you. >> do you have a strange inheritance story you would like to share with us? we would love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to the web site strange inheritance.com. it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> it was something that hasn't anywhere been done before. >> the apollo astronauts were american heros. >> it's what we were asked to do. >> we choose to go to the moon. not because they are easy but because they are hard. >> did you actually ever think i might -- [ inaudible ] >> today, nearing historic lows as our state programs have cuts

we go into orbit with our old nemesis and we are reminded of what it meant to fly to the moon. >> you were the last human being to touch that surface. how does that make you feel? >> humble. >> i'm reporting from the kennedy space center complex in florida. it's hard for people my age to believe that most americans weren't even alive the last time a man walked on the moon. on december 14th 1972. a number of the explorers that made that trip passed away. the rest are now in their late 70s. some 80s but the story they tell still sounds like something out of the future, not the past. it's a story about how america with a combination of vision, high-tech high-tech know how and courage

stepped into the unknown and achieved what almost seems as unbelievable today as it was a half century ago. >> it was october 4th 1957 at the height of the cold war that the soviet launched a beach ball sized satellite that orbited the earth in over an hour and a half. >> they tell us the world may never be the same again. >> in 1957 when i was still in flight school sputnik was launched. >> it was the start of the space race. america competing with the soviets for scientific dominance but in a world where americans dug bomb shelters and worried about missile gaps, science spelled national security. >> the cold war had been prolonged. it was going on. nobody could really see an end to it. they were all the underlying risk of nuclear confrontation at the time. >> the next step in that race

manned launches that required a few good men, seven to start with. >> there was 110 originally people selected by air force and the navy to become astronauts. it got down to 32 after the interviews and things like that. 32 of us went to the clinic and i was the only guy that flunked. >> how come you didn't pass the physicals? >> i had a high pigment in your blood and so with that they said well, you're out. >> you had said at the time when you're a little boy you can either be into dinosaurs or rockets. you were not into dinosaurs. >> what i didn't get in the mercury program is the original selection i said i was interested in rockets before those guys could spell it. >> project mercury began in 1958 with the goals of putting a human in orbit and doing so before the soviets did. on that second count they

failed. 3.5 years after the sputnik shock april 12th 1961 the soviets outpaced the u.s. once again when he became the first human being in space. >> they beat us into orbit. >> america scrambled to catch up. less than one month later on may 5th, alan sheppard became the first american in space. just over three months into his presidency john f. kennedy like millions of other americans across the country was glued to his television. >> he became an instant hero that this country needed but the fact of life is he the to circle the earth a month before and he went up and came down in 16 minutes. >> jfk south out advice from nasa's top engineers.

one was vanbron. >> in huntsville alabama the president begins a tour of the u.s. space center. >> he wrote to kennedy and when he said how can we beat the russians russians? and the letter basically said we can't beat them anywhere except to be the first on the moon. and so that's what we committed to. >> may 25th 1961 the president made a dramatic announcement before a joint session of congress. >> 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. >> we didn't go to the moon to collect rocks. we went to stick the flag on the moon before the russian's did. >> if we didn't have the cold war would kennedy have had the same zeal? >> no. >> to have something that would

show america's ability to respond to a challenge as well as to do it in a full open, and peaceful way i think really did catch the imagination of the american people and of the politicians at the time. >> catch the imagination it did. on february 20th 1962, john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. >> that view is tremendous. >> we choose to go to the moon and do the other things. not because they are easy but because they are hard. >> the mercury program would ultimately have six manned flights. each mission a step closer to the ultimate goal. then as mercury was winding down on november 22nd 1963, president kennedy was assassinated. >> to honor his memory and the

future of the works that he started, the launch operation center in florida shall be known as the john f. kennedy space center. >> in april 1964 they launched project gemini. >> it was a two-man spacecraft. it was specifically to show that we could do a dock. >> you had to be able in space two weeks. you have to be able to get outside of the spacecraft in a space suit and have a guided reentry. we practiced those in gemini. it was an extremely important part of the lunar program. >> june 3rd 1965, he became the first american to perform an eva. extra vehicular activity or space walk. >> i feel like a million

dollars. >> america was still playing catch up however. the soviet cosmonaut had performed a space walk three months earlier. the big prize was still up there in the night sky and the missions were moving forward. each one providing nasa with more information necessary for the ultimate quest. >> we're on our way. >> in december of 1965, gemini 6 rendezvoused with gemini 6 a in orbit. >> they said people can't live in zero gravity for too long. we went up there for two weeks and we did see changes in the body but nothing that couldn't be overcome. >> that was significant, right? that meant we could go to the moon. that we could chance a mission of that duration if not longer.

