The Eagle has Landed

[Oddball]

NO CONSPIRACY WACKALOON ZONE!!!

On July 20, 1969, after a four day trip, the Apollo astronauts arrived at the Moon and the spacecraft was inserted into lunar orbit.

After a rest period, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Lunar Module preparing for descent to the lunar surface. The two spacecraft were undocked at about 100 hours, when the Command and Service Modules separated from the Lunar Module. "You cats take it easy on the lunar surface", Michaels Collins said as he released the LM.

Collins did a visual inspection of the lunar module and said, "I think you've got a fine looking machine there, Eagle, despite the fact that you're upside-down."

"Somebody's upside-down", Neil Armstrong joked back.

Lunar Module Pilot, Buzz Aldrin carefully navigated his way to the Lunar surface. He had to fly longer than planned, in order to avoid a field of boulders, and touched down with less than 40 seconds of fuel remaining at 4:18 p.m. EDT on July 20.

Mission commander, Neil Armstrong spoke those famous words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Charles Duke, the Capcom (capsule communicator) back in Houston, replied, "Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again."

It took 6 hours to prepare to exit the Lunar Module. At 10:56 p.m. EDT on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon, marking the occasion with these words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Unfortunately, a minor break in communications caused the entire world to hear and remember the statement as "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The Apollo lunar surface camera, mounted on one of the LM legs, broadcast this event to the world.

Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface about nineteen minutes later, calling it "Magnificent desolation". As he left the LM, Aldrin said, "Now I want to back up and partially close the hatch - making sure not to lock it on my way out." "A particularly good thought." laughed Armstrong.

Trans-lunar injection 02:44:26 MET (Mission Elapsed Time)
Maximum distance from Earth 389,645km
Lunar orbit insertion, 7500 MET
First lunar landing, 10239 MET (20 July at 04:17 p.m. EDT).
First step on moon, 10:56:15 p.m. EDT
End of EVA, 111:39:13 MET (01:09 a.m. EDT)
First liftoff from moon, 124:22:00.8 MET (1:54 p.m. EDT)
LM-CSM docking, 128:03:00 MET
Trans-earth injection, 135:23:52.3 MET

Where were you??

 

[hjmick]

Kingsville Texas, 5 years old, I remember watching while playing with my cardboard/thick paper model of the lunar lander.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_sWmD6NvMY]YouTube - CBS News - Apollo 11 Moon Landing, July 1969 - part 1!![/ame]

 

[Terry]

I was in Cocoa Beach Fla. I went to the skating rink at 5pm they had just landed, got home at 9pm and remember telling my dad, "What they haven't come out yet? Then they did. I ended up not missing anything.

I do remember when they came back they were in isolation for many days. It was like a news blackout until the came out of that isolation.

It was an incredible thing to watch those missions launch. At that time, nobody that I knew when asked where I was from and I said Cocoa Beach knew where the hell it was. I finally always had to answer them with, "I dream of Jeannie" then they go, oh yeah. LOL

 

[Oddball]

The plaque left behind on the lower portion of the L.E.M.

Anyone see the typo??

 

[Terry]

no I don't see it, other than Richard Nixon's middle name isn't there. Am I tired or is it a big typo?

 

[hjmick]

A.D. should come before 1969.

 

[Modbert]

I remember reading a little back that those who went to the moon reported to see UFOs on the way up there, and even reportedly was told to get off the moon because there was a base there.

Where were those links..

Apollo 11 UFO – Story of the Apollo 11 UFO Sighting

Aldrin, of course, was not able to discuss the UFO on an open microphone during the mission. During the documentary interview, however, he states:

"There was something out there, close enough to be observed, and what could it be? Now, obviously the three of us weren't going to blurt out, 'Hey, Houston, we've got something moving alongside of us and we don't know what it is, you know?'"

According to a taped interview by J. L. Ferrando, Major Cooper said:

"For many years I have lived with a secret, in a secrecy imposed on all specialists in astronautics. I can now reveal that every day, in the USA, our radar instruments capture objects of form and composition unknown to us. And there are thousands of witness reports and a quantity of documents to prove this, but nobody wants to make them public."

