American Experience (1988–…): Season 31, Episode 8 - Chasing the Moon: Magnificent Desolation - full transcript

♪♪

♪♪

♪ Gather round while I sing you
of Wernher von Braun ♪

♪ A man whose allegiance
is ruled by expedience ♪

♪ Call him a Nazi,
he won't even frown ♪

♪ "Nazi-shmazi,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪

♪♪

♪ Don't say
that he's hypocritical ♪

♪ Say, rather,
that he's apolitical ♪

♪ "Once the rockets are up ♪

♪ "Who cares
where they come down? ♪



♪ That's not my department,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪

♪ Some have harsh words
for this man of renown ♪

♪ But some think our attitude
should be one of gratitude ♪

♪ Like the widows and cripples
in old London Town ♪

♪ Who owe their large pensions
to Wernher von Braun ♪

♪ You too may be a big hero ♪

♪ Once you've learned
to count backwards to zero ♪

♪ "In German or English,
I know how to count down ♪

♪ And I'm learning Chinese,"
says Wernher von Braun ♪

♪♪

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

♪♪

♪♪



♪♪

♪♪

All those years, we had very,
very few inquiries

about von Braun's past.

We never really had

any questions about what-what
are all these Germans doing,

you know,
involved in this program?

That never came up.

He was kind of untouchable.

He was the rocket man,

and he was taking us
to the moon.

Then when things
began to change,

he handled it quite well.

I believe you were forced
to join the Nazi party,

as I understand it.

No, that isn't quite right.

Oh.
Um...

I was trying to make it sound...
I got a letter
one fine day

which said, "We understand you
would like to join the party,

and here is a form,
an application form."

But the circumstances
were such that...

the message would have
been very loud and clear,

you know,
had you not sent it in.

He disavowed
any loyalty to Hitler

or to the German cause.

He acknowledged
the regime's crimes.

He tried to avoid discussing
the politics of World War Il.

♪♪

Do you have a statement...
Dr. Von Braun, were you...
were you aware

that there was a slave camp

near the plant you
worked in Germany?

Well, you are misinformed.

The slave camp was about
400 miles from where I worked,

because I was in charge of the
development of the V-2 rocket,

which took place
in Peenemünde on the Baltic,

and this slave camp was
in central Germany

in the Harz Mountains...

Were you aware that there were

any atrocities
taking place there?

I learned later
on that there were

atrocities taking place there,

but I was not involved
in this whole operation.

He had to have known

that all those people
he saw pushing heavy equipment

were horribly abused.

He would have had to have
been blind, deaf, and mute

not to have known that.

Do you feel that it will
hinder your reputation at all?

Well, that remains to be seen.

As I say, I think
this record is for inspection.

And... I have nothing to hide,
I had nothing to hide,

and... I told the court
what I knew.

I was here as a witness;
I'm not implicated.

Remember that.

Only a few short weeks ago,

we shared the glory of
man's first sight of the world

as God sees it,
as a single sphere

reflecting light
in the darkness.

As the Apollo astronauts

flew over the moon's
gray surface

on Christmas Eve...

They spoke to us of the beauty
of Earth.

Get lost!

In the time that they

were focused on going to
the moon, the world had changed.

Society had changed
in pretty fundamental ways.

After Apollo 8,
President Nixon sent me around

to make talks on
the different college campuses.

Everywhere I went,
I met with antagonism

and even hatred.

I think I represented,
to these people,

the establishment.

At one of the places,
I had to go in by helicopter

because they'd barricaded
the entrance to the college.

And at Columbia,

I was run off the stage
by a guy in a gorilla suit.

They threw marshmallows at me.

It was unbelievable.

When we went to Cornell,

it was like going
into an enemy camp.

I couldn't believe
I was in America.

And I must say when you
continually point your finger

at the establishment
and big business,

I'd like to just shoot it back
at you a little bit.

Many of us think one of
the greatest problems

we have in the environment
of the future

is the current crop of
irresponsible college radicals.

The difference
between the reaction

on American campuses and
overseas was like night and day.

To the people of this planet,

what is the meaning of this
stupendous venture?

They were excited,
they were happy,

they were very congratulatory,

they were wonderful.

Everywhere.

Except on the American campus.

Even in Russia,
they were very, very friendly.

I was there in 1969,
my family and I.

This was before
the lunar landing.

We spent two weeks

over there
going all over the country.

They couldn't have been
more nice to us.

Another warm welcome for
the traveling American astronaut

who came far out of his way,

all the way to central Siberia,

to pay tribute
to Soviet science.

Colonel Borman,
you've seen something of

the world of Soviet science,
how does it impress you?

Oh, very much.

They certainly have
a fine institute here.

The intellectuals there

understood their system
was corrupt and couldn't last,

but they were afraid
to talk about it

unless you got them off
by themselves.

It was that kind of a society.

And I like to think
that the Apollo program

had a lot to do with
the subsequent dismantling

of the Soviet Union.

Have you had any feeling
from the cosmonauts

of their view toward the pending
moon landing and Apollo 11?

Well, I think they feel
the same way about that

as we do about theirs...
They wish us all success,

as we've done on
every one of their flights.

I remember trying to write
as much as I could

about what the Russians
were doing.

We knew very little.

Occasionally they'd show us
spy photography from Baikonur,

from the Soviet launching site.

But there was
a lot of guess work.

♪♪

Korolev.

He was the von Braun,
if you will,

of the Russian space program.

He died.

And, in my mind, that's when
things started to change,

as far as the Russians
were concerned.

They tried to put together

a giant rocket.

But I always felt
that once they lost Korolev,

they really lost the genius
of the Russian program.

The Korolev lunar program

to send the man to the moon,
it have a very sad history.

The Soviet Union have
the same ideas as the Americans,

but our design

of the lunar vehicle
failed from the very beginning

because Korolev
technically made it

in the wrong way.

The N1 program,

it was very complicated project

with 30 engines
that have to work together,

and if you did not test it
by stages,

you have too many new things.

Korolev's people,
after Korolev's death,

they say let's assemble
everything together

without testing.

Maybe you will have a good luck.

Korolev died,
but this project was doomed

from the very beginning.

Resuming our interview
on Meet the Press

from Cape Kennedy, Florida,
our guests today

are the three astronauts

who commanded Apollo missions
eight, nine, and ten.

Colonel Borman,

during your trip to Russia,

did you get any indication

in your talks with the Russians

when they might be sending
cosmonauts to land on the moon?

Do you think that they still
want to land men on the moon?

There's no question about it.

