Moonwalk One (1970) - full transcript

This documentary by Theo Kamecke from 1970 gives an indepth and profound look at the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. NASA footage is interspersed with reactions to the mission around the world as the film captures the intensity as well of the philosophical significance of the event. Won special award at Cannes.

BRASS HORN

A million mornings forgotten
by the mind of man.

Dawn remembers again the
magic circle. Stonehenge.

MUSIC

MUSIC

Magic circle. Observatory.

Temple aligned with
the rising of the Sun

and the turning of the heavens.

Stones from afar brought by man
to this place where no stones

were before. More
than 3000 years ago.

MUSIC



BEEP

MUSIC

BEEP

MUSIC

SIREN

Apollo 11, 15 July 1969,
Cape Kennedy Florida.

The night before the great day.

(song lyrics) We're going to the
Moon together. Pack your bags

and jump into the car. Going
take a trip to tell you where

you are. Good bye mother. So
long mother. So long mother.

Goodbye mother so long mother.
So long mother Earth.

Good bye mother, good bye
mother Earth. Goodbye mother

Earth. So long mother Earth.
Goodbye…

MUSIC



BEEPING AND HIGH PITCHED TUNING

HIGH PITCHED TUNING

Six million pounds of machine.
Thirty six stories tall.

Nearly ten years work of
half a million people.

Through the night it was
check listed, double checked,

electronically monitored,
computerized, televised,

dehumanized of human error.

MUSIC

While the night of celebration
was ending, the day began

for the astronauts. Breakfast,
medical examination,

suiting up.

Neil Armstrong,
commander Apollo 11.

Edwin Buzz Aldrin,
Lunar module pilot.

Michael Collins,
Command module pilot.

BEEPING

MULTIPLE LANGUAGES COMMENTATING

...to take them to Pad 39A.
Slayton said everything

is going as smoothly....

BEEP

BEEP

SIREN

BEEPING

MUSIC

Far across the Indian River,
12 miles away. The rocket.

At 6:32 am three hours
before launch on Pad 39A.

Armstrong and Aldrin walked
on the surface of the Earth.

Their next steps would
be on the Moon.

Spectators rolled in by the
thousands. Campers, trailers,

cars and pick ups filled the
camp sites and the beaches.

Lined the highways, lined the
parkways, nose to tailgate.

Cape Canaveral to Titusville.

MUSIC

MUSIC

The television picture at home
would be closer than the view

from Coco Beach. Why
did they come here?

MUSIC

…..very satisfactory from
launch this morning.

Thin cloud covered about
15000 feet. Temperature

at launch time expected to
be about 85 degrees. T minus

one hour and twenty nine minutes
thirty seconds and counting...

MUSIC

Propellant load pressure
and temperature.

Digital transmission worldwide
tracking. Stabilization

and guidance. Radio
frequency telemetry

and voice communications. Signal
condition and integration.

Space craft electrical power.
Flight control. SIVB

propulsion stage monitoring.

S1C S2 propulsion stage.
Every important valve gauge

and circuit was continually
monitored at launch

control centre throughout the
twenty eight hour countdown.

Count down still going well.
T minus fifty five minutes

ten seconds and counting.
This is Kennedy…..

MUSIC

Among the six thousand special
guests, were vice president,

next president, two plane
loads of the diplomatic corps

from Washington, two hundred
and five US congressmen,

nineteen governors, thirty
senators, fifty mayors

from cities across the
country, movie celebrities

and television personalities
and another two plane loads

of dignitaries from Europe.

MUSIC

BRASS HORN

Around the world,
another morning.

Not so very different
from the morning before

or tomorrow morning.

TICKING

BRASS HORN

This day on which man will leave
Earth to walk on the Moon.

Three billion people went
about their daily lives.

Some in the way in their
ancestors did centuries before.

Others in a world shaped
by modern technology.

It seemed that most people
were unaware that this event

might change the history
of the human race,

that this morning would be
marked in history books

and learned by their
children's children.

At what age of man will the
meaning of this morning

be understood?

TICKING

This is Apollo Saturn and
launch control. We passed

the six minute mark on our
countdown for Apollo 11.

The flight to land the first men
on the Moon. We are on time

at the present time for our plan
lift off on thirty two minutes

past the hour. Coming up
shortly that swing arm up at

the space craft level will
back to its fully retracted

position which should occur
at the five minute mark

in the count.

The swing arm now coming
back as our countdown

continues... informing the
astronauts that the swing arm

now coming back. Four
minutes and counting.

We are go for Apollo 11.
We will be coming up on

the automatic sequence about
ten or fifteen seconds

from this time. The vehicle
starting to pressurize as far as

the propellant tanks are
concerned and all is still go

as we monitor our status for it.

Firing command coming in now.
We are on an automatic

sequence as the master
computer supervises hundreds

of events occurring over
these last few minutes.

Two minutes ten
seconds and counting.

Oxygenizer tanks in the
second and third stages now

have pressurized. T minus one
minute thirty five seconds.

