tonight at 10:56 eastern, we're going to mark the exact anniversary, 50 years ago to the minute since kneel armstrong took one giant leap for man kind. you're about to watch the cnn film apollo 11. it is a unique behind-the-scenes look at neil and buzz in the moments that made them into american heroes. this film is 100% archival. it mean every frame of footage you'll see was shot during the apollo missions. it is a truly special film

experience. sit back, relax and get ready for liftoff.

>> okay. are there any changes to the schedule, arnie? >> line item 7 which is shown for all day, the tank pressurization test will not start until 1300. >> when do you want to run the leak check? >> first, are you going to extend that out to five hours by cutting it off in the front end of the storage tank? >> negative.

>> it's 3 hours and 32 minutes until man begins the greatest adventure in its history. if all goes well, apollo 11 astronaut, armstrong, collins and aldrin are to lift off from pad 39a out there on the voyage man always has dreamed about. it is now, before they go, as their gleaming vehicle sits poised and peaceful out there, that there is time, if only briefly in this busy morning, to think of those three men and the burdens and the hopes that they carry on behalf of all mankind. the vastness, the blackness, the

cold of space, they will carry the pledge made eight years ago by president kennedy, to put a man on the moon and bring him back safely in this decade. >> each segment of the mission, every individual piece has to be completed perfectly in order for the next step to be possible. and, of course, the nation itself is backs us. so we just sincerely hope that we measure up to that. >> the whole apollo program was designed to get two americans to the lunar surface and back again to earth safely. the enormity of this event is something that only history will be able to judge. >> apollo 11 has very simply been given the mission of carrying men to the moon, landing them there and bringing them safely back. >> in addition to the mission the three astronauts will perform and the experiments they will undertake, these men will carry with them many other things, many things that are not

nearly so easy to describe. during the planned apollo 11 journey, we will be concerned with such things as midcourse corrections and docking. the astronauts, of course, will be concerned with very much more. the flight of apollo 11 is to be

the culmination of a national effort and the most difficult, most dangerous mission ever attempted since this country and the russians started sending men into space. 38-year-old civilian neil armstrong is to become the first human being to touch the moon. aldrin will follow just 20 minutes later, but armstrong will take the first step. the mission of apollo 11, a journey certainly for the history books. a beginning of man's greatest

adventure, leaving this planet to set foot on the moon. >> no, no go for start. >> go. >> 61, verify. >> cs-18. >> switch is on. verify light. >> roger. >> all stations stand by to give a crew departure status at this time. >> rcs. >> go. >> bse. >> go. >> sds. >> go. >> sts. >> go. >> verify all. >> number 2 and 3 levels. >> roger. >> 214. >> roger. go for crew departure. >> roger.

you are go for crew departure. >> all right. >> the dawn of this day heralded the dawning of a new age. it's a time of exhilaration, reflection, hope, fulfillment as a century's old dream starts toward reality. >> this is apollo launch control. t-minus three hours, four minutes, 31 seconds right on time as far as the countdown is concerned. the crew departing from their crew quarters from the kennedy space center. [ applause ] astronauts neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and finally mike collins

and they're now boarding the transfer van for the trip to the launch pad. the trip in the transfer van should take some 15 minutes or so to reach the pad at which time the astronauts will board the first of two elevators for the trip to the 320-foot level after launch pad where they will then proceed to ingress the spacecraft. the departure from 6:27 eastern daylight time. the van first van now departing from the operations building at the kennedy space center on the start of its eight-mile trip to launch pad a here at complex 39 where the saturn five launch vehicle fully loaded with propellant going through preliminary checkout. this is launch control.

>> 15 miles away. we saw teenagers with telescopes. it was the very same road we came over eight long years ago, when we came out at just about the same to cover alan shepard's spaceflight --

you could send them without knowing what to speck or you could try to prepare them as much as possible. the mars desert research station is one of these simulated environments. the bottom line is, space is trying to kill you coming up to

the mars desert research station is like going through a portal into another world. you see this tremendous formation. they look like they've been m meticulously arranged by a giant. i would say human exploration in space is one of the most challenging and ambitious things we've done as a human race. when you are a candidate for mars, you want your jack of all trades but at least master of some. experiencing flight, a lifelong martial artist, i'm a physician, i have a back ground in space medicine and space medicine research. everything do i in my life is related to reaching that goal. i want to be the one that forges trails. the one that leads the way. the one that sets foot on mars. unless someone actively stops me, i'll be here pushing limits forever now where do we go to

next? this is saturn launch control, t minus two hours 45 minutes, 55 seconds and counting. as the prime crew for apollo 11 astronauts neil armstrong, michael collin and i.d. win aldrin are on the terminal part of their trip to the launch pad in the transfer van. it's now making the curve toward the pad. we have discovered a problem at the launch pad itself as the crew is about to arrive. we have a leak in a valve located in a system associated with replenishing liquid hydrogen for the third stage of the saturn 5 launch vehicle.

