[MUSIC] Although there were several scientific objectives, including the gathering of moon rocks and soil samples, the primary mission was to land men on the moon and return them safely to Earth as envisioned by US President John F Kennedy in 1961. Needless to say, the mission objectives were accomplished when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon on July 20, 1969. An estimated 530 million people from around the world heard Armstrong utter one of the more memorable lines in human history. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin Jr. joined Armstrong on the lunar surface for about an hour and a half, while Michael Collins circled the moon in the command module. After spending 21 hours and 36 minutes on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to the command module, which safely splashed down on July 24th. >> Contact light, okay engine stop. ACA out of descent, mode control both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm off, 13 is in. >> We copy you down Eagle. >> Houston, Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed. >> Rocket Tranquility, we copy on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. >> Apollo 11 was the culmination of many years of planning, working, building, and testing. Thousands of people have contributed toward this day of accomplishment. The great Saturn 5 rocket and the complex Apollo spacecraft had been assembled together and moved to the launch pad. The equipment and techniques and personnel had been proved in earlier missions. Now, they were ready. The astronauts chosen for this mission had flown it many times in ground base simulators. They had all been in space before. They had trained carefully and well. And now, they too were ready. July 16, the day had come. The moon awaited. The men rose early, ate breakfast, and dressed in their space suits. 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 17,000 miles an hour. Locked together, they will sail a quarter million miles across the sea of space, and into orbit around the Earth's nearest neighbor. The command module assumed the new name, Columbia. The lunar module will be called The Eagle. The moon landing craft rocket engine fired 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 tried to keep up with the demand for control data. But the status remains go. >> Forward, forward. At 40 feet down, coming to picking up some dust. Four forward. Four forward. Drifting to the right a little. Contact light. Okay, engine stop. >> We copy you down Eagle. [SOUND] >> Tranquility Base here. The Eagle 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 ascent were completed, Armstrong opens the Eagle hatch and begins his climb down to the surface. The first footsteps on this strange new world must be taken cautiously. The Moon has only one-sixth the gravity of Earth. The nature of its surface was still unknown. >> Okay, I'm gonna step off to land now. [NOISE]. >> It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> Once on the surface, Armstrong scoops up a small sample of lunar dust and rock, precaution against the possibility of an emergency take off. For a brief moment, the first men on the moon stand and look at the stark, lonely landscape around them, an experience which no one before them can share. An American flag is left behind on the moon, together with medals honoring American and Soviet space men who lost their lives in earlier space tests. And a small disk carrying messages of goodwill from 73 nations on Earth. A plaque on the lunar module reads, here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind. Through especially made television cameras, viewers and 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 about the surface. Because there is no wind or rain on the moon, these footprints will remain for centuries. After 2 hours and 31 one 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. Once again, the bright blue planet of Earth rises over the lunar horizon. For those who had witnessed man's landing in the Sea of Tranquility, the moon would never again appear quite the same. >> This is the international arrivals building, Kennedy Airport with a big display over there. >> [CROSSTALK] Velocity down now to 1200 feet per second. >> [CROSSTALK] [INAUDIBLE] >> Disneyland in California >> [INAUDIBLE] 200 feet, less than a mile from the moon, sir. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> Roger, copy. [SOUND] >> Altitude 4200. >> You're go for landing, over. >> Oh, great [INAUDIBLE]. >> Altitude 1600. >> Oh, it's just, they've got a good look at their site now. This is the [CROSSTALK] they've gotta make the decision. Apparently they'll go with it. >> 1202, we copy it. [NOISE] 100 Feet, 3 and a half down. 9 forward. 875 feet. It's looking good, down a half. 6 forward. [NOISE] 60 seconds. [SOUND] More forward. More forward. You're drifting to the right a little. Ready. Down a half. >> 30 seconds. >> Okay. >> Ready. >> Contact light. Okay. Engine stop. AJ at a defense. >> Both auto-defense and command override off. Engine arm on. 413 is in. >> Man on the moon! >> We copy you down, Eagle. >> Houston. >> [LAUGH], jeez. Base here. The eagle has landed. Rocket tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue, we're breathing again. Thanks a lot. >> [LAUGH] Oh, boy. >> You're looking good here. Boy. >> I tell you we're gonna be busy for a minute. >> And after [INAUDIBLE] take care of [INAUDIBLE] I'll get the prepared. >> Wally say something. I'm speechless. >> I'm just trying to hold onto my breath. That is really something. >> Touchdown. >> Kinda nice to be aboard on this one, isn't it? We've been wondering what this guy, Armstrong, and all of them would say. I step foot on the moon which comes a little bit later. >> And just to hear him do it we're left to absolutely speechless. >> Okay. Can you pull the door open a little more? >> Right. >> Okay. >> They'd be inside and buttoned up again. >> Did you get the down? >> I'm