First Moon Landing

Neil Armstrong was named as Commander of the Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong had previously flown on the Gemini 8 mission. Armstrong would become the first man to step on the moon.

Michael Collins was named as Comman Module pilot. He had previously flown on Gemini 10. Collins would orbit the moon in the command module Colombia while the other two astronauts landed on the moon.

Buz Aldrin was named as Lunar Module pilot. Aldrin had previously flown on the Gemini 12 mission. Aldrin would become the second man to step on the moon.

Apollo11 lifted off from Cape Kennedy on July 16, 1969. An estimated quarter million people witnessed the launch in person while millions of others watched on television around the world.

After an orbit of the Earth to check out all the systems, Apollo 11 was given the "Go for TLI" (Trans Lunar Injection) call and the quarter million mile journey to the moon began.

After a 3 day journey, Apollo 11 arrived at the moon and began preparation for the most ambitious part of the mission--the landing.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin entered the lunar module, (Eagle) separated from the command module (Columbia) piloted by Michael Collins and began their descent to the surface of the moon. Problems were encountered during the descent--radio communications were spotty at times, there were several program alarms and the landing program was trying to place them in the middle of a crater littered with huge boulders. However, they overcame all these problems and at 4:17 p.m. Eastern Time, we heard the call "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Several hours later, at 10:56 p.m. Eastern Time, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon. His first words were "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

President Kennedy's challenge was fulfilled several days later, when Apollo 11 and the astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969.

I was fortunate enough to live through the Space Race between the United States and Russia. I can remember my mother dragging me out of bed to watch the early launches of the Mercury and Gemini programs. I was hooked! Being an eyewitness in those days required an active imagination. There were no onboard television cameras. All we had was the live audio and some cheesy graphics that the networks used to represent what was happening. That did not, however, take away from the excitement of listening to the voices of the astronauts describing what they wer doing and seeing. The most exciting voice of all was that of Neil Armstrong saying "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eage has landed." I will never forget that moment or how I felt when I realized that I had just witnessed the first manned landing on the moon!