we have sent a team of three technicians and a safety man to the pad. and these technicians are now tightening bolts and the valve. >> go ahead. >> we have a leak. it's on the sobn valve. we have it in the override close position to see if it will get better. it seems to be getting worse. >> it's on camera 18. >> camera 18, you could see the men working on the hydrogen leak. >> once the technicians depart, we will send hydrogen again through the system to assure that the leak has been corrected. the astronauts now coming up toward the pad itself as the crew of several technicians at the 200 foot level proceed to tighten bolts around a leaking valve. the astronaut team, which has just arrived at the pad, the transfer van now backing up toward the elevator. in a matter of five minutes or

so, we will be ready for the spacecraft commander neil armstrong to come across at the 320 foot level. that's our status at 2 hours 43 minutes 47 seconds and counting. this is launch control. >> go ahead. understand. >> okay, can you hit the switch

on the camera. >> roger. camera has been activated. >> test, mtc. the swing arm camera is on. >> msg. >> copy. >> go. >> the crew is approaching. >> this is saturn launch control. we just passed the 2 hour 21 minute mark in our countdown. we are proceeding at this time. 320 foot level, all three astronauts now aboard the spacecraft. a few minutes ago astronaut buzz aldrin took the center seat to join neil armstrong on the left and mike collings on the right. these are the positions they will fly at liftoff. 120 feet down, the work continues on a leaky valve. 200 foot level. the technicians still hard at work tightening bolts around that valve at this time. >> how do you read?

>> loud and clear. >> good morning, neil. >> good morning. >> welcome aboard. >> how do you read? >> loud and clear. >> good morning, buzz. >> good morning. how are you gentlemen? >> just fine. thank you. >> let me make a last check here. any adjustment on your stats? >> happy. >> fine here. >> good luck. >> thank you. >> proceed. >> roger. we are proceeding with closing the hatch. >> roger. >> the hatch is closed. >> roger. >> the hatch is closed and we are beginning to purge the cabin to bring it to the proper atmosphere for launch, which is a combination of oxygen and nitrogen, 60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen. of course, the astronauts themselves are breathing pure oxygen through their space suits. coming up shortly will be another key test with the launch

crew from the launch creek view and the spacecraft team combined together with the commander neil armstrong to make a thorough check of the emergency detection system. this is the system that will signal the astronauts in the cabin and if anything goes wrong below them. we use the ground-based computer to accomplish this test. it will take some 30 minutes. neil armstrong will being doing most of the work in the spacecraft responding as different lights signifying different difficulties are presented to him. countdown continuing. this is kennedy launch control.

vice president agnew. beyond, nasa officials, 5,000 guests in all, including some 400 congressmen and members of the supreme court, presidential cabinet. the nasa official who escorted it to the site today calls a roman circus. >> nasa has an agreement with over 60 countries. >> t minus 61 minutes on the apollo 11 countdown and all elements are go at this time. here in the firing room, the launch vehicle test team still keeping a close eye on the status of the propellants. this problem with the leaking valve is no problem at this time. we've actually bypassed the valve but we are maintaining our hydrogen supply aboard the vehicle. the big swing arm that has been attached to the spacecraft up to now will be moved back now in five seconds.

the swing arm will come back. mark. >> cvs 9. arm nine is retracted. >> cvs, copy.

the countdown still proceeding very satisfactory at this time, t minus -- planned liftoff time, 32 minutes past the hour. final checks on the system. three stages. is there saturn five. in the event during flight -- >> just got by a test with the launch vehicle, checking out the various batteries in the three stages and instrument unit of the saturn 5. external power, to preserve the batteries which must be used during the powered flight. we are taking a look by going internal and switching back to external again. batteries, the next time we go in will be at the 50-second mark with the batteries. they will remain on internal power during the flight. here, it all starts with a simple...

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14 minutes 30 seconds and counting. all still going well with the countdown at this time. for a status report, we will now switch to mission control, houston. >> this is apollo mission control. flight director cliff charlesworth's team is ontation in the mission control room ready to assume the control of this flight at tower clearance. >> coming up on auto sequence. >> go flight. go flight. >> control. >> go. >> network.

>> that's affirmative, flight. >> mission director, cvts, verify go for launch. >> go for launch. >> we passed the six minute mark in our countdown for apollo 11. now 5 minutes, 52 seconds and counting. >> booster flight. >> verify go for launch. >> cps verify go for launch. >> booster flight. >> go for launch. >> sro verify go for launch. >> sro verify go for launch. >> verify go for launch. >> we have some 7.6 million pounds of thrust pushing the vehicle upwards. the vehicle closes weighs close to 6.5 million pounds. t minus 1 minute 35 seconds on the apollo mission, flight to land the first men on the moon. >> apollo 11, the launch team wishes you good luck and godspeed. >> thank you. >> t minus 60 seconds and counting. we passed t behind news 60. 55 seconds and counting.

neil armstrong just reported back it's been a smooth countdown. we passed the 50-second mark. power transfer is complete. internal power. at this time. remove the launch vehicle at this time. 40 seconds away from the apollo 11 liftoff. all the second stage tanks now pressurized. 35 seconds and counting. we are still go with apollo 11. 30 seconds and counting. astronauts report it feels good. t minus 25 seconds. 20 seconds and counting. t minus 15 seconds. guidance is internal. 12, 11, 10, 9 -- ignition sequence starts.