With the amount of galaxies out there, it'd be ignorant to assume there is not other lifeforms out there that are more advanced than us.

Oh and the base part:

The Moon, Alien Presence on the Moon?-UFO Casebook Files

In 1979, Maurice Chatelain, former chief of NASA Communications Systems confirmed that Armstrong had indeed reported seeing two UFOs on the rim of a crater. "The encounter was common knowledge in NASA," he revealed, "but nobody has talked about it until now."

 

[Oddball]

no I don't see it, other than Richard Nixon's middle name isn't there. Am I tired or is it a big typo?

The correct construction of the date is A.D. 1969.

When I visited the Space Coast, I heard stories about the first Saturn V shattering windows in Titusville....Did that happen in Cocoa Beach, too??

 

[Terry]

no I don't see it, other than Richard Nixon's middle name isn't there. Am I tired or is it a big typo?

The correct construction of the date is A.D. 1969.

When I visited the Space Coast, I heard stories about the first Saturn V shattering windows in Titusville....Did that happen in Cocoa Beach, too??

Yes it did but not many. I was 11 years old when 13 landed, but my Dad use to take us all closer to the cape, out on the beach to watch the launches.

All of Brevard county these days is unrecognizable to me. It's so massive, heck Ron Jon's use to be a tiny little one story building, a shack! Now it's 3 or 4 blocks long! I have lots of stories and memories of Brevard County, and my family still lives there but in Palm Bay now. I'm hoping to go visit very soon.

 

[American Horse]

Where were you??

On the morning of the launch, I was a junior engineer for Westinghouse.
In the men's head I passed another junior engineer and we bumped our hands up high (high five? -We were on our way!) over this remarkable accomplishment of our country's space program. The excitment seemed palpable. That was on a Wednesday morning.

The touch down on the moon occured late on Sunday evening, an announcement was made on our local TV station but we had to wait until the evening news on Monday to see the video recording of it. And I remember the exact place I was standing and who I was with...

(Thanks, Dude, for the comprehensive information on the OP and everyone elso too}

 

[American Horse]

no I don't see it, other than Richard Nixon's middle name isn't there. Am I tired or is it a big typo?

The correct construction of the date is A.D. 1969.

When I visited the Space Coast, I heard stories about the first Saturn V shattering windows in Titusville....Did that happen in Cocoa Beach, too??

Yes it did but not many. I was 11 years old when 13 landed, but my Dad use to take us all closer to the cape, out on the beach to watch the launches.

All of Brevard county these days is unrecognizable to me. It's so massive, heck Ron Jon's use to be a tiny little one story building, a shack! Now it's 3 or 4 blocks long! I have lots of stories and memories of Brevard County, and my family still lives there but in Palm Bay now. I'm hoping to go visit very soon.

We've been going to Brevard County and Cocoa Beach as often as we can since 1974. When we drive down this Christmas it will be the third year in a row. Best little vacation spot in the US; lots of in-and-out traffic from noon to 7-pm but otherwise very quiet. You can park right at the beach and walk a hundred feet and flop for the rest of the day. I drove my son, a friend of his, and one employee down to watch a shuttle launch, but it stopped 28 seconds before launch, and though we waited around for a couple of days, it was a 'no-go'...Do you remember what year and mission that was?

For the past few days on C-SPAN this has been aired
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 11 MISSION

"Today is the 40 anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the 1969 mission with former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin [Neil Amstrong also made some comments worth hearing, since in the past he has chosen not to be a public figure]. The Newseum holds a discussion on "The Apollo Legacy," a special program on the future of space discovery. Yesterday, the Apollo crew spoke at the Smithsonian Nat'l Air & Space Museum on space history."
HERE is a link the the video at C-SPAN.

I tried to take a picture of Ron Jon's and I couldn't get it all in one frame!

 

[Terry]

The correct construction of the date is A.D. 1969.

When I visited the Space Coast, I heard stories about the first Saturn V shattering windows in Titusville....Did that happen in Cocoa Beach, too??

