Thirty-six years ago today (July 20th, 1969) at 10:56 PM EDT, Neil Armstrong stepped from the Eagle lunar landing module onto the Moon's surface and said, “That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” He was followed shortly thereafter by Buzz Aldrin; Michael Collins remained in the Command Module...
Apollo 11 Facts
- Mission: Apollo XI
- Crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin Jr.
- Lift Off: Saturn V, July 16, 1969, 9:32 a.m. EDT, KSC, Florida Complex 39-A
- Lunar orbit: 76 hours into the mission
- Lunar Landing: July 20, 1969, 4:18 p.m. EDT, Sea of Tranquillity
- Time Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon's surface: 10:56 p.m. EDT
- Time Buzz Aldrin set foot on the lunar surface: 11:16 p.m. EDT
- Amount of time on surface: 2.5 hours including lunch, rock collecting, and experiments
- Amount of lunar surface material brought back: Forty-seven pounds
- Lunar Lift Off: July 21, 1969 1:54 p.m. EDT
- Time American Flag fell over: During liftoff
- Splash-down: July 24, 1969 12:50 p.m. EDT Pacific Ocean
- Duration: 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes
- Average distance to the moon: 238,855 miles (384,400 km)
- Lunar temperature variations: -387° to 253° F (-233° to 123° C)
Some interesting background information from http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.html
ALDRIN: We opened the hatch and Neil, with me as his navigator, began backing out of the tiny opening... I felt buoyant and full of goose pimples when I stepped down on the surface. I immediately looked down at my feet and became intrigued with the peculiar properties of the lunar dust. If one kicks sand on a beach, it scatters in numerous directions with some grains traveling farther than others. On the Moon the dust travels exactly and precisely as it goes in various directions, and every grain of it lands nearly the same distance away.
During a pause in experiments, Neil suggested we proceed with the flag. It took both of us to set it up and it was nearly a disaster. Public Relations obviously needs practice just as everything else does. A small telescoping arm was attached to the flagpole to keep the flag extended and perpendicular. As hard as we tried, the telescope wouldn't fully extend. Thus the flags which should have been flat, had its own unique permanent wave. Then to our dismay the staff of the pole wouldn't go far enough into the lunar surface to support itself in an upright position. After much struggling we finally coaxed it to remain upright, but in a most precarious position. I dreaded the possibility of the American flag collapsing into the lunar dust in front of the television camera.
ALDRIN: Before beginning liftoff procedures [we] settled down for our fitful rest. We didn't sleep much at all. Among other things we were elated- and also cold. Liftoff from the Moon, after a stay totaling twenty-one hours, was exactly on schedule and fairly uneventful. The ascent stage of the LM separated, sending out a shower of brilliant insulation particles which had been ripped off from the thrust of the ascent engine. There was no lime to sightsee. I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over . . . Three hours and ten minutes later we were connected once again with the Columbia.
( Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, edited by Edgar M. Cortright,
NASA SP; 350, Washington, DC, 1975 )
Interesting links and references
Michael Collins