>> liftoff. we have liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour. liftoff on apollo 11. >> roger. [ applause ]

>> one bravo, control mode. altitude is two miles. >> houston, you are good at one minute.

>> we're through the maximum dynamic pressure now. >> 11 houston, your guidance is converted. you are looking good. >> eight miles down range, 12 miles, velocity 4,000 feet per second. >> stand by for mode one charlie.

>> stand by for mode one charlie. >> launch, mark, mode one charlie. >> go. >> you are go. >> you are go. >> giving the reports from the control center. staging and ignition. >> thrust, all engines. >> thrust is go all engines. you are looking good. >> roger, we confirm. >> roger. >> neil armstrong confirming both the engine separation and launch escape tower separation. downrange 270 miles, altitude 82 miles. >> stand by. >> okay. >> mark. capability. >> roger. >> houston, be advised the visual is go today.

>> this is houston, roger out. >> altitude is 100 miles. down range 883 miles. outboard engine cutoff. >> and ignition. >> mission confirmed. thrust is go, 11. >> and we have a good third stage now. >> velocity, 23,128 feet per second. down range 1,000 miles, altitude, 101 miles. >> apollo 11 this, is houston at 10 minutes, you are go. >> and roger, 11.

>> we are go. confirm go. >> apollo 11, this is houston. you are confirmed go for orbit. >> roger. >> we have a report on the launch heart rates from the flight surgeon. commander neil armstrong, 110. command module pilot, mike collins, 99. lunar module buzz aldrin, 88. >> moving across the atlantic towards africa and on the next revolution the spacecraft will be accelerating to the required speed to get it into an orbit that will intercept the moon during the translunar injection maneuver. >> saturn gave us a magnificent ride. >> it looks like you're well on

your way now. >> it was neil armstrong praising the launch vehicle. >> the crew at this time press ago head with their transposition and docking maneuver. the spacecraft after having separated from saturn third stage turning around docking with the lunar module extracting the lunar module from the sad turn third stage and pushing ahead en route to the moon.

>> roger, apollo 11. good morning. >> they reports they're receiving from tv from the spacecraft. >> about 137 miles out. >> buzz is doing the camera work. >> neil is on his head again. trying to make me nervous. >> copy. we see 651.

both solid. we copy at 62. >> that was neil armstrong praising the launch vehicle. this is houston. for your information, we expect the attitude to begin at 3 plus 05 plus 03.

the spacecraft, after having separated the saturn third stage. docking with the lunar module. extracting the lunar module from the saturn third stage and pushing ahead en route to the moon. >> a very weak signal. the antenna patterns aren't too good at the moment.

>> apollo 11. >> buzz aldrin reporting that all 12 have blocked.

>> we are set. >> houston, apollo 11, we've completed our maneuvers. six hours, 16 minutes. velocity. the distance from earth, 27,938 nautical miles. now charlie duke and jean kranz and his flight controllers preparing to take over the responsibility from cliff charlesworth' team. >> we'll be ready to copy in a minute. >> the spacecraft will be placed in the thermal control mode. it will be rotating on its x axis to maintain proper temperature balance within the spacecraft.

>> i can observe the entire continent of north america. then you run out of window. >> i didn't know what i was looking at but i sure did like it. >> i didn't have much outside my window. >> we would like a crew status report. we're about to tell you good night. over. >> status report, 110022. 10002. lmb, 09003. negative over. >> copy. thank you much. you're cleared. over. >> okay. maybe we'll get around to lunch.

after having studied, wasn't clear to me what to do next. >> i want young people to know all the possible career options

that are out there in science and engineering and technology. realizing i didn't have many mentors made me want to put myself out there. >> i'm hoping to first finish aerospace engineering and work on spacecraft or aircraft and then apply to the space agency and one day go to space. i think it is really important to have role models like natalie in a position that you hope to see yourself in and she has motivated me to work harder to get to where i want to be in my career. >> i worked on it last summer. >> it makes me feel awesome that i'm able to make a small difference. that's why it is particularly important in science and engineering and tech to create safe spaces where barriers that have no business being barriers don't exist. i think if you can find and harness that courage and

confidence to always be asking questions and keep that sense of discovery alive every day, it really helps push your limit. it's almost like i find my freedom and my power at the same time.

