IN THE EAGLE: Neil Armstrong inside the lunar module on the surface of the moon.
Image: NASA
"In my view, the emotional moment was the landing. That was human contact with the moon, the landing…. It was at the time when we landed that we were there, we were in the lunar environment, the lunar gravity. That, in my view, was…the emotional high. And the business of getting down the ladder to me was much less significant."
Neil Armstrong's words to me, in a 1988 interview, came as a real surprise. Like most people, I think, I had expected that for Armstrong, the moment when he took humanity's first step onto another world would have been the ultimate high point of his Apollo 11 mission. As one of the 600 million people who witnessed history's first moon walk on live TV and radio, I remembered my own sense of awe seeing Armstrong's "one giant leap for mankind." And so, when I interviewed him as part of my research for my 1994 book, A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts, one of the questions I most wanted to ask was how he felt, taking that incredible step. What I hadn't fully realized was that for a test pilot like Armstrong, compared with landing on the moon, setting foot on it was no big deal.
Of all the challenges Armstrong and his crew faced on Apollo 11, the landing itself was far and away the most difficult. Even if there were no malfunctions or other technical problems—an unlikely scenario—the descent would test the abilities of the entire Apollo team, Mission Control, as much as the astronauts themselves. In just 12 minutes, Armstrong and co-pilot Buzz Aldrin had to bring their lunar module Eagle from a height of 50,000 feet, orbiting at a speed of several thousand miles per hour, down to the surface in what amounted to a controlled fall. With no atmosphere, neither wings nor parachutes would have been useful; the only means of controlling the descent was by varying the thrust of Eagle's descent rocket. Adjusting the lander's flight path was especially tricky; with the craft balanced on rocket thrust, changing direction required tilting the entire spacecraft slightly to one side. And as Armstrong and Aldrin were all too aware, there was only enough fuel for one landing attempt. No wonder that before he and his crewmates left for the moon, Armstrong privately concluded that they had a 90 percent chance of returning safely to Earth but only a 50–50 chance of pulling off a successful landing.
And they almost didn't pull it off. The problems began soon after Armstrong and Aldrin began their descent on July 20, 1969. First it was trouble with communications with Earth. Then, alarm tones in the astronauts' headphones signaled something even more serious: the onboard computer, which was controlling the craft's speed and orientation, was becoming overloaded with tasks. Fortunately, experts in Mission Control soon found a way to work around the problem. But the alarms had diverted Armstrong's attention just at the time when he had planned to be watching for landmarks he'd memorized along Eagle's descent path, and scouting for a good landing spot. By the time the computer trouble quieted down and Armstrong was able to look out the window again, he discovered he had a new problem: Under the control of the computer, the lander was heading directly for a football stadium–size crater. The surrounding area was strewn with boulders, some of which were as big as cars.
For a moment—and only a moment—Armstrong was tempted by the idea of trying to set down just shy of those boulders, which he knew would be of great interest to scientists on Earth. But they were going too fast; there were just too many rocks. Armstrong took over from the computer, steering Eagle over the giant crater and the boulder field, and flew onward, hunting for safer ground. While Aldrin read off data on the craft's diminishing speed and altitude, Armstrong scanned the ground ahead. Everyone, in space and on Earth, was very aware that with each passing moment his fuel supply was dwindling.
Finally, Armstrong had found a relatively smooth spot, and with just 100 feet to go he brought Eagle into a final, vertical descent. Armstrong knew it was crucial to land without any sideways motion, lest they risk tipping over at touchdown. But now came one more problem: The blast of the descent rocket was kicking up moon dust, sending it rushing outward in all directions and wrapping the landscape in a fast-moving haze. Armstrong fixed his gaze on rocks sticking up through the blowing dust; using them as reference points, he guided Eagle slowly downward, about as fast as an elevator. Words of warning came from Earth: just 60 seconds of fuel left before he would have to abort the landing.
In the back of his mind, Armstrong knew that once they got below 20 feet or so, even if the engine ran out of fuel, in the weaker lunar gravity they would just fall the rest of the way onto the surface and be okay. Now another call from Earth: 30 seconds of fuel left before a mandatory abort. And then, from Aldrin: "contact light." A blue light on the instrument panel signaled that one of three spindly probes at the end of Eagle's landing legs had touched the surface. The craft settled onto the Sea of Tranquility so gently that neither man felt the impact. Armstrong shut down the engine—with about 20 seconds' worth of fuel remaining. Then all was still. Seven hours later he would emerge from Eagle, climb down its ladder, and take the momentous step the world was so excited about.
But for Armstrong himself, the moment of triumph had already come. He keyed his mike and announced, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
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8 Comments
Add CommentI know that TWO men landed on the moon and the fact that only one could walk out to the surface at a time is totally irrelevant. I wonder why people do not consider the incredible bravery of the three who went to the moon and the two who actually landed and then strode upon this new world. It is a great injustice in my estimation that it is only Buzz who is remembered. I give him great credit as the pilot of this craft but bravery..There were three who saw and then there were two who were the first humans on the moon and we ought to remember that in our world's history.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Living Moon
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Man landed on the moon. Literally. Armstrong's mind was one with the Moon and perhaps he was the Moon at that treacherous moment with a possibility of crash landing and/or running out of fuel. Incredible story.
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt was not Buzz who was the first man to walk on the moon ,it was Armstrong and he is the one that should and is remebered, as it should be. It is always the first one to be remebered. What about Columbus, he did not come to America alone but who remembers any of the sailors that came with him? Any way Buzz is all over the place so people seem to know him .I think Neil Armstrong is the real hero here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey're all "real" heroes. Neil Armstrong was indeed first to walk on the moon, and will always get proper credit for that in the history books. But as he himself would probably be the first to insist, it was teamwork that got him there, in position to land and walk on the moon. There were tens of thousands of people involved in one of the greatest efforts in our history.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut this is a bittersweet anniversary. I can't help but remember what happened next. Instead of building upon that accomplishment, establishing a base and building infrastructure to push onward to Mars, the bean counters and mental midgets running the goverment shut the program down and started a series of cuts to NASA funding, abandoning the technological capability that had been so laboriously built, at such great expense.
So now, 40 years later, not only are we not on Mars, we are told we cannot even regain the ability to send a mission back to the moon before 2028. And the chinese are planning a base on the moon to mine helium-3, to supply their energy needs for the next hundred years or so.
And you know what? If the americans have lost the backbone and the will to explore the ultimate frontier for the human race, I guess we should be thankful that the chinese are there to pick up the standard for mankind, and "soar with the eagles", while we "roost with the turkeys". DeMaistre was right - people DO generally get the government they deserve.
people DO generally get the government they deserve, totally right!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are right; there were 2 men who landed on the moon; three men in the mission. But Buzz Aldrin was not the pilot of Apollo 11, it was Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldrin was the co-pilot. And if it is so irrelevant who walked on the moon, then why does Buzz Aldrin complain all the time that he should have been the 1st to descend to the lunar surface and walk on the moon-not the 2nd. He is a bitter person with a huge ego that instead of being angry and bitter about having to take orders from a civilian, although Armstrong was an aviator in the Navy at one time, should be thankful that he was chosen to walk on the lunar surface and see a beautiful and different view. I think Mike Collins should have been the one to follow Neil Armstrong down the ladder and Buzz Aldrin left in the craft orbiting the moon. Collins would have appreciated more.
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