They... he told...
everywhere the indication was

not only will we land
on the moon,

will we go to the moon,
we'll go to the planets

and eventually man
will leave the solar system.

And I believe that.

♪♪

NASA called a press conference

to introduce the Apollo 11 crew,
and I went to that.

They were introduced,
the three guys.

Ladies and gentlemen,

it's my considerable pleasure

to introduce to you
our Apollo 11 crew.

Neil and Buzz and Mike Collins...

This was the crew that,
if all went well,

Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong

and Buzz Aldrin,

was going to be the crew
that landed,

and Neil was the commander.

Which one of you gentlemen

will be the first man

to step onto the lunar surface,

and what do you think
your reaction will be?

The current plan involves
one man on the lunar surface

for approximately
three-quarters of an hour

prior to
the second man's emergence.

Now, which person is which

has not been decided
at this point.

Neil is going to be
the commander, but there was

two schools of thought as to
what we should do after landing.

The first man would

exit the space craft,

most probably taking down
with him

what we call
a lunar equipment conveyor.

This is a pulley-type system
which enables us to transfer

various pieces of equipment.

And the first priority
on the surface

is to take photographs
from the LM itself

at the landing site.

And the second priority
is a contingency sample...

Obviously Neil and I
might have differences.

He said that he
understood the significance

and he wasn't going to rule
himself out of being first...

priority is an E.V.A.
evaluation...

And so there was a standoff.

So it's at this point

that the second person

would exit the spacecraft...

Buzz, his father
was a retired general,

and he went on a press campaign,
came to my office in New York,

to campaign for Buzz to be the
first man on the moon, not Neil.

The controversy was
inspired by Buzz's father.

Hey, Buzz,

as I recall,
isn't your middle name "Moon"?

My mother's middle name
was Moon.
Your mother's family name?

That was my grandfather's name.

By coincidence or good fortune,
my mother was named Marion Moon.

That was her maiden name.

So she was Marion Moon Aldrin.

My grandmother was known as
Mama Moon.

I had two older sisters.

They didn't know
what to call me,

but I was their baby brother,
so it was "Buzzer,"

and it got shortened to Buzz.

We had a taste of the publicity
from Gemini 12.

This celebration in Montclair
is for hometown boy

Lieutenant Colonel
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin,

the record-setting space walker,
who along with...

She just looked like she was
uncomfortable about being

in the press.

Before we were announced
as the crew to Apollo 11,

my mother died.

Committed suicide.

I felt that she didn't want
to look forward

to that sort of thing again.

She didn't want
to be a part of it.

I wondered if each of the three
could tell us very briefly

how your families have reacted

to the fact that you're
taking this historic mission?

Well, who wants to
take a crack at it?

Well, I think
in my particular case,

my family has had five years now

to become accustomed
to this eventuality,

and over six months
to face it quite closely.

♪♪

Colonel Collins, you'll be
the only one of the three

making this first moon flight

who will not have an opportunity
to walk on the moon's surface.

How do you feel about that?

Well, I think that the way

we've put Apollo together,
it's a three-man job.

All three men are required
to do the total mission,

and of course
I'll be the only one

on board the command
and service module.

I honestly felt
really privileged to be

on Apollo 11, to have
one of those three seats.

Did I have
the best of the three?

No.

But was I pleased with
the one I had?

Yes!

I do have one complaint,
however.

I'd like to point out
to those of you,

particularly
in the television business,

that I have no TV set on board,

and therefore I'm going
to be one of the few Americans

who's not going to
be able to see the E.V.A...

so I'd like you to

save the tapes for me please,
I'd like to look at them

after the flight.

They were three distinct
personalities.

Armstrong was

the gold standard
for the calm, committed,

professional pilot that he was.

I probably knew Neil

better than most people,

because we were
in Gemini together as a crew.

Then he and I became the two
who were selected

to fly the lunar module
training vehicle.

It really was
an exceptional simulation

of the lunar module
in one-sixth lunar gravity.

The day of the accident,
I went out in the morning.

There was a bit of a wind.

That afternoon, Neil went over
to fly this thing.

♪♪

Unbeknownst to us on that day,

the sensor for the hydrogen
peroxide fuel had failed.

So when the red light came on
and they said,

"Okay, Neil, you've got
30 seconds to go,

head on down," he didn't know,

nor did the ground know,
that he really only had

about 15 seconds of fuel.

♪♪

Neil was
the consummate test pilot.

He packed up,
went to his office.

You know?

He said,
"Oh yeah, I ejected."

That's Neil Armstrong for you.

Six months later,
another test pilot crashed.

I never flew it after that.

It's easy to see
that the lunar landings

might have well
had crashes on the moon.

♪♪

The Soviets had another
secret lunar project,

an automatic lunar system
called Luna 15.

We wanted to land it on the moon

the same way as Apollo.

It was possible that
this will just drill the moon,

extract some soil,

and then fly back to the earth

before the Americans,
because it was more efficient.

And we have scheduled
this launch

more or less at the same time,

on the summer 1969.

Moscow's morning newspapers
today ignored

the impending Apollo 11 flight
to the moon.

The Russians are not saying
very much about Luna 15 either.

That's their own
unmanned spaceship

that is expected
to reach the moon

either today or tomorrow.

I don't think anything

in history has ever
happened like this, Frank,

with any group so large.

We think there must be
at least a million people.

And to us,
it's a terribly moving scene.

There are a million people

who made their way
down to the Cape

to see the rocket go off.

One million people
in the immediate environment

of Cape Kennedy
to watch it go off

from that launch complex 39A.

May I have your attention?

I'd like to take this
opportunity to discuss

the Apollo 11 profile, which
will begin tomorrow morning.

They will climb
through an airlock

into the lunar module.

The third astronaut...
These astronauts being

Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins...

Collins will remain on board
the Command and Service Module

serving as a communication link

between the surface of the earth
and the surface of the moon.

At the time of
the Apollo 11 launch,

Ralph Abernathy
led a group of protesters

to the Kennedy Space Center

to protest the priorities
of the federal government.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the press,

on the eve of
one of man's noblest ventures,

I am profoundly moved by

our nation's scientific
achievements in space,

and by the heroism
of the three men

who are embarking for the moon.

I have not come to Cape Kennedy

merely to experience the thrill
of this historic launching.

I'm here to demonstrate
in a symbolic way

the tragic and inexcusable gulf

between America's
technological abilities

and our social injustice.

♪ We shall overcome ♪

Tom Paine went out
to Ralph Abernathy's group

and met with them.

He's the new head of NASA,
and they talked.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I'm here because
you invited me to be here

and because I want to be here.