good morning. >> gold stone reports they're receiving tv from the

spacecraft. >> about 130,000 miles out. >> hello there. he's down on his head again. he's trying to make me nervous. >> copy. we see 651. >> we have a happy home. plenty of room for the three of us. >> apollo 11 is presently 131 nautical miles from earth. >> the spacecraft slowly rotates to maintain thermal balance. >> it's good night from the white team, over. >> okay. see you tomorrow. thank you for everything. >> good morning, apollo 11. >> good morning, houston. apollo 11. >> yeah, i've got the world in my window. >> sounds like one of these rotating restaurants. >> let's hand over to the white team here. we are going to crawl in lem shortly. >> we are receiving live tv. >> interior view of the command module looking up into the lem hatch area. >> coming down. >> we are about to open the hatch now. >> buzz aldrin has apparently carried the camera in with him. >> the vehicle is surprisingly

very clean. >> a moment ago we had a good shot of the two helmets and now behind we have the aca. >> that's the position. we will be putting the camera in after the initial descent down the ladder and taking one frame a second. >> hello there. >> hello there. >> probably the most unusual position a cameraman has ever had, hanging by his toes from a tunnel and taking a picture upside down. >> we're going to go ahead and take all the data back into the command module. >> roger. >> we are going to turn our tv monitor off now while we have some other work to do. apollo 11 signing off. >> apollo 11, houston, as the sun sinks slowly in the west, the white team bids you good night. >> you earned your pay today. >> good night all.

the government has succeeded in harnessing the resources, scientific community of the universities. >> let's take a few minutes to review what else has been going on around the world while apollo 11 has held our attention. the lull in the fighting in vietnam is now in its fifth week with only one incident reported from the battlefield today. police chief dominic arena who filed a complaint with charging kennedy with leaving the scene of an accident. kennedy, who suffered a concussion in the accident, remains in seclusion near the family compound near hyannisport. >> go ahead. >> did you hear this story about ted kennedy? did you hear about that?

>> that was the biggest story on the news. >> yeah. >> go ahead. >> your people plotted pressure in that bottle versus time? take a look at it. >> i don't think they've got it yet. >> okay. how about giving me a call when that comes up. we'd like to take a look at it when it comes up on the screen. >> roger. >> good morning, houston. >> roger, 11. good morning. looking good from down here. >> good up from here too. >> deke slayton, director of flight crew operation and two members of the backup crew have joined bruce mccantless at the console. >> apollo 11, this is houston.

over. >> roger. go ahead, houston. >> 11, this is houston. >> we've lost respiration rate on the telemetry. >> okay. mike, we had a request that you check the two electrodes that are placed one on each side of your lower rib cage, over. >> things look normal up here. >> roger, mike. >> we could see variations on our trace as you connected and disconnected but the medics don't have a signal. >> i promise to let you know if i stop breathing. [ laughter ] >> coming up in less than ten seconds now, we will be crossing into the sphere of influence of the moon at this point as the moon's gravitational force becomes the dominant effect on the spacecraft trajectory. and our displays will shift from earth reference to moon reference. the spacecraft was at a distance of 186,437 nautical miles from earth and 33,822 nautical miles from the moon. all spacecraft systems are functioning normally.

the mission going very smoothly. >> we've been having really spectacular, behind the edge of the moon now. solar corona. the sky is lit all the way around the moon. quite an eerie sight because of the very marked three-dimensional aspect of having the sun's corona coming from behind the moon the way it is. >> it's a view worth the price of the trip. >> mother earth is 206,059 nautical miles behind, coming up on the lunar orbit insertion burn in which the spacecraft will start its initial orbit around the moon. that maneuver will slow the spacecraft down considerably from its present velocity, and it should come from behind the east face of the moon 33 minutes later.

>> the moon is there, boy, in all its splendor. >> hello, moon. >> all your systems are looking good, going around the corner. we'll see you on the other side. over. >> loss of signal as apollo 11 goes behind the moon. >> door number two is ours. ♪

♪ >> that's a beautiful bird. 170 by 6. like gangbusters. whoo. >> 30 seconds from acquisition time. >> that thing is loud. >> when i first saw it, it really looked gray. >> that's a big beauty. gigantic crater. look at the mountains going around it. my gosh, they're monsters. >> there's a big one over here

too. >> look at those craters in a row. there it is. it's coming up. >> what? >> the earth. >> the earth? >> yeah. beautiful. right over the lem. boy, does that ever look beautiful in the sector. >> apollo 11. apollo 11. >> we sure do, houston. one burn just normal as all get out and everything is looking good. >> it was like perfect. delta take zero, burn time 557. 60.9 by 169.9. >> that burn report was by neil armstrong. >> roger, we copy. the spacecraft is looking good to us on telemetry. >> apollo 11 on its first lunar revolution. >> you got a good view there, neil? >> yeah, i sure do. >> it's beautiful out there. >> man, this is really something. you ought to look at this if you want to watch our approach into the landing site. look through this window.