The third stage completely
pressured. T minus sixty seconds

and counting. We passed T minus
sixty. Fifty five seconds

and counting. Neil Armstrong
reported back when he

received the good wishes.
Thank you very much.

We know it would be a good
flight. Good luck and God Speed.

Forty seconds away from
the Apollo 11 lift off.

All the second stage
tanks now pressurized.

Thirty five seconds and
counting. We are still go

with Apollo 11. Thirty seconds
and counting. Astronauts

report it feels good. T
minus twenty five seconds.

Twenty seconds and counting.

T minus fifteen seconds.
Guidance is internal.

Twelve, eleven, ten, nine
ignition sequence fire

six, five..

ENGINES ROARING

CHURCH BELLS

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

ENGINES ROARING

BEEP

SIREN

CHATTERING

MUSIC

Standby for mode one Charlie.
Mark, mode one Charlie.

One Charlie.

This is Houston you
are go for staging.

On board cut off.

On board cut off.

MUSIC

Staging. And ignition.

MUSIC

Houston, thrust is go. All
engines are looking good.

Roger. Read you loud
and clear Houston.

MUSIC

We got skirt sep.

Roger we confirm skirt sep.

Towers gone.

Roger Tower.

When Apollo was safely under
way, control of the mission

was switched to Houston. The
months of tightly focused work

at the Cape were over. It could
honestly be said that this was

the culmination of the
dreams and fantasies of men

and women over twenty five
centuries of recorded time.

APPLAUSE

NAMES FROM HISTORY LISTED

APPLAUSE

And Robert Goddard, the
American rocket pioneer.

Yanky inventor, dreamer,
they called him the Moon man

and laughed. But on his own,
he went ahead designing,

inventing, and testing.

His first proving grounds
were on his Aunt Ethyl's farm

in Alborne, Massachusetts.
The neighbours complained.

With a grant from
Daniel Guggenheim,

he moved to New Mexico
with his wife Esther

who was also his camera woman.
Goddard had invented

and launched the world's first
liquid propellant rocket

in 1926 and in the end
he accumulated more than

two hundred patents
for everything

from multistage rockets to fuel
pumps and clustered engines.

MUSIC

By the year 1930, his rockets
achieved a speed of five hundred

miles per hour and an altitude
of two thousand feet.

This was the year in which
the three Apollo astronauts

were born.

Goddard had a vision
of the age of space,

but the world was too slow to
make it happen before his death.

Thank you Robert Goddard
for your inventiveness

and perseverance. For most
people, a trip to planets

was easy. All you needed was
a ten cent movie ticket

and a nickel bag of popcorn.

MUSIC

Retard your speed to one half.

ENGINE ROARING

EXPLOSION

What was that?

I don't know.

ENGINE ROARING

One of killer king's ship
coming up fast behind us.

ENGINE ROARING

EXPLOSION

EXPLOSIONS

ENGINE ROARING

MUSIC

ENGINE ROARING

ENGINE ROARING

MUSIC

Come men.

Thanks for saving us.

Stand back!

You're prisoners!

Prisoners?

ENGINES ROARING

Uh-oh. Here they come.
You better put

in reverse Doc. Oh Flash!!

What science fiction in the
childhood of the space age

could've guessed the shape of
reality? The Saturn five rocket.

Three stages, twenty
eight stories tall,

with eleven engines as
powerful as all the waterfalls

in North America combined.
Years in the planning,

months in the building and
testing, the Saturn first stage

lived but two minutes,
forty one seconds.

Staging and ignition.

Eleven Houston, thrust is go.
All engines are looking good.

I Roger you loud
and clear Houston.

Two minutes, forty one seconds.
Time to throw Apollo

forty miles up into the sky
and then an empty shell

to fall back into the sea.

MUSIC

We got skirt sep.

Roger we confirm skirt sep.

Tower is gone.

Roger tower.

Neil Armstrong confirming both
the engine skirt separation

and the launch escape
tower separation.

Hey Houston, Apollo
11 and Saturn

gave us a magnificent ride.

Ah roger 11 we'll pass that on
and it certainly looks like

you're well on your way now.

11 Houston, your guidance is
converged, you're looking good.

Down range one
hundred forty miles.

Altitude sixty two miles.
Velocity...

- Mission control in Houston,
Texas had taken over from launch

control at Cape Kennedy
for the duration

of the eight day mission.

The complicated technology
of Apollo Saturn evolved

from an ingeniously simple
concept. Lunar, Orbit,

Rendezvous. This requires a
rocket made in many pieces

that discards the useless
weight of each piece

when its function is completed.

The flight began with a vertical
lift through the heavy lower

atmosphere and a
tilt to the east

at six thousand miles per
hour the empty first stage

is discarded to save weight.
So is an adapter ring

in the unused escape tower.
With the second stage firing,

it reaches fifteen
thousand miles per hour

when it too is jettisoned.

The third stage places Apollo
in Earth orbit at seventeen

thousand four hundred
miles per hour.

When the space craft has
been thoroughly checked out

by the crew, the third stage
fires again. Its speed now

tearing at free from the
grip of Earth's gravity.