If it were possible
for us tomorrow morning

to not push the button
and to solve the problems

for which you are concerned,

believe me,
we would not push the button,

but the problem is that...

He said, you know,
this is something that

we as a nation have decided
that we need to do,

and we think that these
results are going

to be positive for everybody.

We would like to see you hitch
your wagons to our rockets,

and to tell the American people
that the NASA program

is an indication
of what this country can do...

And then he invited
a select group of the people

who were in the protest
to attend the launch,

among them Ralph Abernathy.

To encourage
this country to tackle

many of its other problems.

As our brave, courageous

heroes make their way
to the moon tomorrow,

may they never

forget their suffering brothers
and sisters

down here on the earth.

May they think about us tomorrow

and pray for us
as we will be praying for them.

♪♪

♪♪

The urge to explore

was so deeply ingrained
in the human psyche.

That goes back to our
earliest days as Homo sapiens,

this curiosity.

What was this large,
shiny white globe?

What was it?

Was it God?

We attributed so many
explanations to the moon.

And now, at last, we had
the opportunity to go and see

for ourselves...
To satisfy that curiosity.

It was something that
you couldn't just turn off.

Tomorrow,
we the crew of Apollo 11 are...

privileged to represent
the United States

in our first attempt to take man

to another heavenly body.

We feel very honored

that we can participate
in this voyage,

represent our nation.

We think the country
has provided us

with the finest equipment,
the finest training,

the finest preparation
that anyone can receive.

We look forward to going.

We thank all of you

for your help and your prayers.

♪♪

Good morning,
ladies and gentlemen,

I'm Frank Reynolds
at ABC space headquarters

in New York.

It is July 16, 1969,

and we are all about to witness
the fulfillment of that promise

that President Kennedy
made at Rice University Stadium

in Texas on September 12, 1962.

♪♪

They take with them
this morning,

the good wishes
and the admiration

of a world of people.

As man,

a species born and who's lived
all his life on earth,

moves with this journey
out into the solar system,

and so presumably begins
with this journey,

his dispersal in other places

out in the universe.

Astronauts Neil Armstrong,
Buzz Aldrin,

and then finally Mike Collins,

plus their suit technicians

and director of flight crew
operations Deke Slayton

now boarding the transfer van.

The transfer van now departing

from the manned spacecraft
operations building

at the Kennedy Space Center on
the start of its eight-mile trip

to Launch Pad A
here at Complex 39.

Right now our count
at three hours,

three minutes, and counting,

aiming toward
the planned liftoff time

of 9:32 a.m.
Eastern Daylight Time.

This is launch control.

♪♪

It was still twilight

and I could hear the faint siren

and some blinking lights,

and looked off to my right

and there was the convoy
of half a dozen vehicles

bringing the astronauts
to the launch pad.

And it was just the most
beautiful thing you ever saw.

♪♪

The riskiest part
of most missions at that time,

to my mind, were the launch.

You're sitting
on a small atom bomb.

Of course, the landing
had never been done before;

that's very risky.

This was the culmination
of a lot of lives that were lost

and a lot of lives that
were tragically broken.

So I was quite concerned
about the mission.

♪♪

It was clear, first of all,
to the NASA people,

that success was not guaranteed
and that there was a chance

of a catastrophic occurrence

with the worst possible...

Astronauts being
stranded on the moon alive,

but unable to get back.

Nixon had brought
Apollo 8 commander Frank Borman

into the White House

to advise he and his associates.

And it was Borman that said,

"Prepare for what
you say to the widows."

And so, up there this morning

let's all think
of those three men...

Three superb pilots.

Armstrong, the commander;

Aldrin, the man
who will share the journey,

the unknown part of
this lunar journey to the moon;

and Collins, the man
who's going to fly them round.

And here they are at breakfast
a couple of hours ago,

and the traditional steak and
eggs, and how they can eat it

with this journey before them,
Lord alone knows.

At this moment,

millions of Frenchmen are glued
to their television sets

to watch
the launching of Apollo 11.

Britain is not a participant
in the space race,

but she is an avid spectator.

They're going to
land on the moon.

And then what are they
going to do?

They're going to walk around.

And then what are they
going to do?
Go back up.

Well in my opinion, it's a very,
very marvelous achievement.

I only hope it's successful.

I think it's disgusting.

It's a pity they haven't got
something else to do.

It has to be over 100 degrees
here in the broiling Florida sun

where the VIPs...
The very important persons-

and indeed the VVIPs... the very,
very important persons...

Are gathered to watch
this launch just down range.

Among them here are former
President Johnson,

who helped to shape
the space program

as Senate majority leader,

the new vice president,
Mr. Agnew,

who has already
stirred a controversy

by suggesting that this
administration commit itself

to sending a man to Mars
by the end of the century.

We're now coming up on...

Ten minutes away
from our Apollo liftoff.

Mark, T minus ten minutes
and counting,

we're aiming for
our planned liftoff of...

I was doing the countdown
commentary

from the back row
of the launch control center.

Launch control center
is about three and half miles

from the launch pads,
which is considered to be

the safe distance as far
as sound and blast is concerned.

My God, we had 3,000 press
people in there for Apollo 11.

They did all kinds of tests,
acoustics tests.

They equated the sound
to sitting in the first row

of a hard rock heavy metal band.

It was just...

Wow.

That Eagle was sold.

The swing arm now coming back

to its fully retracted position
as our countdown continues.

T minus four minutes,
50 seconds and counting.

Skip Schulman
informing the astronauts

that the swing arm's
now coming back...

I think there were 500 people
in that launch control center.

Just rows and rows
of consoles and technicians

sitting looking at
their own particular gauge

that they were monitoring.

I was the only civilian
in there,

because that's
where I was supervising

the filming of the launch.

That's the first time
I understood

what it meant to smell fear.

I've heard that expression
ever since I was a kid,

and it was distinctive smell.

It wasn't body odor,
it was the smell of fear.

Every single
one of those 500 people

was afraid that it would be
their little gauge,

their little valve
that would go wrong.

All indications

are coming into
the control center at this time

indicate we are go,

one minute, 25 seconds
in the counting...

We're getting close,
we're getting close.

All the second stage tanks

now pressurized,
35 seconds and counting,

we are still go with Apollo 11.

30 seconds and counting.

Astronauts report it feels good.

T minus 25 seconds.

20 seconds and counting.

T minus 15 seconds,

guidance is internal.

12, 11,

ten, nine,
ignition sequence starts,

six, five, four,

three, two, one, zero,
all engine running.