we're coming up here. straight out ahead. >> 80 hours 48 minutes now into the flight of apollo 11. astronaut charles duke has arrived on the scene. >> what put us four minutes ahead? >> we arrived at the moon four minutes early. >> speaks well for the booster. >> 11, that really winds things up as far as we are concerned on the ground for the evening. we're ready to go to bed and get a little sleep, over. >> we're about to join you. >> roger.

this is, of course, the great day for mankind when we leave our planet earth and set foot on the moon. so on this historic day neil armstrong and buzz aldrin are in their lunar module in their space suits. on this next pass, they are preparing to undock. >> all spacecraft looking very good at this time. the following revolution, revolution 13, armstrong and aldrin, they will undock from the command and service module, from which point the power descent to the lunar surface will be initiated. >> apollo 11, houston we're go for undocking. over. >> roger, understand.

>> we're all set when you are, mike. >> there you go. see you later. >> eagle undocked. the eagle has legs. looking good. >> thrusting. okay, eagle, one minute. you guys take care. >> see you later. okay. all flight controllers going to go for power descent. retro now. guidance. >> go. >> control. >> go. >> telcom. >> go. >> gnc. >> go. >> econ. >> go. >> circuit. >> go. >> capcom we're go for power descent. >> eagle go for power descent, over.

>> eagle, we've got you now. it's looking good. over. >> looks good. >> eagle, houston, everything is looking good here. over. >> roger. copy. houston, we're getting a little fluctuation. >> roger. >> stand by. >> looking good. you're still looking good. coming up three minutes. >> okay. we went by the three minutes point early. a little off. our position seems to be a little off. >> roger, copy. >> he thinks you're a little long down range. >> that's right. i think we confirmed that. >> we confirmed that. roger. ♪

>> all flight controllers i'm going around the horn. >> watch that signal. >> what data you have for l.o.s. few seconds. >> go. >> go, go. >> telcom. >> go. >> ecom. >> go. >> surgeon. >> go. >> capcom we're go to continue power descent. >> we're go to continue power descent. >> looks good. >> 1202. >> 1202. >> 1202 alarm. >> 1202? what's that? >> 1202 alarm. >> executive overflow.

if it does not occur again, we're fine. >> we're go. >> we're going. >> if it doesn't recur, we'll be go. >> we're go. >> roger, we're going at alarm. >> roger. >> alarm appeared to come up. >> six plus 25, throttle down. six plus 25, throttle down. >> you can feel it. >> okay. all flight controllers. >> go. >> go. >> gnc go. >> econ. >> go. >> surgeon. >> go. >> capcom, we're go for landing. >> eagle, houston, you're go for landing. over. >> roger. >> 1201. >> 1201.

>> okay, the only callouts from now on will be fuel. >> stand by for 60. >> 60. >> 60 seconds. >> 60 seconds. >> flight time. now two and a half. five feet. okay, houston, looks like a good area. looking good. forward, forward. that's good. three feet down. two and a half. 30 feet, two and a half. >> 30, 30 seconds. >> more forward. drifting to the right a little. five feet. 4 1/2. forward. >> come back right.

>> contact. >> okay, engine stop. auto descent. command override off. alarm off. [ applause ] >> we copy you down, eagle. >> houston, tranquility bay here. the eagle has landed. >> rocket point, tranquility. we copy you on the ground. you've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. we're breathing again. thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> touchdown. ♪

♪ >> houston, seems like a very long final phase. the auto targeting was taking us right into a football field sized crater and it required us flying manually over the rock field to find a reasonably good area. >> we copy. it was beautiful from here. be advised lots of smiling faces in this room and all over the world.

over. >> we have some heart rates for neil armstrong during that powered descent to the lunar surface. at the time the burn was initiated armstrong's heart rate was 110. at touchdown on the lunar surface, he had a hard rate of 156. and the heart rate is now in the 90s. we do not have biomedical data on buzz aldrin. >> the hatch is coming open. >> hatch reported coming open at 109 hours eight minutes five seconds. >> okay, houston, i'm on the porch. >> roger, neil. >> okay, everything's nice in here. >> okay. can you pull the door open a little more? >> okay. >> okay. >> houston, this is neil. radio check. >> neil, this is houston, loud and clear. break, break.

buzz, this is houston. radio check and verify tv circuit breaker in. >> roger. tv circuit breaker's in. >> roger. >> and we're getting a picture on the tv. >> you had a good picture, huh? >> there's a great deal of contrast in it and currently it's upside down on our monitor but we can make out a fair amount of detail. >> okay. >> i'm at the foot of the ladder. the lem foot beds are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained as you get close to

it. it's almost like a powder. down this grapevine. i'm going to step off the lem now. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. i only go in a 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. >> neil, this is houston.