BEEPING

While coasting outward the
command service module

separates and docks for
access to the lunar module.

And the empty third
stage is left behind.

BEEPING

Apollo losses speed
throughout nine tenths

of its journey until the Moon's
gravity overcomes the pull

of Earth. Apollo fires
in reverse direction.

Slowing down enough to
be captured in orbit

about the Moon. Armstrong and
Aldrin entered the Lunar

module Eagle which separates
leaving Collins in the command

service module in Lunar orbit.

BEEPING

Eagle slows still more and
breaks to a touch down

on the lunar surface.

BEEPING

After the Moon walk. The
upper stage of the Eagle

lifts off leaving behind the
now useless landing stage

and swings into orbit to
dock Columbia once again.

When the crew and Moon
samples are transferred

to the command service module
the lunar module is discarded.

The command service module fires
itself out of lunar orbit

and falls back to Earth.

BEEPING

As it approaches the
re-entry speed of nearly

twenty five thousand
miles per hour,

the service module drops away.
The command module

plunges into the atmosphere
protected by its heat shield.

Slowed still more by the
heavy lower atmosphere

it parachutes into the sea.

The command module, Columbia,
is all that remains

of the original three thousand
tons of rocket fuel and cargo.

Apollo 11 this is Houston over.

While in Earth orbit, the
Apollo crew had less than

two hours to check out all
their space craft systems.

The last chance to discover
and correct any malfunction

before the third stage
engine is restarted to break

them free of Earth. The
translunar injection.

We're ten minutes
away from ignition

and translunar injection.

Apollo 11 this is Houston.
You are a go for TLI over.

Apollo 11. Thank you.

Roger out.

Apollo 11 this is Houston,
slightly less than one minute

to ignition and
everything is go.

Roger. Ignition.

We confirm ignition
and the thrust is go.

Apollo 11 Roger.

Guidance looking good.
Velocity twenty six thousand

feet per second.

Telemetry and radar
tracking both solid.

Velocity twenty seven thousand
eight hundred feet per second.

Through the window of
the command module,

the Earth gently slipped away.

Apollo 11, this is Houston.
Thrust is good.

Everything is still
looking good.

Roger.

Twenty nine thousand feet
per second building up

toward thirty thousand
feet per second.

Apollo 11 this is Houston.
Three and a half minutes

and you're still looking good.
Your predicted cut off

is right on the nominal.

Deep space tracking antennas.
A third of a world apart.

Listen to Apollo and spoke to
Apollo. As the Earth turned,

at least one of them would
have contact with Apollo

at all times except for when
it passed behind the Moon.

Thirty four thousand
feet per second now.

Altitude one hundred fifty two.

STATIC

Thirty-five thousand feet
per second. Cut off.

With sling velocity thirty five
thousand five hundred seventy

feet per second.

Altitude one hundred seventy
seven nautical miles.

At three hours eleven
minutes into the mission,

distance from Earth three
thousand one hundred forty

nautical miles.

The SIVB is reported in a stable
altitude for the separation.

Apollo 11 this is Houston.
You're go for separation.

OK... will be coming... down.
My tendency is to use

bottle primary one for
proven checklist,

therefore I just turned down.

- Roger we concur
with the logic.

We are awaiting
confirmation of separation.

Roger.

We confirm the separation
here on the ground.

Apollo 11 this is Houston,
radio check. Over.

STATIC

The Goldstone station
reports a very weak signal.

We believe that Mike Collins
is now manoeuvring the space

craft in the transposition
and docking manoeuvre

and the antenna patterns
aren't too good at the moment.

So we have a weak
signal strength.

The command service module
separated and turned

around to dock with the
Eagle of the lunar module.

Apollo 11, Apollo 11 this is
Houston broadcasting on upline.

Request Omni bravo if you
read the request. Omni bravo.

Out.

Apollo 11, this is
Houston, how do you read?

STATIC

Apollo 11 this is Houston
radio check over?

Roger we are copying you
about five by two very weak.

Can you give us a
status report please?

STATIC AND CRACKLING VOICE

Loud and clear Mike and we
understand that you are docked.

That's right.

Apollo 11 Houston. We
recommend you accept a noun

forty nine continue through
your sequence of sightings

and then we'll analyse the
data afterwards over.

OK.

On board was a fourth brain.
A small computer called DSKY

which solved problems and
helped for the long sequences

of systems checks and
data exchange with Earth.

Houston, Apollo 11, star
forty has just disappeared

now in the sextant.

Could you turn your angle
to forty seven... high.

Standby.

Apollo 11, Houston we like
you to press on the star

forty four over.

Yeah. Roger.

They found their way across
the sea of space navigating

by the same stars that guided
Columbus to shores unknown.

11, Houston we copy.
Two good marks. Over.

OK. Drogue removal
is coming next.

Roger.

Neil Armstrong up in the
tunnel at this point removing

the probe and drogue
assembly, in preparation

for the ingress into
the lunar module.

OK. It's moved now. Coming down.

Roger.

After docking pressure was
equalized. The hatch was open

so that the crewmen could
float through the tunnel

between the two craft to give
Eagle a detailed inspection.