>> yeah because the moon flights to the max would probably be about a two week flight and we had to make sure that the people were able to function in that respect. >> the mission has shown us that man indeed adapts to the space flight environment. the additional data allows us to medically commit man to a lunar mission. >> america's next step, the apollo program would get us to the moon but it almost cratered as soon as it began. we continue after the break. [ hoof beats ] i wish... please, please, please, please, please. [ male announcer ] the wish we wish above all...is health. so we quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. expanded minuteclinic for walk-in medical care. and created programs that encourage people to take their medications regularly. introducing cvs health. a new purpose. a new promise... to help all those

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everybody knew a moon mission was a dangerous under taking. still few saw astronauts dying on the launch pad. just feet away from desperate technicians helpful to save them. >> on friday january 27th 1957, three astronauts entered apollo's maiden quest designated as 204 to conduct a preflight test. as test conductors were about ready to pick it up instruments showed an unexplained oxygen flow. six seconds later the frantic voice came over the intercom.

>> there's fire in the cockpit. >> a fire in the cockpit. >> they were inside a spacecraft in pure oxygen. that's a recipe for disaster. all they needed was a spark and unfortunately they got one. >> from a piece of exposed uninsulated wiring. >> the hatch was on the inside pressing outward against the hull. so you had to pull it in and turn it and slide it through the door. you have 50,000 pounds of pressure holding that door in place. >> all three men were dead. >> we lived near the wife of one of the crew members. >> bill ander hearsay the unenviable task of breaking the news to the wife of edward white. >> that was a tough deal. when i stopped in front of the house she saw me coming and even though she had not heard i could tell by the look of her face that she knew something was wrong. >> the three were given hero's funerals and in their honor

mission as 204 was redesignated apollo 1. >> that put the program on hold. frank became very instrumental in reviewing the whole issue. >> nasa investigated itself so that kept it outside without the slightest idea of what was going on at bay. that was one of the hall marks of the confidence that the public had in nasa at that time. we were able to get together. >> the testimony to congress helped convince the government and the public that there would always be risk. nasa could learn and the apollo program could go ahead. the launch pad disaster may have allowed nasa to get to the moon faster than scheduled. >> we had an opportunity to learn from that mistake. a very tragic sad mistake but to accelerate the program and i don't think i'm alone in having

said that the fire really did make it possible to meet kennedy's goal to land on the moon by the end of the decade of the 60s. >> nasa never designated any flights apollo 2 and 3. apollo 4, 5, and 6 were unmanned missions to test the safety of the rocket. it took almost two years before another american crew went into orbit. on october 11th 1968. >> >> the space program was pack but a slow reentry wasn't going to be enough to meet the deadline. it would require a daring and dramatic change of plan. >> coming up, nasa

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martin luther king jr. and robert f. kennedy assassinated. riots engulfing our cities. the escalating war in vietnam claiming the presidency and alienating millions of americans. against this backdrop nasa resumed it's manned flights and aimed to test in space the craft that it hoped to land on the moon before year's end. a sudden change of plans turned apollo 8 into another make or break mission. >> apollo 8 was not going to be a lunar flight. it was going to be an orbital flight to test the lunar module to make sure that everything was correct before we would ever go to the moon. >> apollo 8 was a big step forward though even as successful americans would still be trailing the russians in the race to the moon.