we're copying. > there seems to be no difficulty in moving around. as we suspected. it's even perhaps easier than the simulations of 16g that we performed in various simulations on the ground. the descent engine did not leave a crater of any size. it has about one-foot clearance on the ground. i can see some evidence of rays emanating from the descent engine but very insignificant amount. >> roger, neil. we're reading you loud and clear. see you getting some pictures and the contingency sample. >> interesting, it's a very soft surface but here and there where i plug with the contingency sample collector i run into very hard surface, but it appears to be a very cohesive material of

the same sort. i'll try to get a rock in here. >> that looks beautiful from here, neil. >> it has a stark beauty all its own. it's like much of the high desert of the united states. it's different but it's very pretty out here. is that in the pocket? >> yeah, push down. got it? no, it's not all the way in. push it. there you go. >> sample is in the pocket. i -- oxygen is 81%. i have no flags, and i'm in minimum flow. >> okay, i got the camera going at one frame a second. you ready for me to come out? >> just stand by a second. i'll move this over the hand rail. >> how far am i? >> okay, you're right at the end of the porch. >> okay.

now i want to back up and partially close the hatch. making sure not to lock it on my way out. >> good thought. >> that's our home for the next couple hours. we want to take good care of it. >> you've got three more steps and then a long one. beautiful view. >> isn't that something? magnificent sight out here. >> magnificent desolation. >> okay, houston, i'm going to change lenses on you. >> roger, neil. we're getting a new picture. you can tell it's a longer focal length lens. >> for those who haven't read the plaque we'll read the plaque that's on the front landing gear of this lem. here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon, july 1969. we came in peace for all mankind. >> neil armstrong getting ready

to move the tv camera now out to its panorama position. >> i got plenty of cable. >> you got plenty. plenty more. >> okay, that looks good there, neil. >> okay. >> one hour seven minutes time expended. buzz is erecting the solar wind experiment now. >> some of these small depressions through the upper surface of the soil and about five or six inches breaks loose and moves as if it were caked on the surface when in fact it really isn't. >> houston, over. >> columbia, this is houston reading you loud and clear, over. >> this is -- reading you loud and clear, how is it going? >> roger. the e.v.a. is progressing beautifully. they're setting up the flag now. >> great. >> i guess you're about the only person around that doesn't have

tv coverage of the scene. >> how is the quality of the tv? >> it's beautiful, mike. it really is. they've got the flag up now. you can see the stars and stripes on the lunar surface. >> beautiful, just beautiful. >> neil and buzz, the president of the united states is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you. over. >> that would be an honor. >> go ahead, mr. president. this is houston out. >> hello, neil and buzz. i'm talking to you by telephone from the oval room at the white house. and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the white house. i just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done. for every american, this has to be the proudest day of our lives and for people all over the world, because of what you have

done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. and 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. one in their pride in what you have done and one in our prayers that you will return safely to earth. >> 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 curiosity and a vision for the future. it's an honor for us to be able to participate today. >> neil's been on the surface an hour now. buzz not quite 20 minutes, less than that. heart rates on both crewmen averaging between 90 and 100. >> don't know of any abnormalities in the lem.

pods seem to be in good shape. the primary and secondary struts are in good shape. antennas are all in place. there's no evidence of problem underneath. >> the seq bay contains the scientific experiments to be left on the surface of the moon. >> have you got us a good area to put down? >> buzz aldrin carrying the two experiments. >> that's probably as good a place as any. >> i'm going to have to get on the other side of this rock here. >> deflector is installed and the bubble level and alignment appears to be good. >> they've been on their life support systems two hours and 25 minutes. >> houston, i have the seismic experiment tipped over now and i'm aligning it with the sun. and all parts of the solar array are clear of the ground now. >> buzz aldrin is collecting a core tube sample. >> it almost looks wet. >> got a sample. neil, this is houston.

after you've got the core tubes and the solar wind, anything else that you can throw into the box would be acceptable. >> we've got about i'd say 20 pounds of carefully selected if not documented samples. >> houston, roger. well done. out. >> anything more before i head on up, bruce? >> negative. head on up the ladder, buzz. >> adios, amigos. >> okay. >> transferring the sample containers into the lem cabin now. unofficial time off the surface at 111:37.32. >> closed and latched. verified secure. >> okay. >> and we'd like to say from all of us down here in houston and really from all of us in all the countries in the entire world, we think that you've done a

magnificent job up there today. over. >> thank you very much. it's been a long day. >> yes, indeed. get some rest there and have at it tomorrow. moving is hard.