Its navigation,
communication, propulsion,

and life support systems.

Hey ah vehicle is surprisingly
free of any debris floating

around it. It's very clean.

Roger.

Three days falling to the Moon.
Free of the gravity

of Earth. No up or down.
No day or night. A sense

of stillness while travelling
at the speed of a meteor.

Is that about how long it
will be before you start

closing the LEM back up? Over.

An invisible speck in the night.
Somewhere between here

and there constantly
monitored from Earth.

Within this tiny space craft a
temporary Earth environment.

Warmth, air, food, water.
Everything necessary

to sustain life.

Beyond these fragile walls
nothingness. Absolute cold.

An end to life.

The most important function
of the space craft, life.

Was also monitored constantly
through telemetry.

The heartbeat and breathing
of each astronaut.

Although each breath was
thirty thousand feet farther

from Earth than the breath
before it. Should one heart

flutter it would at once be a
matter of concern to millions

worlds away. Unlike any other
place man had travelled before,

space could provide
him with nothing.

It is a vacuum. Devoid of every
element needed for life.

To send man into this
nothingness to protect him.

It was first necessary to define
him. What is the human machine?

How does it function?
What is the nature

of its nervous system? It's
respiration? It's circulation?

Digestion? Sight? Hearing?
Balance? Its endurance?

HEARTBEAT

What gasses to breathe should
he take with him from Earth?

What atmospheric pressure suits
him best? Is it possible

to give him a more efficient
atmosphere for space travel

than nature provides on Earth?

HISSING

The Moon is two hundred
and fifty degrees hot

in Sunlight and two hundred
forty degrees below zero

in the middle of its night.
How long can a man bake

or freeze? What
protection will he need

from this inhuman environment?

What strains will the heart
take when the pressure

of gravity is removed
from the limbs?

ELECTRICAL HUMMING

EXPLOSIONS

What protection will the body
need from sudden deceleration?

Or acceleration?

EXPLOSION

ELECTRICAL HUMMING

Man's sense of direction, speed,
and balance are easily fooled.

Can his mind be trained
to ignore false signals

from his senses?

ELECTRICAL HUMMING

ELECTRICAL HUMMING AND BUZZING

BEEP

HEART BEATING

ENGINE PURRING

ENGINE ROARING

We were defining the physical
man in absolute terms.

ENGINE ROARING

Once we knew Man's limitations,
we could build him

an artificial environment
for space travel.

Columbia, the Command Module
was a supreme achievement

of the technology of its age.

It was a mini planet complete
with its own environmental

control system,
telecommunications,

electrical power, guidance,
navigation, stabilization,

propulsion, reaction control.
It provided hot and cold water,

and removed carbon
dioxide from the air.

Three men could live here for
more than a week. Eat, work,

sleep, shave, exercise,
and listen to music.

It was micromedia proof,
burn proof, and sea worthy,

and it could tilt itself in any
direction. In short it was

the most intricate and
sophisticated machine

ever made by man.

As for man however, was stuck
with the original model.

All we can do is add an outer
layer of things he does not

naturally have. Space medicine
showed us where man is

vulnerable and we learned
to compensate for most

of the weaknesses
with technology

and careful workmanship.

I made boxing gloves before
I came here and the fact is

I was an experienced sewer but
I had to learn all over again

because ah it was completely
different from what I had

sewed before. This was getting
right down to a sixty fourth

of an inch and where I sewed
before you just sewed on

a production line.

And this here is quality
more than quantity.

- Like we always think, our
job is the hardest.

Whatever we're doing we
got the hardest job.

But when they say, well
who maybe do so and so,

and you'll find out that
job is harder than yours.

And a lot of times we're
sewing or making things

and maybe the girl next to you
she is doing the same thing

but we never see the suit
put together. We don't know

whether this part goes or
the other one don't know

where the other part goes.

Like the gloves, if they
give a glove to sew

you wouldn't know
where to start.

- Well when they're up there
in space, you know what parts

you've worked on and you
just say well I hope that part

don't fail because I'd feel
it was my fault if it did.

- My sentiment, just what Hazel
said, well I just wondered

if my pair of gloves
was what he had on.

- So if you make a mistake, if
you don't admit it you have

to think about the astronaut
too. Like a needle hole

in a bladder or something
like that. Well if you don't

admit that, that would be on
your conscience all the time

seems to me. Cause I remember
Armstrong and all them used

to come in and they would
look around to see

what we were doing.

Once in a while they would
talk to us and we'd get them

to sign their autograph. Some
of them were real comical.

We got a kick out of them. We
all want to talk to them again.

I remember one of them going
down the isle and everybody

looked at him, looked at him
afraid to talk. I said hi buddy.

- Oh. I'd love to go into space.
I think it would be

really thrilling. Just to
get in there and just blast off.

I'd love to go to space
and just live there.

Everyday you get up. You
come to work. You go home.

You clean house. If you go
out there, there's no house,

no kids, no problems!

I like to ride an airplane and I
think I'd like to go into space.