Liftoff, we have a liftoff,

32 minutes past the hour.

Liftoff on Apollo 11.

She's passing the tower,
she's lifting up.

Tower clear.

We have tower clear,
we have tower clear.

We're beginning to feel
the first thunderous roar.

Oh boy, it looks good.

♪♪

Building's shaking.

What a moment,
man on the way to the moon.

You could feel the vibrations
in the ground.

The sound was deafening,

making your shirt
and your slacks flap.

It was a big-dog experience,
flat out,

it was...
it just took your breath away.

♪♪

Burning hot, straight,
and true all the way

toward a moon
2,180 miles distant.

A moment many Americans,
many people

never believed could happen
or would happen.

We're through the region of

maximum dynamic pressure now.

No Saturn 5 rocket ever blew up.

Saturn 1, the 1B,
and the Saturn 5,

I thought surely
one of those suckers

was going to blow up.

It's a real tribute
to the engineering

of von Braun's people,
primarily.

33 Saturns were flown

in the time that they were
built, never failed.

They completed their mission,

and they never
carried a weapon in space.

And it was done by a bunch
of government guys, you know.

There's really nothing
to say about it...

What can you say
about a sight like that?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

This is CBS News color coverage

of "Man on the Moon:

The Epic Journey of Apollo 11."

As a director, I had to
make this very, very exciting,

and make it more like a movie.

We alone spent
almost a million dollars

on the production,
which for a news event

in those days, in '69,

was astronomical.

Remembering all the great
science fiction B-films

I saw as a boy,

I got a sense of things that

I would like to try and do,

like creating
a full-sized mock-up

on a lunar landscape

and using models
to explain things.

The time is next Sunday,
the place is the lunar surface.

We would say
"CBS News simulation,"

"CBS News animation," telling
the audience this is not

from the moon at this moment
in time or in space.

Doug Trumbull, the great special
effects creator for 2001,

I called him and hired him
to work for me.

I needed Doug to create

a system for putting
alpha-numeric graphics

on the screen.

We named it HAL,
in honor of HAL from 2001.

HAL has characteristics
unlike most of

the sophisticated machines
you've ever seen, so...

We had Walter talk to HAL.

Welcome to CBS, HAL.

Are your memory banks
keyed up for today's events?

We didn't have a voice,

we didn't go that far.

Might show us, for instance,

how Columbia,
the Command Module,

acquires tracking stations...

We stayed on... I mean,
we were on the air

for 36 straight hours.

We knew that the whole world
was seeing this.

11, Houston,

that's a beautiful picture
now we've got.

We're looking
at a 12-second delay,

to us you're just bringing it
down by the optics now.

So, things are

going well, they went
into earth orbit

exactly as planned.

They have gone into their
trans-lunar trajectory,

their course to the moon,
exactly as planned.

They have docked
with the lunar module

still in the third stage
of their Saturn rocket.

They will be ejecting that,

and then, with the lunar module
attached to their nose,

they'll be on the way
to the moon.

We're about to open
the hatch now.

Right.

We'd been training for
six months on doing something

and getting closer and closer,
and now it's

approaching the time and
you've finished your training.

The vehicle is surprisingly free
of any debris moving around,

it's very clean.

11, Houston, it's pretty hard
to describe this view,

it's really, really great.

Now you know how we feel.

Hey, that's a great shot
right there.

We see you in there.

Guess that's Neil and Mike.

Better be, anyway.

♪♪

But how is the Apollo spaceship
doing?

Latest reports from Houston
say the craft is in its

tenth orbit of the moon,
while the Soviet spacecraft

Luna 15 is also still in orbit,
but in an elongated path.

Bob, what's the scene
at Houston now?

Well, it's a bit early
in the morning,

but they're beginning to gather.

I think probably you could

sum up the situation here,

the feeling in
most people's mind is that

it's a tremendous sense
of history,

an awareness that this is

the most important thing
historically that's happened

for a long time, possibly
the greatest physical event

that has ever taken place.

What's the speculation about

the first words Neil Armstrong
will utter

as he steps off the ship?

Well, everyone's noticed that

they're a pretty taciturn group,

the crew of Apollo 11,
and no one really knows,

and he's been very careful
not to say anything.

He's avoided it.

But there's one curious
little rumor going around.

He comes from a place in Ohio

called Wapakoneta.

Wapakoneta is known for
a cheese factory,

a small cheese factory,

run and owned by a man
called Freddie Fisher.

And for months now, Armstrong
has been playing a little game

with Freddie Fisher,
because that company's

been trying to capitalize
on the publicity

by referring to the moon as
being made of their cheese.

So it's possible that he may
make some reference to cheese

and it may well be

Freddie Fisher's cheese
that he talks about.

You really think
he might be that corny?

Well, yes.

11, you've got
a pretty big audience.

It's live in the U.S.,
it's going live to Japan,

Western Europe,
and much of South America.

Everybody reports
very good color.

Appreciate the great show.

Looks like it's
going to be impossible

to get away from the fact that

you guys are dominating
all the news back here in Earth.

Even Pravda in Russia
is headlining the mission

and calls Neil
the czar of the ship.

Neil wasn't particularly
outgoing.

He was hard to get to know.

I'm not much of a cocktail
discussion person either.

Yeah, hello there sports fans,
you got a little bit of me,

but Neil is in the center couch

and Buzz is doing
the camera work this time.

Roger, it's a little dark
there...

Mike was the one that probably
had the better sense of humor

of seeing the lighter side
of life.

I would have put on
a coat and tie

if I'd known about this
ahead of time.

We are very comfortable up here
though, we do have a happy home.

There's plenty of room
for the three of us,

and I think...

Mike asked him, at one time when
we were in the command module

approaching the moon,

he said, "Well, Neil,
have you thought about

what you're going to say?"

Because of course the newspapers
were posing the question...

What will the first man say when
he puts his foot on the ground?

Mike said, "Did you think about
what you're going to say?"

And Neil said, "No, no,
I'll wait until I get there

and think about it,"
and I don't think

Mike believed him
and I didn't either.

Columbia, Houston.
We'll have L.O.S.

at one-zero-one-two-eight,
AOS for you...

One-zero-two-one-five, over.

Houston has just told Apollo 11

"We'll see you
on the other side."

They told them that
a few minutes ago.

They are not,
as everybody knows by now,

a very talkative crew.

They said, "We'll see you
on the other side,

and the response
from Apollo 11 was, "Okay."

♪♪

We're approaching one of the
critical moments of this flight.