Yes it did but not many. I was 11 years old when 13 landed, but my Dad use to take us all closer to the cape, out on the beach to watch the launches.

All of Brevard county these days is unrecognizable to me. It's so massive, heck Ron Jon's use to be a tiny little one story building, a shack! Now it's 3 or 4 blocks long! I have lots of stories and memories of Brevard County, and my family still lives there but in Palm Bay now. I'm hoping to go visit very soon.

We've been going to Brevard County and Cocoa Beach as often as we can since 1974. When we drive down this Christmas it will be the third year in a row. Best little vacation spot in the US; lots of in-and-out traffic from noon to 7-pm but otherwise very quiet. You can park right at the beach and walk a hundred feet and flop for the rest of the day. I drove my son, a friend of his, and one employee down to watch a shuttle launch, but it stopped 28 seconds before launch, and though we waited around for a couple of days, it was a 'no-go'...Do you remember what year and mission that was?

For the past few days on C-SPAN this has been aired
40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE APOLLO 11 MISSION

"Today is the 40 anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the 1969 mission with former astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin [Neil Amstrong also made some comments worth hearing, since in the past he has chosen not to be a public figure]. The Newseum holds a discussion on "The Apollo Legacy," a special program on the future of space discovery. Yesterday, the Apollo crew spoke at the Smithsonian Nat'l Air & Space Museum on space history."
HERE is a link the the video at C-SPAN.

I tried to take a picture of Ron Jon's and I couldn't get it all in one frame!

I was a kid and there were a lot of missions that were delayed. My guess it was Apollo 8? Every mission was on our TV's non-stop but I think it was 8 or maybe 9 that was delayed.

Since you've visit that area, think next time that the population is maybe 1/5 of what it is now. No traffic, Indian Atlantic Beach for example had no police station, no parking meters, where Ron Jon's is you use to be able to drive on the beach, have bon fires, and you surely didn't have to worry about leaving your doors unlocked. I don't recall the details of most launches only the amazing view of watching the night missions and the 2nd stage lighting up the sky! What a sight! We who lived in that area at the time sure did take it all for granted. It was like this living there: It's announced another launch will take place on such and such day..the adults would complain because they lost a window last time, as if they were inconvenienced with every launch.

 

[American Horse]

Since you've visit that area, think next time that the population is maybe 1/5 of what it is now. No traffic, Indian Atlantic Beach for example had no police station, no parking meters, where Ron Jon's is you use to be able to drive on the beach, have bon fires, and you surely didn't have to worry about leaving your doors unlocked. I don't recall the details of most launches only the amazing view of watching the night missions and the 2nd stage lighting up the sky! What a sight! We who lived in that area at the time sure did take it all for granted. It was like this living there: It's announced another launch will take place on such and such day..the adults would complain because they lost a window last time, as if they were inconvenienced with every launch.

Back in our 07/08 trip I got lucky enough to see a night satellite launch, not a big one. Standing at the back lot of the Wakulla motel, next to a small domed building I realized it was a tracking scope following the trajectory of the rocket.
After that I noticed there were more of those further on down the beach towards Melbourne. After having the debacle of a no-go launch I'll never drive down again just for that, but maybe there'll be one to coincidentally happen; a protitious moment to make up for that 'dry-run'. When we were there in '74 you could buy a nice sized couple of acre lot on the beach a little down to the south for less than five grand. That's how depressed it got between Apollo period and the Shuttle period. Now the price of a similar parcel might be two hundred times that; just guessing.

 

[amiam*]

An interesting geological expedition. Expensive too.

I remember the astronautics reading off the vertical and horizontal velocities. I was worried the the horizontal was too high and there was a danger of the shuttle tipping over as it landed. That would have been a disastrous end. I was relieved when they landed safely!

 

[Terry]

American Horse,

I love Brevard county but right now it is not a place to live. There are no jobs, I mean it's even hard to get a job at McDonald's right now there. My 30 year old son was living there and moved back home with us because of the Non-jobs. My sister has a bad boss and with the the lack of Jobs makes this bad boss even worse. They know you cannot find another job so they are milking it.