And I'd like to wear our
own suit that we make.

I think I can depend on it.

ELECTRICAL HUMMING

MUSIC

After body electrodes have
been attached to monitor

heart beat and breathing,
the first items of clothing

are the water cool underwear
and a urine collector.

A space suit is basically a
sealed bag of atmosphere.

Stiffened balloon pumped up
to counteract the vacuum

of space. It might be
called a one man space ship

of the smallest
possible dimensions.

The pressure suit has to guard
against extreme temperatures.

Hard radiation from the Sun and
tiny meteorites, yet it must

have the flexibility to allow
man to function as he would

in his natural
Earth environment.

MUSIC

MUSIC

The back pack cleans and
cools the suit's oxygen.

Cools and circulates water
through the water cool underwear

and provides radio
communication.

Over the pressure helmet
is a clear visor.

Then a gold coated visor to
protect against micro meteors

and solar radiation.

The final test was how would
the suit work in the silent,

weightless world of space?

MUSIC

Weightlessness on Earth
can be experienced only

under water or in an airplane
following a parabolic

flight path.

MUSIC

The only true test
was in space itself.

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

No up or down. No day or night.
Only the slow creeping

of the harsh Sunlight through
the windows as the space craft

rotates to keep from getting
too hot on one side

and too cold on the other.

MUSIC

They carried with the them the
biological day of the Earthling.

Three meals, a snack or
two. Eight hours of sleep.

Time to work. Time to relax.
Time to reflect.

Three days falling
upward to the Moon.

Look down. Look down.

That fragile bubble of life
afloat on a sea of nothing.

Space ship Earth.

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

Plus zero zero one niner
zero roll is your option.

Pitch two one three
three five seven.

Noun forty four is NA.

Zero zero one niner seven.
Zero zero three zero zero

one five two.

BEEP

Apollo 11 this is Houston.
I got the morning news

here if you are interested.
Over.

Yeah we sure are. We are
ready to copy and comment!

OK first off looks like it
is going to be impossible

to get away from the fact
that you guys are dominating

all the news back here on Earth.

Even Pravda in Russia is
headlining the mission and calls

Neil the Tsar of the ship.
I think maybe they got

the wrong mission.

Among the large headlines
concerning Apollo this morning,

is one asking that you watch for
a lovely girl with a big rabbit.

Very interesting!

Hello there. An ancient
legend says a beautiful

Chinese girl called Chango
has been living there for

four thousand years. It
seems she was banished

to the Moon because she stole
the pill of immortality

from her husband.

You might also look
for her companion,

a large Chinese rabbit who
is easy to spot since he is

always standing on his
hind feet in the shade

of a cinnamon tree. The name
of the rabbit is not reported.

Okay, we'll keep a close
eye for the bunny girl.

And in Corby England, an
Irishman John Coil has won

the world's porridge eating
championship by consuming

twenty three bowls of instant
oatmeal in a ten minute

time limit from a field of
thirty five other competitors.

Over.

I ought to enter Aldrin into
the oatmeal eating contest

next time. He's on
his nineteenth bowl.

Roger.

Back here in Houston, Mayor
Louise Walsh promises

the lifting of lawn
watering restrictions

if the rains continue.

And the big news around
Houston today concerns

the Astros. In the sports world
the Houston Astros rallies

in the ninth inning at
Cincinnati. They lost

to the Reds seven to four.

Your three wives and children
got together for lunch

yesterday at Barbara's house.
And according to Pat

it turned out to be a fine fest.
President Nixon is finding

the use of the executive
power to streamline

the inner state
commerce commission.

It was reported Nixon
would trim...

- He was later in the week
enthusiastically welcomed

at the Jackie Geese and
Golf match in Miami,

Florida where local
residents celebrate...

- As air pollution
reached critical levels,

the senate unanimously backed
a national environmental

policy act to make
the safe guarding

of the physical environment.

- Astronauts are not the
only explores in the news.

San Diego awaits the arrival
of Mrs. Sharon Adams

on her solo crossing
of the Pacific.

Seen here leaving Yuko....

- California couple said they
plan to marry at the precise

moment Armstrong sets
foot on the lunar...

- In Vietnam, things
are relatively quiet.

With only a few fire fights.
Eight hundred fourteen

men of the third
battalion sixtieth...

- GI's north of Saigon were
evacuating villagers...

- In the Mecon Delta, a
south Vietnamese force...

- New riots broke out in
Northern Ireland during

the celebration marking the two
hundred and ninety seventh

anniversary of the battle of
Boyd. A protestant victory

over the forces....

Witnesses in its investigation
of student disorders

that took place at Harvard
and other Universities

last spring. Ten thousand
Harvard students.....

- Registration for the black
panther party convention

being held at Party
Headquarters in Oakland....

- The White House, Quakers
had gathered to continue

their silent vigil against...

- The grand Prix of auto
races at Watkins, New York

and the two hundred track in
Jersey were won by world famous

Mario Andretti who now takes
the lead in US auto club....