At 1:46 p.m. Eastern Daylight
Time, the command module

and the lunar module
will begin undocking,

the lunar module cutting itself
free from the command module,

beginning the maneuvers
which in two hours

and 32 minutes from now

should place it
on the surface of the moon.

♪♪

Hear you loud and clear Houston.

Roger, same now.

Could you repeat
your burn status report?

We copied the residuals and
burn time and that was about it.

Send the whole thing again,
please.

It was right perfect.

Altitude zero, burn time 557...

Zero, one, eight-eight, niner.

As they're circling
the moon now,

at this altitude,
the Luna 15 is in an orbit

similar to the one that
the lunar module will assume

after that descent orbit
insertion burn.

Showed... 60.9 by 169.9.

It does increase the speculation

as to what
the Soviet unmanned spacecraft

is doing up there.

Okay, Charlie, we're in the lab.

Okay, it's a go there, CapCom,

on the hot and fire,
okay all flight controllers,

going around the horn,
go no go for undocking.

- Okay, retro?
- Go.

- Fido? MAN: Go.
- Guidance? MEN: Go.

- Control? MAN: Go.
- Telcom? MAN: Go.

- GNC? Go.
- E-Com? MAN: Go.

Surgeon? MAN: Go.

CapCom, we're go for undocking.

♪♪

When it was time to descend
from lunar orbit

and land on the moon,
I was there watching.

The descent to the lunar surface
happened pretty quickly.

It was tense.

Hello Eagle, Houston,

we're standing by, over.

♪♪

Eagle, Houston...
Houston, we see you

on the steerable, over.

Roger, Eagle is undocked.

Roger, how does it look?

The Eagle has wings.

Rog.

♪♪

Eagle, Houston,
we recommend you yaw ten right.

It will help us on
the high-gain signal strength.

Over.

♪♪

Okay, all flight controllers,
go no go for powered descent.

Retro? MAN: Go.
Fido? MAN: Go.

- Guidance? MAN: Go.
- Control? MAN: Go.

- TelCom? MAN: Go.
- GNC? Go.

- E-Com? MAN: Go.
- Surgeon? MAN: Go.

CapCom, we're go
for powered descent.

Gene Kranz is getting a go
no go for descent.

I did not think we'd land
Apollo 11.

I don't think anybody

thought we would actually
land the first time.

We figured something
would happen,

we'd get a wave off, you know,

something...
It just wouldn't go right.

Moments now.

Roger.

They are face down,
windows down.

You're go to continue
powered descent,

you're a go
to continue powered descent.

- Okay everybody, hang tight.
- Look for landing radar.

Ten minutes to the touch down.

Oh boy.

Ten minutes to
a landing on the moon.

Bear in mind that for everyone
all over the world

who was watching this

during the descent to the moon,

it was an audio experience.

The camera
that shows the descent

right to the surface
is a film camera,

so as it was happening,

it's not readily viewable.

We're seeing here
our CBS simulation

of what should be taking place
at this moment,

according to the flight plan.

Our position is just down range.

It appears to be a little long.

Roger, copy.

That was Armstrong saying
they're a little long,

down range on position.

They'll have to correctly
slightly.

They should be
through 45,000 feet...

I kept thinking,
as the lunar module went down

from the command module
in lunar orbit,

and got closer and closer
and closer,

I kept thinking
they were going to abort.

I mean, they're not going
to make it on the first try.

Inconceivable in my eyes.

Houston, you're looking
at our Delta H.

That's affirmative.

Program alarm.

Looking good to us, over.

It's a 1202.

1202.

Of course the computer was,

you know, overloading.

Houston, give us a reading

on the 1202 program alarm.

They had a computer
on the space craft

that would make your iPhone
look like

the most powerful thing
in the world.

It was, it was primitive.

We're still go,
altitude 27,000 feet...

Same alarm,

and it appears to come up
when have a 1668 up.

Roger, copy.

Okay... we'll monitor...

What's this alarm, Wally?

It's a go case

that just apparently some...

We'll monitor your delta...

function that's coming up
on the computers.

Delta H looks good now.

Roger, Delta H is
looking good to us.

Okay, all flight controllers
hang tight.

There were all these problems.

Descent two, fuel crit.

Descent two,

fuel critical.
He didn't want to say critical.

Eagle, Houston,
it's descent two.

Fuel to monitor. Over.

They were running low
on propellant

and they had
overshot the landing site.

Oh boy.

72.

Altitude 13,000-five.

They're just
a little under five miles

from the landing site.

And that high gate...

We're now in the approach phase,
everything looking good.

They have 70 seconds in which

to redesignate the landing site,

to take a good look at it now

if they want to change it.

Says we're go.

Altitude 9,200 feet.

8:30 you're looking great.

In that high gate now,

slowing down below 300 miles
an hour...

129 feet per second...

Just a little more than

100 miles per hour descent rate.

They're getting a look now such
as no man has ever had

at the surface of the moon.

They should be getting
a good look at it now.

They should decide very soon
if they like it.

Eagle, you're looking great,
coming up nine minutes.

We're now in the approach phase.

Everything looking good.

Okay, all flight controllers,
go no go for landing.

Retro? MAN: Go.
Fido? MAN: Go.

- Guidance? MAN: Go.
- Control? MAN: Go.

- TelCom? MAN: Go.
- GNC? Go.

- E-Com? MAN: Go.
- Surgeon? MAN: Go.

CapCom, we're go for landing.

Eagle, Houston,
you're a go for landing, over.

Roger, understand.

Go for landing, 3,000 feet.

Program alarm.

- 1201.
- 1201.

Roger, 1201 alarm.

Good heavens.

Gene Kranz, who was
the mission director,

he had to make a decision
to let the landing

proceed or whether to abort it.

Roger, 1201 alarm.

Same type. We're go,
flight.

Okay, we're go.

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

Flight fighter right on,
real good.

2,000 feet, 2,000 feet,

into the AGS, 47 degrees.

Roger.

How's our margin looking, Bob?

It looks okay, we're
about four and a half.

Okay, rog.

He stayed cool and calm

and he kept everybody focused.

No panic.

He had confidence in Armstrong,

that Armstrong would manage

the fuel consumption

and the altitude.

But it was touch and go.

They got a momentary alarm

on their system there,
but decided that...

Eagle looking great, you're go.

It was nothing.

Now, to our right, now...

The other thing that happened...
The landing site

that he was supposed to land
was a big crater,

and Neil...
He saw this giant crater

about 60 feet deep
and 100 yards wide,

and he put that thing
in a hover position

with 30 seconds of fuel
left in the tank.

