>> 45 years ago on july 20, 1969 as millions watched around the world on live television, neil armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon. next, a half hour of nasa documentary chronicling the apollo documentary from liftoff o smashdown.

>> we copy you, eagle. >> houston, the eagle has landed. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> roger, tranquility. we copy on the ground. you got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. we are breathing again. thanks a lot. >> we are getting a picture on the tv. there is a great deal of contrast in it, and currently, it is upside down on our monitor, but we can make out a fair amount of detail. ok. we can see you coming down the ladder now. >> sunday, july 20, 1969, around the world, nearly a billion people watched this moment on television as the first man from earth repaired to set foot on the moon. >> i am at the foot of the ladder. he lm footpaths are only depressed in the service about ne or two inches, although the

service appears to be very dry, very, very fine-grained as you get close to it. it is almost like a powder. down there, it is very fine. i am going to step off the lm now. that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. > i believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. >> all that we have accomplished in space, although we may accomplish in days and years to come, we stand ready to share for the benefit of all mankind. >> as we explore the reaches of pace, let us go to the new

worlds together, not as new worlds to be conquered, but as a new adventure to be shared. > since the earliest time, man as imagined this moment, the moment when his fellow man would make the first journey to the moon. now, the time had come. in the sixth decade of the 20th century, the ancient dream was to become a reality. the flight of apollo 11 was the culmination of many years of planning, working, building, and testing. thousands of people had contributed toward this day of accomplishment. the great saturn v rocket and the complex apollo spacecraft

had been assembled together and moved to the launchpad to get the equipment and techniques and personnel had been proved in earlier missions, and now, they were ready. the astronauts chosen for this mission had floated many times in ground-based simulators. they had all been for four. they had trained carefully and well, and now, they, too, were ready. astronaut michael collins would pilot the apollo command odule. astronaut edward aldrin, jr. would pilot the lunar module, and astronaut neil armstrong would serve as mission commander. armstrong would be the first man to step up on the moon. july 16. the day had come. the moon awaited. the men rose early, ate breakfast, and dressed in their pacesuits.

other astronauts had made this journey to the launchpad, but never with such anticipation. :32 a.m., july 16.

three hours later, the apollo command module moves forward to extract the lunar module from the third stage of the launch vehicle. both are moving at more than 70 miles an hour. docked together, they will fail one quarter million miles across the sea of space and into orbit around the earth's nearest neighbor. >> that was neil. how are you reading, mike? >> loud and clear now, mike, as

we understand that you are ocked. >> during the three-day journey, to the moon, the astronauts kept busy. checklists, navigation, and observation, housekeeping. they must work in a weightless environment, keeping their spacecraft and themselves in good condition. data must be collected and reported. experiments must be performed, including photography, both inside and outside the spacecraft. because of the film speed, these actions appear faster than they actually were. july 19. apollo 11 slows down and goes

into orbit around the moon. the bright, blue planet of earth now lies 238,000 miles beyond the lunar horizon. astronauts armstrong and aldrin, now in the lunar module, separate from the command odule. astronaut collins remains behind. preparation for the lunar module dissent to the moon now egins. the command module assumes the

new name "columbia." the lunar module will be called the "eagle." from columbia, michael collins' camera sees bright rays of the sun reflecting patterns of color from the surface of the eagle. in this strange, metallic bird rides the ancient and endless dream of all mankind. the command pilot can see detail which is camera cannot record. the four landing pads of the lunar module are fully extended and locked in place. the eagle is poised and prepared for its descent to the lunar surface.

the moon landing craft rocket engine fires to slow it down and to place it on the pathway to the landing site in the sea of tranquility. there is tension and caution as the eagle flies lower. warning lights blink on as the computer tries to keep up with the demand for control data, but the status remains go. >> eagle, we have got you now. it is looking good. over. >> roger. copy. >> eagle, houston. after yaw around, angles. s-band pitch, minus 9, yaw plus 18. you are a go to continue. go to continue powered descent. you are a go to continue powered descent.

>> altitude now 21,000 feet. still looking very good. velocity down to 1200 feet per second. >> you are looking great to us, eagle. >> gives us a reading on the 1292 program alarm. >> roger, we are a go on that alarm. >> good radar data. we are now in the approach phase. everything looking good. ltitude 4,200 -- >> houston, you are go for landing. over. >> roger. understand. go for landing. 3000 feet. row gram alarm. altitude 1600. 14 hundred feet. still looking very good. 700 feet. 21 down, 33 degrees, 600 feet down at 19. 1201. >> 1201. >> 1201 alarm. we are go. same type. we are go. >> altitude, velocity light, 3.5 down, 220 feet, 13 forward, 11 forward, coming down nicely, 200 eet, 4.5 down, 5.5 down. >> 60 seconds. >> lights on, down 2.5, forward,

forward, 40 feet, down 2.5. kicking up some dust, 4 forward, 4 forward, drifting to the right a little, contact light, ok, engine stop. >> we copy you down, eagle. >> tranquility base here, the agle has landed. >> through the window of the eagle, armstrong and aldrin see what no human eyes have ever seen before. their spacecraft casts a long shadow across the undisturbed dust of centuries.

seven hours after landing, after careful preparations for later ascend were completed, armstrong opens the eagle had shed begins his climb down to the surface. the first footsteps on this strange, new world must be taken cautiously. the moon has only 1/6 the gravity of earth. the nature of its surface will remain unknown. >> ok, i am going to step off of he lm now.

that's one small step for man, ne giant leap for mankind. >> on the surface, armstrong scoops up a small sample of lunar dust and rock, precaution against the possibility of an emergency takeoff. according to plan, astronaut adrin now descendent from the eagle. he and his equipment would weigh 383 pounds on earth. here, they weigh about 66 ounds.