- Vanty poverty workers out of
Charleston, West Virginia

are taking information
about birth control

and family planning into the
mountains of Appalachian.

A new line of space toys drew
impressive crowds of children

of all ages in the Tokyo
department stores

on the Eve of Apollo's touch....

- In the Mid East, young
Jordanian Guerillas

train for battle while new
skirmishes broke out...

- ....in retaliation to Israeli
assaults, a force of thirty two

Egyptian commandos, slipped
across the ceasefire...

- From the US defence
department...

One point five million Biafrans
have now succumb to....

MULTIPLE NEWS REPORTERS
COMMENTATING

Zero zero seven five
eight plus all balls.

Plus zero zero zero niner eight.
Plus correction zero zero

five seven two plus zero zero
zero eight five zero zero

seven six four. Zero three
zero zero zero zero two niner

three nine eighty six minus
zero zero seven five niner.

Apollo went into orbit
around the Moon.

The journey that had taken
the lifetime of Mankind

was nearing its crucial moment.

Apollo 11, Houston we're
wondering if you started

into the LEM...over.

Okay Charley, we're in the LM.
The stocking index

mark is the same.

Roger we copy.

Houston, Apollo 11,
Apollo 11 Eagle, over.

The Lunar module Eagle was
again given a thorough

check out to ensure the
functioning of all systems.

As Armstrong and Aldrin
prepared to seal themselves off

from Collins, in the command
module and for the two

craft to pull apart.

- One two three four five
five four three two one.

Houston out over.

Okay. It's go there
Capcom on the hot fire.

OK all flight controllers going
around the horn on a go

no go for undocking.

OK Retro?
- Go!

Fido?
- Go!

Guidance?
- Go!

Control?
- Go!

DELCOM?
- Go!

GNC?
- Go!

EECOM?
- Go!

Surgeon?
- Go!

Capcom we're go for undocking!

ELECTRICAL HUMMING AND STATIC

Hello Eagle Houston
we're standing by over.

ELECTRICAL HUMMING AND STATIC

Eagle Houston we see
you on the... over.

Roger. Eagle Undocked.

Roger how does it look?

The Eagle has wings.

The Eagle has wings.

On its own now but with
Columbia near at hand,

it coasted around to the
back side of the Moon.

And there while out of direct
communication with the Earth,

it fired its engine to slow
its decent to a touchdown

on the near side of the Moon.

Collins in Columbia continued
in orbit awaiting their return.

Okay all flight controllers go,
no go for landing.

Retro?
- Go!

Fido?
- Go!

Guidance?
- Go!

Control?
- Go!

DELCOM?
- Go!

GNC?
- Go!

EECOM?
- Go.

Surgeon!
- Go.

Capcom we're go for landing!

Altitude forty two hundred.

Houston you are go for landing.
Over.

Go for landing. Three
thousand feet.

You're looking great.

How you doing control?

We're look good here, fine.

How about you Telecom?
- Go!

Guidance you happy?
- Go!

Fido?
- Go!

Two thousand feet.

Into the AGS. Forty
seven degrees.

Roger.

Forty seven degrees.

Still looking very good.

You're go.

Bracket alarm.

Bravo one.

Bravo one.

Roger 1201 alarmed.

1201 alarmed.

Same type. We're go flight.

OK we're go.

We're go. Same type. We're go.

Altitude sixteen hundred.

Eagle looking great.

Roger 1202 we copy.

35 degrees. 750
coming down to 23.

540 feet out of 15.

315 feet down at four.

Altitude, velocity light. 8
and a half down. 220 feet.

... forward. Coming down nicely.
4 1/2 down and 5 1/2 down.

100 feet 3 1/2 down 9 forward.
75 feet.

Guys looking good down a half.
Six forward. 60 seconds.

Lights on. Forward, Forward.
Forty feet down 2 1/2.

Picking up some dust. Big
shadow. Four forward.

Drifting to the right a little.

Thirty seconds.

Contact right. Okay engine stop.

We copy you down Eagle.

Houston, ah, Tranquillity base
here. The Eagle has landed.

This is Apollo control Houston
at one hundred and five hours.

Down in the flight of Apollo 11.
Now our current plan

is to have crew members
aboard the Eagle to eat

and relax for a little while
prior to starting EVA prep

so we won't know with certainty
or have a reasonable

time until about
an hour before...

MULTIPLE LANGUAGES REPORTING

And the world waited.
July 20th, 1969.

It is said that five hundred
million people gathered

at TV sets around the world to
wait for the first Earthling

to set foot on the Moon.
Countless millions more listened

on the radio to the
voices from the Moon.

Houston, ah, this is Neil.
Radio check.

Neil this is Houston
loud and clear....

Never before had so many
people been attuned

to one event at one time.

MULTIPLE LANGUAGES REPORTING

The world waited.
Curious, wondering, aware

like a sleeper wakened in the
night by a far away sound.

A moment sensed more
than understood.

BEEP

OK Neil. We can see you
coming down the ladder now.

Okay, I just checked getting
back up to that first step.

It's not even collapsed too
far, but it's adequate

to get back up.

Roger we copy.