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collins with the help of flight controllers here in mission control center has kept the command module systems going paka-ta, paka-ta, paka-ta. >> columbia, columbia, good morning from houston. >> how is the black team today? all primed and raring to go? >> you betcha there, mike. going to keep you a little busy here. as soon as we get the vector in, we'd like to get a go ahead and do a p52 option 3 and then when you come on around the other side there, we'll give you some landmark tracking information on the 130. >> all right, fine. i understand. thank you. >> tranquility base houston, how is the resting standing up there? did you chance to curl up on the engine cam? >> roger. neil has rigged himself a really good hammock and he's been lying on the engine cover and i curled up on the floor. over. >> roger. copy, buzz. >> our science support room

here in mission control center reports receiving continuous data from the passive seismic experiment placed on the lunar surface last night by the apollo 11 crew. recorded the astronauts' footsteps on the moon and will probably receive its strongest signal when the ascent signal ignites and starts the lunar module into orbit and rendezvous with columbia. >> tranquility base, houston. >> go ahead. >> roger, just a reminder we want to make sure you leave the rendezvous radar circuit breakers full. >> okay. >> eagle and columbia, this is the backup crew. congratulations to yesterday's performance. our prayers are with you for the rendezvous. over. >> thank you, jim. >> thank you, jim. >> almost 5,000 pounds of propellant will be run through the ascent engine on the ascent burn which will place eagle back

into lunar orbit, and following that the rendezvous sequence completed with the docking at 128 hours approximately. flight operations director chris craft commented that some 500 million people around the world were helping push eagle off the moon and back into orbit. flight director glenn lundy polling the various positions here in the control room on their readiness. >> final status. >> got it all. >> guidance. >> two minutes. >> flight looks good. >> tranquility base, houston. >> eagle's looking real fine to us. you are cleared for takeoff. >> number one on the runway. >> guidance reports both navigation systems on the eagle are looking good.

nine, eight, seven, six, five. fourth stage. ascent. proceed. number one on the runway. >> over. >> very smooth. >> roger. >> not very much vector activity. >> looking good. >> 30 seconds in. >> 700, 150 up. beautiful. >> eagle, houston, still looking mighty fine. >> all three data sources are agreeing quite closely here.

>> eagle, houston, we'll see you at 127 plus five one. ♪ >> 127 hours, 39 minutes, 39.2 seconds. this is the start time for a series of velocity match maneuvers to bring eagle in with columbia. ♪ >> houston, delta h of 15.5. and maneuver of 51.3.

>> roger, we copy. >> as the two vehicles come around on the 26th lunar revolution, mike collins aboard columbia is springloaded to do what is called a mirror image maneuver. ♪ >> okay. coming in. ♪ >> columbia, i've got 470 now.

could you hold silent for a few seconds here? ♪ >> columbia -- >> okay, mike. try to get in position here and then you got it. >> columbia starting to maneuver. >> okay.

>> looks good, mike. >> okay. we're all yours. roger. >> communications are somewhat scratchy. columbia and eagle now reunited to become apollo 11 again. >> apollo 11, houston, got minute and a half to l.o.s. looking great. been a mighty fine day. >> boy, you're not kidding. >> armstrong and aldrin transferring back to the command module with mike collins. >> houston, this is columbia reading you loud and clear. we're all three back inside. the hatch is installed. we're running a pressure check. everything is going well. >> rog, how does it feel up there to have some company? >> damn good, i'll tell you.

>> i bet. talking to yourself up there after ten rounds or so. >> no, it's a happy home up there. it would be nice to have 100 million americans up here. >> rog, they were with you in spirit anyway. at least that many. >> thank you, sir. >> apollo 11, houston, all your systems look real good to us. >> we would like you to jettison eagle. your delta power arm and go for a jettison. >> okay. >> there she goes. it was a good one. >> roger dodger. we got eagle looking good. it's holding cabin pressure and picked up about two feet per second from that jettison. >> the crew jettisoned the lem at 130 hours 30 minutes. we're now ten seconds away from transearth injection. they will burn their service propulsion system engine for 2 minutes 28 seconds to start them on their way back to earth. >> apollo 11 houston one minute to l.o.s.

>> the maneuver will be performed on the back side of the moon at the beginning of the 31st revolution. we will reacquire the spacecraft on the other side of the moon. >> apollo 11, houston, you're looking good, going over the hill. go sic 'em. >> thank you. we're good. >> stand by. for ollie. ollie? ♪ >> man, that feels like a g, doesn't it? >> one minute. standard pressure is holding

right on 100. >> gimbal looks good. telemetry looks good. little bit. standing by for engine shutdown now. >> okay. shut down. >> beautiful. >> yes, i love you. you are a duo. >> and there's the cue. we have acquisition of signal. >> hey, charlie boy. looking good here. that was a beautiful burn. they don't come any finer. >> rog. >> roger, we got you coming home.