going to pull it now. At 1:20AM. >> This came down, all right. >> Houston, roger, we copy. [CROSSTALK] Standing by for your [CROSSTALK]. >> In a moment. >> Trouble with the did pretty well with the load. >> Yes. >> [LAUGH] [CROSSTALK] >> Are being deployed. Running a little bit behind in the simulation. The actual timing, he just pulled the lanyard up there. >> Houston, this is Neil. Radio check. >> Neil, this is Houston, we're loud and clear. Break, break. Buzz, this is Houston, radio check and verify CB circuit breaker, end. >> Well, we should be getting a picture. >> [INAUDIBLE] circuit breaker's in. [INAUDIBLE] [NOISE] >> They're going to get, there it is. >> Now we're getting a through on the TV. >> Oh great. >> There it is. >> Oh, we got a good fix around. There is a great deal of contrast in it and currently it's upside down on our monitor but we can make out a fair amount of detail. >> Well is turning up on my head at the moment. [LAUGH] With those words. I suppose that turn that picture over for us [CROSSTALK]. >> The opening I ought to have on the camera. Turn it over now. [SOUND] >> There's a foot coming down. There he is there's his foot coming down the steps. [SOUND] >> Okay Neil we can see you coming down the ladder now. [INAUDIBLE] [SOUND] Okay, I just checked getting back up to that first step. It's better than [INAUDIBLE]. But it's adequate to get back up. Roger, we copy. >> There's a pretty good little gap. >> So there's a foot on the moon, stepping down on the moon. If he's testing that first step, he must be stepping down on the moon at this point. [SOUND] >> Buzz, this is Houston. >> Yeah. [CROSSTALK] >> Two one one sixtieth second. For a shadow photography on the sequence camera. >> Okay. >> I'm at the foot of the ladder. The foot beds are depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very fine grained as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder down there. It's very fine. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> So a little shadowy but you said expected that in the shadow of [INAUDIBLE]. >> Armstrong is on the moon. Neil Armstrong. 38 year old American standing on the surface of the moon. On this July 20th, 1969. >> It's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind. >> I think that was [INAUDIBLE] what was said. One small step for man, but I didn't get the second phrase. Some one of our monitors did, but [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> I would like to know what it was. >> [INAUDIBLE] Fine a powder [INAUDIBLE] I can pick it up briefly with my toe. The in the fine layer like powdered charcoal to the sole and the sides of my boots. >> That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. I don't know where, but here's a converter aware that the is on to make it pixels on the negative polarity or we altogether six short. At least we can make out the figure of Neil Armstrong there. He's gonna left camera, let me know. I think that's the one lowering to him. Or a still picture. It's not the sequence camera, which I believe stays in the lunar module. >> Roger, Neil. We're reading you loud and clear. Let's see you get some pictures and the contingency sample. >> I think that the flight plan actually called for him to take the contingency sample first and then the pictures. Because I have recalled all my reading of the plan up to now, the [INAUDIBLE] sample went 35 and a half minutes of PLFS time expended now. >> It may be that Neil elected not to gather up a contingency sample cuz he feels there's no contingency here. He's [INAUDIBLE] great confidence that [INAUDIBLE] intend to be. [BEEP] [INAUDIBLE] Houston? Do you copy about the contingency sample, over? >> [BEEP] [INAUDIBLE] We've kind of twisted the order around a little bit. You might be right Wally as to what's in his mind, because what they continue to sample really is superfluous if they go on with the rest of the walk and get the full sample of the 100 pounds or so of rock and the documented sample here of rock which they identify rock by rock where they got it, take a picture of where they got it and all that sort of thing, although Neil is kind of shaking his head there. [INAUDIBLE] wants that contingency sample first, just like it said in the flight plan. >> [LAUGH] Wanna make sure he gets a pocket full of surface rock. >> Make sure we get something. >> I have an idea we're gonna get everything we want. I wouldn't be surprised >> This drives so beautifully. >> Okay, you're gonna get the contingency sample there [INAUDIBLE]. >> [INAUDIBLE] [LAUGH] Commander's gonna get tired of those [INAUDIBLE] in a minute. >> [INAUDIBLE] Nag, nag, nag. He stepped out of the field of view, I wonder what he's into now. [LAUGH] [SOUND] >> Okay, the contingency sample is and it. >> Sample? >> I have taken samples. >> A little bit to dig through the initial crust there. >> [CROSSTALK] very interesting. It's a very soft surface but here and there where I was with the contingency sample collector I ran into very hard surface, but it appears to be a very cohesive material of the same. >> [SOUND] >> Neil and Buzz, the President of the United States is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you, over. >> That would be an honor. >> Go ahead Mr. President. This is Houston. Out. Hello Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly had to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure that they, too, join with Americans in recognizing, what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, what inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all [INAUDIBLE] have fully won. Won in their pride in what you have done. And won in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth. >> Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here representing not only the United States but Men of Ace of all nations and with interest and a curiosity, and with a vision for the future. So honored for us to be able to participate in here