for brief moment, the first man on the moon stand and look at the stark, lonely landscape around them, and experience which no one before them can share. but there is much to be done in the limited time which they can stay on this airless, cloudless satellite of earth. this sheet of metal foil traps and holds particles from the sun, the so-called solar wind or barrage of solar energy which constantly strikes the moon's surface. results of this experiment will be taken back to earth to reveal new secrets to anxious cientists.

an american flag is left behind on the moon, together with medals honoring american and soviet spacemen who lost their lives in earlier space tests, and a small this could carry messages of the goodwill from 73 ations on earth. a plaque on the lunar module reads "here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon, july 1969 a.d. we came in peace for all ankind." through a specially made television camera, viewers in the many nations on earth were able to watch the astronauts as they walked and worked on the moon. despite the bulky spacesuits and

the backpacks containing oxygen, temperature control, and communications equipment, the apollo 11 crew found they could move easily around the surface. because there is no wind or rain on the moon, these footprints will remain for centuries. in addition to collecting rock and soil samples, the explorers eave behind a seismometer. this highly-sensitive device would send back valuable information on external meteoroid impacts as well as nternal lunar movements.

a 100-prism laser reflector would help man to measure the exact distance from earth to moon to an accuracy of six nches. these were the first of many experiments which would be taken to the moon to provide man with continuing and increasing knowledge about the moon and the astness of space beyond. after two hours and 31 minutes, the first lunar explorers had completed their research on the moon. a night of rest in the lunar module, countdown preparations, and they were ready to come home. >> tranquility base, houston. write his recommendation is pgns, and you are cleared for

takeoff. >> roger. understand. we are number one on the runway. >> 7, 6, 5, abort stage, engine arm ascent. beautiful. very smooth. very quiet ride. there is that one crater down there. 1000 feet high, 80 feet per econd vertical rise. eagle, houston, you are looking good at 2. pgns, ags, and msfn all agree. >> we are going right down to u.s. 1. >> eagle, houston, going right down the track, everything is great. >> horizontal velocity approaching 2500 feet per second. >> roger.

>> some 120 miles to go on tilt in search and. >> july 21, the eagle and its two-man crew lifted off the moon perfectly and climbed slowly to rendezvous and dock with the othership, columbia. while armstrong and aldrin explored the moon, astronaut collins had kept a long and lonely vigil in the columbia. the approaching eagle was a welcome sight. later, the three men would share their reflections on this

adventure with the world. >> i believe that from the early spaceflights, we demonstrated a potential to carry out this type of mission. and, again, it was a question of time until this would be accomplished. >> i think it is a technical triumph for this country to have said what it was going to do a number of years ago, and then, by golly, do it. >> the relative ease with which we were able to carry out our mission, which, of course, came after a very efficient and logical sequence of flights, i think that this demonstrated that we were certainly on the right track when we took this commitment to go to the moon. >> i just see it as a beginning, beginning of a new age.

>> once again, the bright, blue planet of earth rises over the lunar horizon. for those who lead witness man's landing in the sea of tranquility, the moon would never again appear quite the ame. july 24. dawn in the pacific.

apollo blazes across the heavens, coming back to earth at 5,000 miles an hour. president richard nixon, who had talked with the astronauts by telephone while they were on the moon, was waiting aboard the recovery carrier to welcome the returning voyageurs. the president later expressed the nation's response to this historic mission.

>> some way, when those two americans stepped on the moon, the people of this world were brought closer together. that it is that spirit, the spirit of apollo, that america can now help to bring to our relations with other nations. the spirit of apollo transcends geographical barriers and political differences. it can bring the people of the world together in peace. >> to protect against any possible lunar contamination, the astronauts put on airtight a special garments before coming board the rescue ship. they transferred directly from the helicopter to a mobile quarantine van, in which they would be flown back to the manned spacecraft center in ouston, texas.

july 27. the journey was ended. hey were home again.

ahead lay three weeks of isolation, medical tests, and mission debriefings, then visits to major cities of america and abroad. the details of their unique mission would be relived and remembered so that others might learn what they had learned, and that future travelers and space might build upon their xperience. the rock and soil samples brought back would be examined and analyzed by scientists in many lands. they would reveal new insights into the origin and the age and the composition of the moon and perhaps new knowledge of the earth, as well. already, experiments left on the moon were sending back evealing, new information.

the mission was successfully completed. the eagle has landed the first man on the moon, and columbia had returned them safely to earth. wherever man journeys tomorrow across the ocean of our universe, history will remind him that apollo 11 was mankind's first encounter with a new world. cable satellite corp. 2014] national captioning institute]

>> tonight on book tv's "after words," >> i thought it would be compeling to tell a white family and a black family with the same name who come from the same place and follow them from slavery through the civil war reconstruction, tim crow, civil rights movement, up until today and compare and contrast. >> columnist and author chris tomlinson on his family's slave owning history and how the legacy of slavery still affects american society. he talks with the brother of former running back ladainian tomlinson about their family's lineage as former slaves from

the hill on "after words." >> next on american history tv, historian and author doug brinkley. he shares audio recordings and discusses a 2001 interview with neil armstrong, focusing on armstrong's passion with engineering. a student at purdue university and his historic trip to the moon. as was part of the nasa oral history project. it gives insight into the lives and experiences of the so-called nerdy engineer, and famously took one giant leap for mankind. the purdue organization sponsored this event. >> welcome, everyone, to the greatest adventure. neil armstrong and the moonshot. featuring dr. douglas