>> let's get some music. ♪ ♪ just a lot of people doing the best they could ♪ ♪ just a lot of people doing the best they could ♪ ♪ and then the lady said that they did it pretty up and walking good ♪ ♪ whatever happened to those faces in the old photographs ♪ ♪ i mean the little boys ♪ boys? ♪ hell, they were men ♪ and here they come

♪ sitting straight and proud and he's driving her stone blind ♪ ♪ and once you look at her, ah, she never looked finer or went better than today ♪ ♪ sweetheart on parade ♪ and the people cheered, why, i even saw a grown man break right down and cry ♪ ♪ and the sun it is going down for mr. bouie ♪ ♪ as he's singing with his class of nineteen two ♪ ♪ oh, mother country, i do love you ♪

♪ oh, mother country, i do love you ♪ >> this should be getting larger and if it is, it's the place we're coming home to. no matter where you travel, it's always nice to get home. >> we concur. 11. we'll be happy to have you back.

apollo 11 now 94,961 nautical miles from earth. re-entry is scheduled to begin 18 hours 18 minutes and 12 seconds. >> flight, bruce, did you ever let you go get a cup of coffee when we were over on the back side? >> things have been going pretty smoothly down here. he's really not that hard to get along with. >> he must be mellowing. >> we've only got two of them back there right now. >> the next item scheduled on the flight plan is a television transmission. >> you may be interested in knowing that jan and the children and pat and the youngsters and andy aldrin are down here in the viewing room watching this evening. >> we're glad to hear that. >> good signal. >> okay, you're coming through

loud and clear now, 11, with your patch. >> this has been far more than three men on a voyage to the moon. we feel that this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown. this operation is somewhat like the periscope of a submarine. all you see is the three of us, but beneath the surface are thousands and thousands of others. we'd like to give a special thanks to all those americans who built those spacecraft, who did the construction, design, and put their -- their heart and all their abilities into those crafts. to those people, tonight we give a special thank you.

and to all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, god bless you. good night from apollo 11. >> weather in the recovery area, skies will be partly cloudy. six-foot sea. temperature near 80 degrees. this landing area is 215 miles to the northeast from the original landing area. moved because of thundershowers in the original area. >> apollo 11's distance now is 3,000 nautical miles. velocity 26,685 feet per second. in the next 20 minutes apollo 11 will add almost 10,000 feet per second to that figure. entry at 75 statute miles. beginning blackout at 62 statute miles.

main chute deployment, 10,500 feet. >> 11, houston, weather still holding real fine in the recovery area. looks like it's about 1500 scattered, high scattered and still three to six-foot waves. >> sounds good. >> roger. >> the earth is really getting bigger up here. and of course we see a crescent. >> apollo 11 lined up right down the middle of the entry corridor. we're a minute and 45 seconds from entry. blackout will begin 18 seconds after entry. >> apollo 11 houston, still looking mighty fine here. you're cleared for landing. >> we appreciate that. >> stand and lock.

>> roger. >> guidance officer reports the command module computer looks good and the guidance and navigation system is go. >> 11, houston, going over the hill shortly. looking mighty fine to us. >> see you later. >> there's the horizon. at the horizon now. ♪

♪ >> and beginning a blackout approximately 17 seconds after entry interface into the atmosphere. 400,000 feet or approximately 85 miles above the earth. at blackout, we were showing velocity 36,237 feet per second. range to go to splash 1,510 nautical miles. >> l.o.s. >> l.o.s. blackout. >> roger. you have arrived. >> apollo 11, houston to arrive.

>> we're looking for you. >> apollo 11, houston to arrive. >> apollo 11, houston through arrive four. >> okay, capcom. one last call. i'm going to have to give up and let the recovery people have it. >> apollo 11, houston, through to arrive. >> apollo 11, apollo 11, this is hornet, hornet, over. >> apollo. clear.

our position 1330. 16915. >> there they are! [ applause ] >> mission to crew. over. >> condition. 4,000, 3,500 feet on the way down. latitude/longitude, 1330. 16915. >> roger. copy. >> hornet reports spacecraft right on target point. >> splashdown. splashdown. this is the command module. >> roger. >> stable one now. stable one. >> your condition? >> our condition is excellent. we're just fine. take your time. >> all right.

>> that was mike collins reporting the crew was excellent. >> astronaut is in the net. on his way up. command module. >> i have three astronauts aboard. switching power frequency. power frequency. >> hornet, understand. completed the decontamination in the command module. [ applause ] >> the elevator will take recovery one down to the hangar deck and where the crew will enter the mobile quarantine facility. this control center becoming jammed with people. i've never seen this many people in the control center at one time before.

>> the apollo 11 plaque has been hung in the mission control center. a replica of the crew patch. [ cheers and applause ] ♪ and the flags are waving and the cigars are being lit up. and clear across the big board in front is president john f. kennedy's message to congress of may 1961. >> even though i realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do

not now know what benefits await us, but if i were to say, my fellow citizens, that we shall send to the moon 240,000 miles away from the control station in houston a giant rocket, more than 300 feet tall, fitted together with a precision better than the finest watch, carrying all the equipment needed for propulsion, guidance, control, communications, food and survival, on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body and then return it safely to earth, re-entering the atmosphere at speeds of over 25,000 miles per hour, causing heat about half that on the temperature of the sun, almost as hot as it is here today and do all this and do all this and do it right and do it first before this decade is out, then we must be bold.

[ applause ] ♪ ♪