I'm at the foot of the
ladder, the LEM footpads

are only depressed
in the surface about

one or two inches. Although
the surface appears

to be very very fine grained
as you get close to it.

It's almost like a powder.

It's very fine.

OK. I'm going to
step off the LM now.

That's one small step for man.
One giant leap for Mankind.

That's one small step for man
yet one giant leap for Mankind.

MULTIPLE LANGUAGES REPORTING

MULTIPLE LANGUAGES REPORTING

Ah that looks beautiful
from here now.

It has a stark beauty all
of its own. It's like much

of the high desert of
the United States.

It's ah different but it's
very pretty out here.

Are you getting a TV
picture now Houston?

Neil, yes we are getting
a TV Picture...now.

OK ready for me to come out?

All set.

Okay I am on the top step
at the very simple matter

to hop down from one
step to the next.

You got three more steps
and then a long one.

Okay I am going to leave
that one foot up there

and both hands down about
the fourth rung up.

There you go.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

A little more about another
inch. Hey you got it!

That's a good step.

Beautiful view. Ain't
that something?

Magnificent sight out here.

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Very very fine powder isn't it?

Isn't it fine?

And Neil, didn't I say we
might see some purple rocks?

And the purple rocks.

Yes. Very small
sparkly fragments.

Okay Houston, I'm going
to change lenses on you.

Roger Neil.

You're going too fast
on the panorama sweep.

You're going to
have to stop for...

I haven't stop. I haven't
set it down yet.

That's the first picture
in the panorama.

Okay I am going to move it.

Tell me if you get
a picture Houston.

We got a beautiful picture Neil.

Okay we got that one.

Okay. There's another good one.

For a final orientation,
we'd like it to come left

about five degrees over.

OK.

Okay that looks good there Neil.

Buzz is erecting the solar
wind experiment now.

Every precious minute of
their two and a half hours

on the surface was programmed.
Rock and soil samples

were to be collected.
Photographs taken.

Experiments set up to catch
unfiltered particles

from the Sun. To record
Moon quakes. To measure

precisely why laser beam
reflection the exact distance

between Moon and Earth.

Columbia, Columbia. This
is Houston AOS over.

Houston, Columbia over.

Roger the EVA is
progressing beautifully.

Setting up the flag now.

I guess you are about
the only person around

that doesn't have TV
coverage of this scene.

That's alright. I
don't mind it a bit.

They've got the flag up now
and you can see the stars

and stripes on Moon.

Beautiful just beautiful.

How is the quality of the TV?

Ah, it's beautiful Mike.
Really is.

I'd like to evaluate the
various paces that a person...

travelling on the lunar
surface can make. You do have

to be careful to keep track of
where your centre of mass is.

Sometimes it takes about two
or three paces to make sure

you got your feet
underneath you.

At about two of three to four
easy paces can bring you

to a fairly smooth stop. Like
a football pro just have to

cut off to the side a
little bit. A kangaroo hop.

That works on your
forward stability,

but not quite as good.

It could get rather tiring
after several hundred

but this may be a
function of the suit

as well as a lack of
gravity forces.

ELECTRICAL HUMMING AND STATIC

I noticed in the soft spots
where we have footprints

nearly an inch deep that
the soil is very cohesive

and it will retain a slope
of probably 70 degrees

on the side of the foot print.

Buzz is making his way
around the LEM photographing

it from various angles. Looking
at its conditions on all sides.

Now right here in this area
there are two craters.

The one that is right in front
of me now is as I look off

in about the eleven o'clock
position from facing that.

It's about thirty to
thirty five feet...

Roger Out.

HUMMING AND STATIC

In the foreground Buzz Aldrin is
collecting a core tube sample.

I hope you're watching
how hard I have to hit

this into the ground to the tune
of about five inches Houston.

Roger.

It almost looks wet.

Ah, Buzz this is Houston.
You've got about ten minutes

left now prior to
commencing your EVA

termination activities. Over.

Roger. I understand.

It's marvellous.

- Absolutely fantastic.

- The first person on the Moon.

You know it's just too much.
I can't get over it.

- I don't know how to put it.
You know, but it's most

marvellous thing it's a miracle.

- This is... I don't know.

- We are really thrilled.

- For every American this
has to be the proudest day

of our lives. And for people
all over the world...

- I think it's great. Really
great for the whole world.

- This means a lot to all the
countries not just for America.

- And being out of it and being
closer to the Moon makes us

realize that we're all
human beings together.

I hope this brings unity
amongst all countries.

And I just hope it
helps you to solve

all the internal
problems you may have.

- Well I think it is a waste of
a lot of money that could be

used for something else.
They holler about the people

being on starvation.

- It's huge amount of money
American spend to see

what the Moon is like.
What's for?

- It's disgusting. It's a
pity that they haven't got

something else to do. Been
better if they done something

for the old-uns.

- What if Columbus had decided
that he just couldn't get

the money from Isabella,
where would we be?

- That's one of God's celestial
planets and he put it in the sky

for a purpose. And he didn't
put people to clutter up

like they have the Earth.