today. >> And thank you very much, and all of us look forward to seeing you on the Hornet on Thursday. >> Thank you. >> [APPLAUSE] >> Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Manned Spacecraft Center. This is the Apollo 11 press conference. The format today will consist of a 45 minute presentation by the Apollo 11 crew, followed by question and answer. At this time I'd like to introduce the Apollo 11 crew: Astronauts Niel Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Alden. Neil? >> It was our pleasure to have participated in one great adventure. [SOUND] It was an adventure that took place not just in the month of July, but rather one that took place in the last decade. We all here and the people listening in today had the opportunity to share that adventure over its developing and unfolding in the past months and years. It's our privilege today to share with you some of the details of that final month of July that was certainly the highlight for the three of us of that decade. We're going to divert a little bit from the format of past press conferences. And talk about the things that interested us most. In particular, the things that occurred on and about the moon. >> Many of us and many other people in many places has speculated on the meaning of this first landing on another body in space. Would each of you give us your estimate of what is the meaning of this to all of us? >> Are you gonna try it? >> [LAUGH] >> Yeah. I believe that, what this country set out to do was something that was going to be done sooner or later, whether we set a specific goal or not. >> I believe that from the early space flights we demonstrated a potential to carry out this type of a mission and again it was a question of time until this would be accomplished. I think the relative ease with which we were able to carry out our mission. Which, of course, came after a very efficient and a 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 think that what this means is that many other problems, perhaps, can be solved in the same way, by taking the commitment to solve them in the long time fraction. I think that we were timely in accepting this mission of going to the moon. It might be timely at this point to think in many other areas of other missions that could be accomplished. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> [LAUGH] >> Everybody looking at me. >> [LAUGH]. Well, to me, there are near and far term aspects to it. On the near term, I think it's 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, just like we said we were gonna do it, and not just perhaps purely technical, but also a triumph for the nation's overall determination, will, economy, attention to detail and 1,001 other factors that went in to it, that's short term. I think long term, we find for the first time that man has the flexibility or the option of either walking this planet or some other planet, be it the moon or Mars or I don't know where. And I'm poorly equipped to evaluate where that may lead us to. >> I just see it as a beginning. Not just this flight, but this program which has really been a very short piece of human history, an instant in history. The entire program is a beginning of a new age. >> Neil, how much descent fuel did you have left when you actually shut down? >> My own instruments would have indicated less than 30 seconds, probably something like 15 or 20 seconds. >> I look back on those days now of landing on the moon and I try and put myself in the position of the historians, maybe even off into the future to look back and see that it was an international challenge and response that prompted the President to chart a course for this nation to go there. But getting to some specifics, I'm aghast that just almost exactly six years to the day after we left the Earth to go to the Moon and land, we launched a mission that in essence gave the Soviets the ability to say that they're equal to us technically, and then we proceeded in the next six years not to even fly one human in space. And I think it's gonna be inconceivable when future historians look back and see that what a tremendous capability was put together by one nation, and then it was set aside and laid to rest. I hope that we don't do that in the future. I feel that as humans expand outward that they should be in a gradual continuous self sustaining way, and I suspect that it will involve visiting the moon simultaneously or in melding together with our growing visits of humans to Mars. I would expect to see them happening at about the same time that we'd use the Moon where necessary to prove out things. I agree with Mike that the nation needs a strong goal, a strong objective, and Mars is a much clearer one to use as our compelling, drawing force into the future. >> Well, actually I didn't worry about it until after landing because I guess in my own view we didn't have that good a chance of completing a successful landing. But it was. I did think about it between the time of landing and the time when we actually exited the space craft, Buzz and I did. >> Hello and welcome to a very special series of EvoTV's The Bottom Line. As the show's creator, we've had the pleasure of meeting and exploring the motivation of some of our greatest leaders in business and politics. Today, perhaps the pinnacle of that leadership exploration, as I introduce to you, Commander Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. Rarely, if ever again, will Neil Armstrong conduct a media interview such as this, which makes this event, and Alex Maley's efforts, all the more remarkable. >> In your words, people have professed as to why those words and whatever else. Were you, as you were coming closer into land, were they coming to mind? >> No, I didn't think about that until after landing. I had no confidence in our ability to get down safely. I didn't bother thinking about that until after landing. Of course the first statement we made was the Eagle has