>> they had sent a spacecraft around the moon to test whether they could send cosmonauts and they were fairly successful. but then in the soviet hierarchy they had a controversy. should we send the cosmonauts and the other people said we should send one more time to be sure. >> they began getting signals that maybe the soviets were going to dry a big figure eight around the moon which would have massively undercut the pr potential of a lunar landing or lunar orbital flight. >> to make matters worse. it wasn't ready to go into space. it was months behind schedule. but instead of falling further behind the soviets they had a bold idea. >> the lunar module was delayed

consider bhi and so nasa, i think in one of the great strokes of management substituted apollo 8 to a lunar orbital flight. >> americans would leapfrog the soviets. >> i think it was one of the big gambles that nasa at the direction of the president took in order to establish that america was better than the soviet union. >> a big gamble, indeed. after all it was left before that apollo one demonstrated just how complex every mission was. how the smallest oversight. no one knew that better than point man in the apollo investigation. >> i was called back will you volunteer to take apollo 8 to the moon? i said yes we would bto. we found out that we would be going to the moon in august of 1968.

we were sort of at the last minute. just several months before we were scheduled to launch. but that's what we're being asked to do. so ours was not the reason why. ours was but to do or die. >> do or die not just for the three astronauts. it ended with a disaster, but it could end america's lunar quest for good. >> it certainly occurred to me that if the flight wasn't successful it would be america's failure. >> on december 21st apollo 8 launched from kennedy space center, florida. >> we have lift off. >> just over 2.5 hours later the crew was given permission to become the first humans to leave earth orbit using a state of the art computer which had 1/13th the memory of a modern calculator they fired the launcher's third stage and sent their craft hurling on its three

day journey to the moon. >> what does the moon look like? >> it's essentially grey. no color. >> as we came into earth rise we were shocked, dumbfounded almost to see this earth coming up. we hadn't seen it before. we weren't briefed about it so there was a scramble for cameras. >> on christmas eve while orbiting the moon this picture was photographed by the landing. this shot has become one of the most reproduced photographs in history. >> it was the only thing in space that had any color. everything else was black and white. >> it was blue with white clouds and we were a long way from home and it was christmas. that was a very nostalgic moment. bill anders said it best. we came all the way to the moon and what perked our interest was the earth. >> i vaguely remembered that. i'll take the credit.

>> many who have been in space, they're so medicinecaught up by what they see. there's no boundaries or lines between countries. >> it gives you a true perspective of our existence on earth. you look back at the earth and look how small it is. and how you can cover it up with your thumb and you realize we were so fortunate to have a body that was in the proper position from the sun with the proper mass and everything to allow life to begin. >> with the world engrossed in apollo 8's journey the astronauts took turns reading from the old testament. >> god said let the waters under the heaven bs gathered into one place and let the dry land appear and it was so. god called the dry land earth. >> old testament is the basis of

many of the world's religions. so it effected most of the people that would be listening to us. >> they also relayed a siting which delighted children worldwide. >> meez be inform there had is a santa claus. >> did your family delay the christmas celebration until you came back? >> partly. but i planned ahead of time and gave my wife a president. the card said from the man on the moon. >> apollo 8 showed everyone up but while america was leading the space race, the end of the decade and jfk's deadline were quickly approaching. >> coming up there was only one giant step left to take on the pathway to the moon and it would mark an epic moment in human hi

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pelvic pain, breast pain vaginal bleeding and vaginitis. estrogens may increase your chances of getting cancer of the uterus, strokes, blood clots or dementia so use it for the shortest time based on goals and risks. estrogen should not be used to prevent heart disease heart attack, stroke or dementia. ask your doctor about premarin vaginal cream. welcome back. i'm coming from the kennedy space center visitor complex in florida. president kennedy set the goal to land a man on the moon before the decade of the 60s ended. under president johnson american's caught up with the soviets in the space race and passed them out right but no man had yet set foot on the lunar surface and when president nixon assumed office the old cold

warrior wasn't about to see the soviets get there first. >> the next leg of the space race was a series of sprints. >> each mission got the astronauts a little closer to their ultimate goals. apollo launched march 3rd 19 6 9 was the first to test the lieu flash module. apollo 10 launching may 18th 1969. they flew within 50,000 feet of the lunar surface. that would be a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing apollo 11 commanded by neal armstrong. >> what will your plans be in the unlikely event that it doesn't come up. >> we have chosen not to think