They've got a good look
at their site now,

this is the point in time
they're going to hover,

- they've got to make a decision.
- Down 3.5.

I think we'd better
be quiet now.

Rog.

Okay, the only callouts
from now on will be fuel.

All we knew was that Armstrong
was manually steering

the lunar module looking
for a safe place to land

and the fuel kept running lower,
and lower, and lower.

Okay, 75 feet.

Guys, looking good,
down a half... forward.

- Low level.
- Low level.

- 60 seconds.
- Lights on.

Down two and half.

Forward, forward.

40 feet down, two and a half,

picking up some dust.

Big shadow.

More forward, more forward,

drifting to the right a little.

- Down a half.
- 30.30 seconds.

Contact light.

Okay, engines stopped.

ACA out of detent.

Copy.

Mode control, both auto.

Descent engine command override
off.

Engine arm off.

We've had shut down.

413 is in.

Holy shit.

They made it.
On the first try.

We copy you down, Eagle.

Tranquility Base here,
the Eagle has landed.

Roger, Tranquility,
we copy you on the ground.

You got a bunch of guys
about to turn blue,

we're breathing again.
Thanks a lot.

Man on the moon.

"Houston, Tranquility Base..."

We're looking good here.

"the Eagle has landed."

Eagle has landed,
Tranquility Base.

Eagle has landed...
Phew. Oh, boy.

Okay, keep the chatter down
in this room.

It looks like we're venting
the oxidizer now.

Roger, Eagle, and you
are stay for T1.

Houston, the auto targeting was

taking us right into
a football field-sized crater...

Neil landed with
17 seconds of fuel left.

Rog, Tranquility, be advised,

there are lots of smiling faces
in this room

and all over the world.
Over.

That's what the cheers
and applause are for.

They're on the moon right now.

And it's a standing ovation.

Very inspiring.

You ripped the copy
out of a typewriter.

You've got your
Western Union guy,

grab the copy,

run over, teletype to New York.

And there was a guy in New York

who was assigned to
ripping my copy

off the teletype machine,

rushing it over
to the national desk,

and he told me that was the most
exciting day of his life.

It was a good day,
I mean it was a giddy day,

I think, for a lot of us.

Another morning newspaper...

Nothing quite matched that day.

Yes, Jim, I don't want
to interrupt you,

but we have just
had a bulletin from UPI,

United Press International,
from Jodrell Bank in England.

The Jodrell Bank
tracking station said today

indications were
Russia's Luna 15 satellite

has landed on the moon.

They say now that Luna 15
has landed on the moon

in the Sea of Crises,
about 500 miles away

from the landing site
of Apollo 11.

If we look at
the moon's surface,

Luna 15 came over
Eagle's landing area.

This is roughly site two here,

and somewhere in this area

is where Jodrell Bank
claims Luna 15 landed.

One of the scientists
at Jodrell Bank

is now quoted as saying,
"It is now possible that

the Russian probe will be back
faster than the Americans."

There may be savings in time

with an unmanned craft
with no docking procedure.

So, recapping:

all is well at Tranquility Base

aboard Eagle,
the moon walk due to begin

about 20 minutes from now.

The moonwalk now beginning

just about an hour later
than originally planned.

That screen, blank at the moment
there in Mission Control

as we look at it direct
via satellite from Houston.

Houston, this Tranquility,

we're standing by for a go
for cabin depress. Over.

Tranquility Base,

this is Houston, you are go
for cabin depressurization,

go for cabin depressurization.

Roger, thank you.

Armstrong beginning that

very cumbersome
and difficult act

of getting down
on his stomach...

How am I doing?

You're doing fine.

To go out feet first.

They're obviously going
extra careful.

At most...

Unless he really
takes his time...

It should be no more
than a minute and a half

to two minutes from now.

Okay Houston, I'm on the porch.

Armstrong is out
on the porch, outside.

- Roger, Neil.
- Okay.

Hand rails there.

Then from the front porch down
to the first rung of the ladder.

Any minute now he should
release the controls

that turns on the television.

Any minute now
we should see pictures.

Houston... we copy, and
we're standing by for your TV.

Can we verify
TV circuit breaker in?

Roger, TV circuit breaker's in.

♪♪

And read you five square.

Roger.

And we're getting
a picture on the TV.

There's 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.

Man, that's...

Okay, can you
verify the position,

the opening eye on the camera?

Stand by.

There he is, there's a foot
coming down the steps.

Okay, Neil, we can see you
coming down the ladder now.

There is Armstrong.

Okay, I just checked

getting back up
to that first step, it's...

the ladder
didn't collapse too far,

but it's adequate
to get back up.

Roger, we copy.

It's a pretty good little jump.

I'm at the foot of the ladder,
the LM foot pads

are only depressed
in the surface

about one or two inches,
although the surface appears

to be very fine grain
as you get close to it,

it's almost like a powder.

Okay, I'm going to
step off the LM now.

That's one small step for man,

one giant leap for mankind.

That was Neil's quote,
I didn't understand.

One small step for man,

but I didn't get
the second phrase.

If some one of
our monitors here,

at space headquarters,
was able to hear that,

we'd like to know what it was.

Surface is fine and powdery.

I can pick it up loosely
with my toe.

It does adhere

in fine layers
like powdered charcoal

to the sole
and insides of my boot.

His quote was,

"That's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind."

But I can see
the footprints of my boots

and the treads
in the fine, sandy particles.

Neil, this is Houston,
we're copying.

There was a video camera
that was recording them

coming down the ladder,

and then there
was another portable camera

which they took and moved out
away from the lunar module.

And that was the only vision
that humans around the world

had of what was happening
on the moon.

Here you come into
our field of view.

Oh, let me move that
over the edge for you.

There was a ghostly quality
about it because

you can see through people.

Well, that's a
very clever way they had of

limiting the amount of signal
that they had to broadcast.

You couldn't transmit
high-definition television

from the equipment
that they had on the moon.

It couldn't be done.

So you're going to
have to pare down

your expectations of the quality

of the image
that you're going to see.

Okay, ready for me to come out?

All set.

Okay, you saw what difficulties
I was having.

I'll try to watch your PLSS
from underneath here.

Aldrin about to emerge
apparently from the space craft.

Okay, your foot looks like
it's clear and okay.

Your toes are about
to come over the sill.

Okay, now drop your PLSS down.

There you go, you're clear.

Now I want to back up

and partially close the hatch,

making sure not
to lock it on my way out.

Definitely a good thought!

It's a very simple matter

to hop down
from one step to the next.