- Myself, I'm really interested
to see what's up there.

- We must open all secrets that
are opening to us throughout

the ages.

- I think that the dream of
the man from the beginning

of the human race is coming now

Alone forty five miles
above the Moon's surface,

Michael Collins completed
an orbit every two hours.

He listened to the progress
of the Moon walk and awaited

the moment when his
companions on the surface

would lift off to
rendezvous with him.

ELECTRICAL HUMMING AND STATIC

For thirty times he saw the
Earth rise over the horizon

of the Moon. Twelve
thousand miles of twilight.

A line that divides night from
day for three billion people

on space ship Earth.

It is good to see
the whole Earth.

To see the Earth whole.

SLOW BEEPING

HUMMING AND BUZZING

HUMMING AND BUZZING

The Eagle had left the Moon
and returned to Columbia.

HUMMING AND BUZZING

Within this strange ship two
astronauts and a treasure.

Triple sealed vacuum
boxes of rocks and soil

from the surface of the Moon.

HUMMING AND BUZZING

Locked within these rocks
were secrets of the ages

to be studied and deciphered
by the scientist of Earth.

The age of the Moon.
The age of the Sun.

How the Moon was formed.

How life began? Was there
ever life on the Moon?

Was the Moon once molten
and volcanic or has it

always been cold and dead?

Was it once part of the Earth?

Or was it a wondering planet
captured by the Earth

eons ago?

MELODIC BUZZING AND HUMMING

How hot was the Sun three
billion years ago?

BUZZING AND HUMMING

When Armstrong and Aldrin
with their precious load

of Moon rocks had transferred
to Columbia the faithful Eagle,

its task completed,
could be cut adrift.

Columbia fired out of lunar
orbit to begin its three day

fall back to Earth where the
recovery fleet was waiting

for its splash down
in the Pacific.

MUSIC

Apollo 11, Houston with a little
recovery force information.

Over.

Go ahead.

Roger. The Hornet is on the
station just far enough

off the target
point to keep from

getting hit. Recovery one....

July 24th, the Hornet was on
station and the President

of the United States was aboard.

Re-entry into the Earth's
invisible atmosphere

carries with it one of the
most critical moments.

Travelling nearly twenty five
thousand miles per hour,

the command module can
miss the angle of re-entry

by only several degrees and
disintegrate into flames

or bounce off into
space never to return.

Velocity 33,000 feet per second.

35,000 feet per second now.

36,000 feet per second.

Board entry time.

LOUD STATIC

There's black out.

LOUD STATIC AND WIND

ROCKET FLAMES

ROCKET FLAMES

Apollo 11, Houston to ARIA.
Apollo 11 Houston to ARIA.

Apollo 11 Houston to ARIA 4.

Hornet reports say sonic
boom a short time ago.

Apollo 11, Houston... and ARIA
says available contact.

Apollo 11, Houston through
ARIA standing by, over.

LOUD THUD

MUSIC

Apollo 11, Apollo 11. This
is Hornet, Hornet over.

Apollo 11 read you loud and
clear. Our position 1330 16915.

Apollo 11 Hornet copy. 1330
1675, any further data over.

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

SIRENS AND MUSIC

MUSIC

CROWD AMBIENCE

What was it we were
really celebrating?

Three men who had done what
no man before had done.

A technological feat was
believed beyond the realm

of possibility.

The fulfilment of
an age old dream?

Were we celebrating simply
because it had been

a long time since we had
anything to celebrate?

Or was this something
that touched

an irrational unthinking
instinct in us all?

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

HISSING AND RINGING

ELECTRICAL HUMMING

A treasure of the ages.

Stones from across the night.

Unrubbed by wind.
Unwashed by rain.

Scattered on tranquillity.

Bombarded by solar particles
for billions of years

but unchanged in any other way.

A Moon rock is like
a diary of the Sun.

An eye unblinking
since time began.

It stared across
the sea of space.

It watched the blue
planet when life began.

RATTLING

RATTLING

Remembered in these rocks
are ancient Sun spots,

solar flares, solar
storms who's fiery arms

reached out a million miles.

CLICKING

By making ourselves
very small like Alice,

perhaps we will see what
these rocks have seen.

And remember back those
billions of years to decipher

the life of the Sun.

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

Locked within our Sun are
answers to mysteries

that have confounded
man since time began.

We have reached out
with our telescopes.

We have reached in
with our microscopes.

Seeking.

What is the source of life?

What combination of
energies and elements

brought it into existence?

What is the relationship
between the non living

and living things?

How delicate is the balance?

Man slowly begins to realize
how fragile is his bubble

of life?

MUSIC

Ours is one Sun in a sea
of Suns more plentiful

than all the grains of sand
on all the shores of all

the seas of planet Earth.

MUSIC

Now that we are free
to wander from Earth.

Perhaps we will find the
answers to our questions.

Someday we may know
where we've come from.

Where we're going.

We may know where is the end,
where is the beginning.

MUSIC

MUSIC

MUSIC

We have walked on the Moon.

We open our minds
to the universe.

MUSIC