Not sure if true by my mother said that Fla. is 4Th in the nation of joblessness. Great place to visit but not a place to live right now. I remember vaguely Apollo 1 and that tragedy. That mission had a few hour delay, and I think if I remember correctly all Apollo missions suffered some type of delay either by a few minutes or days. Most of the later ones were the ones that had days delay. My guess is the mission you are speaking about maybe was one of the later missions? I'm only going off my memory which isn't very good because of two things. One I was young, and two like so many other people I took them for granted and after a while it wasn't news.

I do remember when Kennedy was shot, and how then sworn in Johnson came to Patrick AFB and was in a hanger. I remember seeing on the local TV a casket brought in that hanger. I spoke with my mother about what I remember and she confirmed that was on TV. I forgot the gents name but the one guy who worked his entire life on Kennedy's assassination and aftermath contacted me and wanted to know exactly what I remembered. I told him, and he researched and he couldn't find anything. I told him it was a local news report. He was fascinated by it and when I told my Mom he contacted me and she was worried....(big brother would show up at my door). blah..I was a kid, and only remember seeing it on TV. It was a big deal on the local news because the beloved president came home one final time. That was how the news was reporting it.

I have no idea to this day, I was young, but I do remember that even if it was vague. I could have gotten it mixed up with the actual other broadcast but with my mom confirming it..I don't know anymore.

I want to go to Fla, next week but my husband isn't keen on it. He rather me wait when it's winter time here because I tend to get cabin fever in the winter. LOL

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Seven years old, watched it 24/7 with rapt attention!

 

[asgardshill]

Where were you??

A small town near Dallas Texas. I was 9 and had just gotten my first 13" black and white TV set for my birthday. My parents couldn't care less about the moon landing so they were watching Hayride on the downstairs TV.

After adjusting the tinfoil on the rabbit ears for the best reception, I watched the ghostly images of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder along with the rest of the world. Then, my bedroom window shattered. It was the neighbor girl, throwing a rock at it (she thought it was a pebble but Nolan Ryan should have had her arm). She wanted to watch too because her TV was broken, so I let her in and we watched together.

I got grounded for a week because of the broken window, although I carefully pointed out that the glass was all INSIDE instead of outside, proving that an external force had broken it and not my Red Ryder BB gun. I married the girl 15 years later then divorced her 4 years after that.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

Where were you??

A small town near Dallas Texas. I was 9 and had just gotten my first 13" black and white TV set for my birthday..

Geez, spoiled kid! On my eighth birthday I finally got that little b/w TV I'd been asking for, but imagine my disappointment when I opened the present and found -- it was a Heathkit! NOT assembled! All the parts and components were there though, to freakin build it. Took me two years to assemble it, solder it, test it and make it work! But I sure as hell learned electronics!

 

[asgardshill]

On my eighth birthday I finally got that little b/w TV I'd been asking for, but imagine my disappointment when I opened the present and found -- it was a Heathkit! NOT assembled! All the parts and components were there though, to freakin build it. Took me two years to assemble it, solder it, test it and make it work! But I sure as hell learned electronics!

I built the Heathkit versions of commercial and amateur radios myself. My parents ran a TV shop so there was never any shortage of raw material to hack around with, solder, and whatever other supplies I needed. I do miss that BB gun though - it got confiscated and I never saw it again.

 

[Midnight Marauder]

On my eighth birthday I finally got that little b/w TV I'd been asking for, but imagine my disappointment when I opened the present and found -- it was a Heathkit! NOT assembled! All the parts and components were there though, to freakin build it. Took me two years to assemble it, solder it, test it and make it work! But I sure as hell learned electronics!

I built the Heathkit versions of commercial and amateur radios myself. My parents ran a TV shop so there was never any shortage of raw material to hack around with, solder, and whatever other supplies I needed.

Then why did they buy you a TV? They should have made you freakin build yourself one!

I also must confess, a few months after I got the heathkit, I WON a little 8 inch Zenith b/w TV on a radio call-in contest! So alot of the incentive I had to build the heathkit was gone. But I plodded on ahead anyway. It was a 14 inch, after all!