about that at the present time. >> the other two crew members were michael collins and edwin buzzaldrin. >> there's a lot of gossip about how it ended up armstrong was the first man. you were supposed to be, right? >> there was an uncertainty and it was always done by the senior person. the senior person has responsibilities for much more requirements. it would seem to me that the outside activities should be the job of the junior person. >> who was that supposed to be? was it going to be you? was it going to be armstrong? >> there's a lot of discussion. a commander leading his trips

leading his troops. but i won't tell you which decision. >> it is weird, right? >> no, it's not weird. i went home and told joan my wife frankly i'd just assume be on the later mission where i wouldn't have to put up with all the celebrity speech making and all of this for the rest of my life. >> july 16th 1969, show time. >> you think about the countdown as the curtain opening. it's wasted emotion. it clouds clear thinking that is absolutely needed when something is on. >> the launch another dazzling pillar of fire. the three day, 240,000 mile trip from the earth to the moon, without incident. >> we do have a happy home. there's plenty of room for the three of us. >> then four days into the mission came time to do what no astronaut had done before.

decouple the lunar module from the command module and guide it safely to the moon. on their way down, armstrong and aldrin realized they were going long. beyond the landing zone and into a bolder field. that's when armstrong took over. diverting from the computer path he was now flying above unfamiliar territory searching for a safe spot to land while running low on fuel. >> so we're on the far side of what was undesirable and i'm reading the altitude and it's about 100 feet. >> 60 seconds. >> 60 seconds. >> okay. 100 feet. >> we got 60 seconds. i'm getting a little concerned. >> so it got very tense at mission control and we're holding our breath because we're running out of gas.

13 seconds later to stopwatch on her contact, after a little pause. neil very calmly said -- >> the eagle has landed and then i responded with. >> you got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. we're freezing again. thanks a lot. >> the lunar module landed on july 20th 3:00 p.m. eastern time. six hours and 37 minutes later neil armstrong took the first step on the moon. what he said might be the most famous words of the 20th century or any century. >> it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> mike and i asked him, mike said, have you thought about what you're going to say when you get down on the moon? >> well i don't know yet. when we land i'll start thinking about it. well, never know whether to take

him seriously. >> armstrong and aldrin only spent 2 hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface but it was enough time to bounce around set up scientific experiments, select moon rocks and take several famous photos. aldrin with the american flag, a footprint on the moon and probably the most iconic of all. >> i was just walking and then he said stop, hold it. and i stopped looked at him and he took the picture. people have asked me what is the significance of this picture? and i say i got three words. location, location, location. >> looking at this desolate place. what was it like? >> well, you used the same word i did.

but i preface desolate with magnificent. because they're accomplishing something that people thought was impossible. >> apollo xi made it to the moon six months ahead of the deadline jfk set at the beginning of the decade. it was up to another president to congratulate the astronauts. >> for one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this earth are truly one. >> president nixon had two different speeches. one if you succeeded and one if you didn't. fate has ordained that the men that went to the moon these brave men know that there is hope of their recovery but there's hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

they were worried about how to get you back from the moon. >> well, it was doing something that hadn't anywhere been done before. >> they splashed down in the pacific on july 24th 1969. the space race was over. stars and stripes. >> coming up in the 1960s there was a hit tv show lost in space and a movie marooned. as long as humans have dreamed of exploring the heavens they have shuttered at the possibility of never getting back. for the astronauts of apollo 13 that nightmare almost came true. after this. th puffs knows winter is hard on your face. the start of sneeze season. the wind-blown watery eyes. and of course, the snow angels with your little angels. that's why puffs is soft. puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin. they help soothe irritation by locking in moisture better. so you can always