You're on-you've got
three more steps

and then a long one.

Okay, I'm going to leave
that one foot up there

and both hands down to
about the fourth rung up.

There you go.

That's a good step.

Yep.

About a three-footer.

And now we have

two Americans on the moon.

Beautiful view.

Isn't that something?

Magnificent sight out here.

Magnificent desolation.

♪♪

There's no way that words
can really describe

the enormity
or the timelessness,

the magnificence.

It was so desolate.

But I could have thought
and thought beforehand

and I probably wouldn't
have come up with that.

It's this, yet it's that.

We had gotten ourselves
onto another world

and put our foot there.

It was not just
"we the Americans."

It was "we the humans."

"We the people of earth."

It was one of us.

Neil is now
unveiling the plaque.

For those who haven't
read the plaque,

we will read the plaque
that's on the front landing gear

of this LM.

There's two hemispheres,
one showing each of

the two hemispheres of Earth.

Underneath it says,
"Here men from the planet Earth

"first stepped foot
upon the moon.

"July 1969 A.D.

We came in peace
for all mankind."

It has
the crew members' signatures

and the signature of the
president of the United States.

Before the flight,
we knew there was going to be

some kind of plaque.

And they were kicking
around what it should say.

NASA had to clear it with
the White House.

And they said,
"Well, I don't see anything

"in there about God.

And you know
the president's big on God."

The person in the White House

that was responsible
for signing off

on the design
of the plaque said,

we put in A.D...
"1969 A. D."...

As a sneaky way of noting

that we were
using a Christian calendar.

Houston, Columbia
on the high gain, over.

Columbia, this is Houston

reading you
loud and clear. Over.

I guess you're about
the only person around

that doesn't have
TV coverage of the moon.

That's all right,
I don't mind a bit.

How is the quality of the TV?

Oh, it's beautiful, Mike,
it really is.

Oh gee, that's great.

Is the lighting halfway decent?

Yes, indeed, they've got
the flag up now.

You can see the stars and
stripes on the lunar surface.

Beautiful, just beautiful.

The flag was an act of Congress.

Congress passed
a resolution requiring it.

A lot of people felt
there shouldn't be a flag.

They said, "Who are we to
put our American flag up?"

Oh, so they planted a flag
on the moon.

But... they do that
on mountaintops.

In fact, people
would consider it strange

if they didn't plant a flag.

Say again, Houston?

Roger, we'd like
to get both of you

in the field of view
of the camera...

President Nixon, he wanted NASA

to even play
"The Star-Spangled Banner."

At least we got that canned.

I just talked to the
president...

People knew it was an American

on the moon,
you didn't have to play

the "Star-Spangled Banner"
to tell them that.

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.

Let's face it, he had
nothing to do with Apollo 11,

and I told him that.

That would be an honor.

I said you ought to be

very, very concise, short,

and humble about it,
or at least not grandstanding.

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 has to be

the most historic telephone call
ever made.

I just can't tell you
how proud we all are

of what you've.

For every American,
this has to be

the proudest day of our lives,

and for people
all over the world,

I am sure 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,

it inspires us
to redouble our efforts

to bring peace and tranquility
to earth.

For one priceless moment,
in the whole history of man,

all the people
on this earth are truly one.

One in their pride
in what you have done,

and one in our prayers

that you will
return safely to earth.

♪♪

For a brief period of time,
people just sort of paused

and watched
this thing take place.

And there was
a sort of momentary sense

of community
all around the world.

I believe I'm out of
your field of view,

is that right now Houston?

That's affirmative, Buzz.

Now, once the two of us
put the flag up...

You're in our field of view now.

And I knew where the TV was,

and so I got in front of it

and demonstrated different ways
of moving around.

The TV was looking
at the scenery,

we happened to be
passing through.

In about two or three
or maybe four easy paces

can bring you fairly smooth...

There was the being in the suit

and the lightness
of the gravity,

but you know you're on camera.

You're going to have cameras
on you all the time.

What can I do?
Well, I can hop like this.

So-called kangaroo hop
does work,

but it seems that your forward
mobility is not quite as good.

I got a big backpack

and you have to acknowledge
that you're carrying that

when you make a turn.

You do have to be rather careful

to keep track of
where your center of mass is.

It really wasn't what you'd call
a challenge other than to

look nonchalant
in front of people.

This may be a function
of this suit,

as well as lack
of gravity forces.

Early in our being outside,

I heard Neil
say something about it...

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

And I thought,
"That's not beautiful."

The date's now indelible.

It's going to be remembered
as long as man survives.

July 20, 1969,

the day man reached
and walked on the moon.

We heard on the news today, 11,

that The New York Times
came out with a headline...

The largest headline
they've ever used

in the history of the newspaper.

Yes, well, landing and walking
on the moon, of course,

is only the halfway point
in Apollo 11's mission.

Now Armstrong and Aldrin

must safely return
to the command module

and begin the long
and very welcome journey home.

Crew of Eagle going through
their pre-ignition checklist.

Standing by for two minutes

The only thing NASA had
on the mission

that did not have redundancy

was the ascent engine
on the lunar module.

They had one shot
to light that thing

and go back up into lunar orbit.

And if it didn't work
on the first try,

the likelihood of it
working on the second try

was pretty slim.

Or zero.

And they knew that.

We did at one point
have a "Marooned" headline

in type, with big typeface.

If the ascent engine
on the moon didn't light up,

they were marooned.

So that was the headline
we had, ready to go.

This engine burns seven minutes
and 18 seconds,

Frank, to get them into
9.9-mile orbit.

And it has to work.

Yep.

Nine, eight, seven, six, five,

fourth stage,
engine-armed ascent, proceed.

Beautiful.

36 feet per second up...

That ascent engine that
has never been fired before

in similar circumstances
has fired.

Very quiet ride.

Armstrong and Aldrin
are off the lunar surface

after a stay of 21 hours
and 36 minutes,

and all continues
to go exactly as planned.

Per second, critical rise...

Here we go Houston, they
request manual start override.

♪♪

♪♪

All the steps involved
in Apollo,

all that hard work,
all that detective work,

all that head scratching
and eureka moments...

Getting out to the moon,
getting down on the moon,

getting up from the moon

and getting back
to the mothership...

Sort of a winnowing of problems.

They all came together
pretty much perfectly.

♪♪

Big news this morning,

Jodrell Bank
has just come through

and said that
now they're tracking data,

as they analyze
it indicates that Luna 15

may have plunged
to the surface of the moon

at around 300 miles an hour...

said if Luna 15 hit the
surface at that speed,

nothing could be likely
to survive such a landing.