landed, [INAUDIBLE]. That was the signature line for achieving the presidential goal that we had been working for a decade on, and in our view. That was a very important statement. Getting down on it, that was less important in our view, but it was significant. Yes, to actually touch your boot into the sand and recognize that it's okay to stand. >> One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind. >> There's such an element of decency in you as a person and to actually be on the moon and to say but by the grace of God, I'm the one who did it and that environment where you probably wanted a little privacy other than the 400 plus million that were watching. You had that moment. It must be something that you have reflected on at least. >> It was special and memorable. But it was only instantaneous because there was work to do. >> Yeah. >> And the checklists were all over as we needed to get on with things. And that's why we were there. We weren't there to meditate. We were there to get things done. So we got on with it. >> On landing, of course, there was celebration that to a great extent I don't think ever's stopped. And ever since that time, there have been people who have claimed that never happened. And imagine that. After all of the all of the passion, that there is still people that would say that. What was your initial response to that? When I talked to you, you said something fascinating about the number of people that were involved in that project. >> Well, I don't recall what I said. But people love conspiracy theories. They are very attractive. But it was never a concern to me, because I know. That one day, somebody's gonna go fly back up there and pick up the camera I left. >> [LAUGH] >> So then it'll be sure. >> Look, I recall, and I think it was a fantastic response. And that was because I'm hanging off every word you're saying and you see, I remember, and it was around about the fact that 800,000 staff at NASA couldn't possibly keep a secret. >> [LAUGH] That's right. >> And knowing how people work, I think that's so compelling, I can't tell you. [MUSIC] >> This slide shows the trajectory to the surface. The actual power descent of the lunar module to the serpent took 12 minutes and 32 seconds and this is just the final 3 minutes. The part that's really interesting as you get close to the surface of the moon. Now, in the left screen you will see the original 1969 movie film that we took from the window of the Lunar Module Eagle and on the right side you will see what the crew saw, looking out the window in front of them. Now there is a shaded area there that shows you the exact duplicate of the area that's on the left so you can compare the craters and see if they are duplicate of each other. The one on the left took place 42 years ago. This picture on the right took place in the last two years. Okay, we've been descending. I should tell you you'll hear the crewmen talking. You hear my copilot giving altitude and descent rates. And you'll hear people in the background. Talking from Mission Control on Earth. We've been descending about 2,000 meters a minute. We're now down to below a 1,000 meters in altitude. I see a smooth spot right near the top of the screen. It looks like that's a good place to be. And I'm running low on fuel, I have less than two minutes of fuel. >> In 20 feet. >> There's the 30 second fuel warning. Need to get her down on the ground here pretty soon before we run out. Okay [INAUDIBLE]. >> The picture on the left is more accurate, but there's more dust. There you see the shadow of my landing leg coming on the surface, on the blowy dust. >> [INAUDIBLE] >> We're very close to the surface right now. [NOISE] [INAUDIBLE] [NOISE] >> Contact light. Okay, engine stop. [SOUND] >> We copy you down, Eagle. [SOUND] >> Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed. >> And in terms of this year, of course, is a wonderful celebration, anniversary of the landing. And even around the same time, NASA's made some rather sad, certainly from Australia's point of view and I'm sure for the US's point of view, sad statements about what its plans are for the future. How are you feeling about that? >> Well I'm substantially concerned about the policy directions of the space agency which are in fact directed by the administration. And we have a situation in the States where where the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch, the White House and the Congress are at odds over what the future direction should be. And so they're sort of playing a game, and NASA is the shuttlecock. They are hitting back and forth as both sides try to get NASA on the proper path. So I along with many of my colleagues have interjected ourselves into these discussions and presented our perspectives to the American people to newspaper editorials and to the Congress through and hearings and administration. But of course. That we are trying to get on the very best path here. I think that we made some progress, but there's much yet to be done and I'll continue to inject myself into those worlds. >> The successful Apollo 11 mission was clearly a giant leap for mankind. Not only was it an extraordinary technical advancement, it captured the hearts and imagination of people all over the world. I think it's safe to say that there are very few people in history who at some point in their lives looked up at a full moon and wondered what it would be like to be standing on the moon. That as of today, 2014, no country or consortium is currently capable of returning astronauts to moon. Despite the dramatic changes in technology, almost defies belief. The question can be asked, what does it say about humanity? It took an intense competition between two political ideologies for the exploration of the moon to occur. Regardless of the answer, the fact that on that July night in 1969, two astronauts were standing on the moon served to unite humanity in a shared experience like none before or after that moment.