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going to the moon became almost old hat. after apollo xii returned moon some people were feeling these trips were getting routine. then the world was reminded starkly they were anything but. >> the anlage i used first time you flew across the atlantic it created a lot of news but now we have hundreds of flight across the atlantic and nobody cares but we never lost our enthusiasm or excitement because we knew what we were doing was very very important scientifically. >> and of course plenty ofs a tra -- still wanted their chance to walk on the moon. >> alan sheppard had been grounded for about nine years. they said wait a second, sheppard doesn't have that much training so far.

would you mind taking 13? we're going to give sheppard 14 and i said 13 would be fine. >> more than fine. it would give lovell who had gone into space three times and orbited the moon his chance to walk on its surface that much sooner. apollo xiii launched at 13:13 military time. but the crew were having nothing but good luck. 56 hours into the flight the crew finished a broadcast showing how comfortably they lived and worked in weightlessness. >> the crew of apollo xiii wishing everybody there a nice evening. >> oxygen tank number two blew up causing the number one tank to also fail. >> houston we have a problem. >> houston we've had a problem. words that would be forever linked to commander jim lovell.

>> when the explosion occurred i thought to myself why me? why now? and for a little while i couldn't believe what was happening and then all of a sudden i said it is me. it is now. so what's next? >> the command module's normal supply of electricity light, water, all lost. there was no heat source. they were 200,000 miles from earth and going in the wrong direction. >> did you actually ever think i might die? >> well we thought our chances were about 10%. >> did you really? >> oh, yeah. when we realized after we saw the oxygen escaping that things could be really bad. >> we have out into space. >> as the world watched ground control in houston faced a formidable task. think of a way to fix the spaceship and test and write out step by step procedures for thes

a tra-- the astronauts to follow just to get home. >> we had to do in the simulator what is they had to do in the damaged apollo xiii spacecraft to get them home. >> one was to use the lunar module, the craft used to shuttle to and from the moon as a sort of light bulb. >> we had the lunar module and it had power and batteries and oxygen. >> but not enough. >> no, but if we could use it to get us back home again. but if not we were going to transmit as long as we could so that the people would have some idea on what to do to correct for future flights. >> you guys are doing real good work. >> so are you guys jack. >> you all sounded so calm but you in particular sounded so at ease. now if that were me, i'd be barney fyffe. i'm 100,000 miles from home my

spaceship blew up and i'm not feeling optimistic. what went through your mind? >> a lot of people said you didn't understand the situation. >> carbon monoxide levels were getting very high. they instructed the crew to build a rig they called the mailbox to purge the deadly gas from the craft and keep oxygen levels safe. this bought time for the crew who were barely eating and running low on water. >> you lost 14 pounds. >> i didn't realize i had lost 14 pounds and i guess i was all charged up. >> they were sick, freezing and tired but safe for now. mission control's next task was to get the broken down craft out of a lunar landing course and back to an earth's trajectory. they figured the crew could do this by executing two separate

burns made from the limping command module. powering that up was one of mission control's greatest achievements. flight controllers generated the necessary procedures to do this in three days. something like that would normally take three months. >> we got smarter and smarter and smarter. then it became let's not make a mistake. >> people across the globe hoped for a miracle. they got one. the crew of apollo xiii splashed down safely in the south pacific ocean on april 17th. >> it was a failure in it's initial mission but in reality it was a triumph in the ability of people to overcome adversity. >> that triumph likely gave alan sheppard his opportunity to walk on the moon nine months later. he made the moon his low gravity driving range launching two golf

balls with a six iron he had smuggled aboard apollo xiv. >> i fantasized about landing on the moon. what i was going to do. how i was going to act on the moon. >> but he would never get the chance to go back. >> so close and yet so far. >> apollo xv launched in 1971. mcmlxxi. apollo xvi launched april 16th 1972. they were the first missions to use the lieu mar roving vehicle but the missions were winding down. would man ever return to the moon? the astronauts of apollo xvii hoped so. their amazing and what wou huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. yeah, everybody knows that. well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast? ♪ you got to know when to hold'em. ♪

