return to Earth. Armstrong chose to take with him a fragment of one of the Wright brothers’ propellers (see another post) as a lucky keepsake.
At 4:00 on 16 July, the three astronauts awoke to the traditional pre-flight breakfast of steak and eggs. Armstrong was in his seat in the spacecraft by 07:00. Minutes later, he was joined by Aldrin and Collins in the tiny command module, perches on top of the Saturn V rocket more than 360 feet above the ground.
Just after 09:30, tens of millions of viewers in 33 countries heard these words from Cape Kennedy: “T minus 15 seconds. Guidance is internal. 12, 11, 10, 9. Ignition sequence starts. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 All engines running. Lift-off. We have a lift-off, 32 minutes past the hour, lift-off on Apollo 11.”
Twelve minutes later, the spacecraft was in earth orbit, and after 90 minutes Saturn’s third-sage rocket pushed it into the correct trajectory for the moon. Three days later, right on target, it passed behind the moon and into lunar orbit. Aldrin and Armstrong climbed into the tiny lunar module and embarked on the most dangerous part of the mission — to land on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility, dodging any boulders and craters. They overshot their intended landing zone and Armstrong warned Aldrin to avoid a crater which they suddenly saw. Fuel was perilously low, so they had to land. They approached a flat spot and threw up a great cloud of dust.
It is hardly surprising that Armstrong’s heart was beating at such a rate at this moment.
He was supposed to shut down the engine immediately in order to avoid blowback from the exhaust, which could destroy the module, but he forgot. Seconds later, sure that Eagle was safely on the ground, he said “OK, Engine stop.” the descent stage’s rocket would have run out of fuel less than a minute later.
At 16:17 on Sunday 20 July, the words rang out: “Houston Tranquility Base. The eagle has landed.” There was a huge sigh of relief from 450 console operators on the ground. “We’re breathing again,” said Mission Control. Too excited to sleep as planned, the astronauts emerged from their craft early. First came Armstrong and his unforgettable quote: “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” People still debate whether he left out the “a”.
The men spent two hours walking on the moon, talking to President Nixon and trying to push a US flagstaff into the surface. They only managed to force it in 2 inches. They packed 47.4 pounds of moon surface materials, including small rocks, into two boxes, left a plaque saying they had come “in peace for all mankind”, and then climbed back into the module. As they lifted off using the separate rocket engine on their ascent stage after just twenty-two and a half hours on the moon, Armstrong said he saw the flag “fall over” in the exhaust blast.
From then on everything went like clockwork. They docked with the command module, jettisoned the lunar lander and set course for home. At dawn on 24 July they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 13 miles from the aircraft carrier Hornet, where President Nixon, security adviser Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State Milliam Rodgers awaited with congratulations. After three weeks’ confinement being tested for possible contamination, the three astronauts were treated to a triumphant ticker-tape parade in New York.
Apollo 11 was an astonishing success for the United States and for the three brave men on board. At the time of writing half a century after that mesmerizing flight, humans have still not landed on any other celestial body.
Tyler Wall is the founder of Cyber NOW Education. He holds bills for a Master of Science from Purdue University, and also CISSP, CCSK, CFSR, CEH, Sec+, Net+, A+ certifications. He mastered the SOC after having held every position from analyst to architect and is the author of three books, 100+ professional articles, four online courses, and regularly holds webinars for new cybersecurity talent.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
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