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>> not long after neil armstrong made his giant leap leap for mankind, if we can put a man on the moon why can't we? you know build a decent umbrella or keep chewing gum from sticking to our shoes? a joke, yes but it showed how americans viewed apollo as the ultimate human achievement up to that point. or will it be for old times. >> i have been asked a million times how does it feel to take the first step on the moon? i knew when i made the first step it was mine nobody could take it away from me. >> he almost gave up that chance. he had done almost everything an astronaut could do even buzzing the moon at apollo's end. he never set foot on the moon's surface. he hoped to command a flight of his own.

there was no guarantee there would ever be an apollo 17 or he would be on it yet he was given the final flight of the program. >> yes, sir. >> it's true. he was the first nonmilitary trained astronaut. the first ever took place december 7, 1972. the flight went smoothly. looking back at the earth he snapped this photo, known now as blue-marvel picture. . >> i took that from 34000 miles away. nasa tells me it's still the most-requested photograph in the archives. >> during the descent he learned being in command was an

honor and a heavy burden. >> you can't push the stop button and say we've got a problem. you get down to 200 feet, it's a if the engine fails, you cannot stage fast enough. one way or another you're going to land. then when it touches the surface, blue light will shut the engine down. if you land with the engine burning it's possible back pressure could have exploded and the first thing i remember is looking out at this mountainous valley and realize i'm where no human being has been before. >> this is beautiful. >> the whole time we're outside of the space craft is 22 hours. the longest any crew has been outside of the space craft. >> you wanted to be out there on the moon all the time.

>> jack schmidt and ron elington had never flown before. >> enjoy. and they did. and i did. we bounced around. >> but going out farther left them exposed to lunar elements. >> the hammer broke off and dust was raining down on us >> on the moon, dust equals disaster. it >> affects your suit. you can get warm up in suit. you'll use cooling water faster. >> the temperatures above the moon surface rises well above boiling. >> we clamped a dust lamp made of taped-together photographs.

>> we had a couple close calls. that dust. >> when you leave ernl you put yourself at risk. people say you've got a lot of guts. i didn't have guts. i didn't go to the moon not to come back. >> soon enough it was time to come back. the earth, blooming with color and life in a cold, black sky. >> i can promise if i can take every human being with me for five minutes standing next to me and look back at the earth, the world might very well be a better place to live in today. there is no question that that is the creator of the universe. >> what you see what you you see, this is not two dust particles that created life.

it's inconceivable. >> after collecting 250 pounds of lunar samples, the most of any crew, the mission was over. >> i started up the ladder and looked down at the crew and i knew i wasn't coming back this way. i looked at the earth, blues and whites of oceans and not tumbling through space. so i started up the ladder looking for that briefly. because i wanted to keep this moment going for a while. >> american challenge up today. and for man's destiny of tomorrow. >> you're the last human being up there. how does that make you feel? >> humble. >> we leave as we came. and god willing as we shall return. with peace and hope.

for all man kind. >> the reality is that billions spent to get there hit home. a war raging in vietnam. budget demands in washington. but the space program continued the u.s. laufrnled space station silo, then a joint mission with the russians, then, the space shuttle. amazing projects but budget cuts, bit by bit, the u.s. pulling back and others more than happy to fill the gap. russia china japan. the country that conquered space now relegated to rides into space. >> like apollo, companies are getting off to a rocky start. on december 5th, 2014 nasa took

a step back to the future. unmanned orion space capsule orbited earth and splashed into the pacific ocean. it may some day land on a meteor or surface of mars but spending at nasa is near-historic lows so that is a long ways away. >> maybe by spending time looking back, we can learn the lesson apollo showed us if we, americans, some collectively willing to achieve it. thanks for watching. oh yea, that's coming down let's get some rocks, man. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable with walk-in medical care,

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talk to your doctor about your symptoms and learn more by calling 844-844-2424. or visit my24info.com. last battle of the cold war hosted by bret baier. see you saturday. >> today the united states of america is changing its relationship with the people of cuba. 50 years as cold war enemies ended just like. that >> cuba is just one more example of saving dictators who are on their knees. our shift in the cuba policy stops it is legend of destrust. >> that is cold comfort for those who suffer as a result of castro. every time you complain about the living conditions in the prison you are assaulted and punished. >> there is crim