Hit the moon surface at
a speed of 300 miles an hour,

indicating it may have
crash landed.

♪♪

♪♪

I was not with my father

when the Apollo 11 landed.

I was on my vacation
with my friends.

And we were...

You won't believe it...
In Chernobyl.

It was this river, Pripyat,

with the forest
filled with mushroom,

and we have one of our friend,

he was officer
from the KGB intelligence,

and he had the telescope.

So we have this telescope
and look there.

It was no broadcast
on the Soviet television.

It was just small several lines

somewhere in the middle
of the newspaper

that American reported
that they landed on the moon.

♪♪

But then, later,

I brought this film
to my father,

it was 16 millimeters.

Of course, Soviets
did not show anybody

except the professionals,

but we watch
this movie together.

He say he cannot understand
why Soviets failed

to send man to the moon.

We just sadly said,
"Yes, they did it."

The stars and stripes
flies proudly now

over the Sea of Tranquility.

A new chapter
in human history has opened.

The race for the moon is over.

Man's probe
into the universe has begun.

Roger, the Hornet is
on the station,

just far enough
off the target point

to keep from getting hit.

Yes, we see it. We see it.

There it is.

Apollo 11 coming right down

toward the primary...

I was proud
for the human beings.

You know, we compete
with each other,

but at the same time
we have respect.

Oh, I think everybody felt
that they had a piece of it.

Everybody felt they
had a piece of it, and they did.

I thought at the time it was
the beginning of something.

I thought it was the beginning
of moving out to other planets.

Of course, that question

still remains,
the question of contamination,

whether enough precautions
have been taken

to protect the earth

from anything
that they might bring back

in the way of
rudimentary forms life.

The opinion seems to be

generally among the scientists

who are represented here,
at least,

that the possibility
of some sort of contamination

is very, very remote
and that adequate steps

have been taken to prevent it,
at least adequate

as far as anyone
can possibly figure out.

The door opens and out come

America's Apollo 11 astronauts,
waving,

albeit their faces
completely covered

by these B.I.G. suits.

On the one hand, you've got
rooms full of scientists

saying "We don't think
there are any germs up there,

"but should there be,

"we ain't gonna expose
the population of the earth

to these germs."

So they had
all these procedures.

But then, look at it this way.

Suppose there
were germs on the moon.

There are germs on the moon,
we come back, the command module

is full of lunar germs.

Command module lands
in the Pacific Ocean,

and what do they do?

They open the hatch,
you gotta open the hatch...

All the damn germs come out!

You have to laugh a little bit,

because when you
get in the life boat

out of the spacecraft,

you have this
Biological Isolation Garment,

the BIG garment.

They've got disinfectant
and they've got a rag

and they sponge you down.

When they get through,

they have a weight
and they tie it around the rag

and they throw it overboard
and it takes all those germs

down to the bottom of the ocean.

Oh, I wonder if they're going
to survive down there.

I mean it doesn't
make any sense.

It was a huge flaw
in the planning.

President Nixon
waving to the astronauts.

The curtains have been drawn

and there they are
in the rear window.

Have you been able to
follow some of the things

that have happened
when you were gone?

Did you know about
the all-star game?

Yes, sir.

The capsule communicators
have been giving us

daily news reports...
They keep you posted.

Yeah.
Were you American League

or National League?

I'm a National League man...
I'm non-partisan, sir.

That's right,

there's the politician
in the group, right.

We had to be in isolation,
I believe,

21 days from the time
we left the moon.

It wasn't as if
some horrible injustice

had been done to us.
It was...

It was fine.

I was glad to be back.

Do you suppose Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin

have any concept
of what's in store for them?

The first men to have

set foot on the moon,
of meeting this dream

of two billion years...

Their lives
can never be the same.

You're now national heroes.

What are your initial feelings

about being heroes?

How do you believe
it will change your lives?

And do you think that
maybe you'll get another chance

to go to the moon, or you going
to be too busy being heroes?

The trip around the world
was very, very interesting.

They put a whole big airplane
at our disposal, you know,

the backup Air Force One.

Had a whole crew,
the three of us

and our three wives,

some people from NASA
headquarters.

28 cities in 33 days,
or something like that.

These guys, they'd never
really been out,

exposed to anything like this.

A tantos amigos...

That stuff just went
totally beyond

any of our belief
that would have happened.

And I think the astronauts
were just totally overcome.

The presidential jet
has arrived at Heathrow,

bringing America's
man on the moon team to Britain.

It's the only communist country
of their tour,

so for this reason,
Yugoslavia regards the visit

of the three American astronauts

as a special
and significant honor.

These astronauts were famous.

It was unbelievable how much

people came out to see them.

I think Kennedy
would have loved that,

to have seen the effect

that his boys, you might say,

had around the world.

That was a wonderful chance
for America

to touch all
these other countries.

Once they saw what
the rest of the world

thought about NASA

and what they had accomplished,
then they realized,

"Hey, we made an impact."

We saw many, many signs
that said,

"We did it."

Not us... "we,"
they, the whole world.

They all had that
identical feeling of,

by golly, we... mankind...
Did this thing,

and we're all brothers together.

And it'd certainly be nice

if we could use
the space program to,

to further that feeling.

How to do it is a
more complicated question.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the Apollo 11
press conference.

You know, the most frequently
asked question is

"What did it feel like?"

When you first
stepped on the moon,

did it strike you
as you were stepping...

that you were stepping
on a piece of the earth,

or sort of what
your inner feelings were,

whether you felt you
were standing in a desert,

of if this was
really another world,

or how you felt at that point?

Well, there was no question in
our minds where we were.

We'd been orbiting
around the moon

for quite a while.

I don't think we did a good job

of preparing them
for what was expected of them,

especially after they flew
and came back.

Does it have a philosophical
dimension of any kind?

Mr. Aldrin?

They somehow want to know
what's in your inner thoughts.

If we were that kind of people,

we probably wouldn't have been
given the opportunity.

Poets, philosophers?

Well, you want people
who are technically equipped

to make decisions.

I felt very small

and very lucky.

And as we looked up
on the surface...

from the surface of the moon,

we could see above us,
up here... the planet earth.

And it was very small,

but it was very beautiful.

And it looked like...

a oasis in the heavens.

And we thought
it was very important

at that point...

for us, and man everywhere,

to save that planet
as a beautiful oasis

that we together can enjoy
for all the future.

♪♪

Today, as astronauts speed again
to the threshold of the moon,

and as we prepare
for the final achievement

of this national goal,

we have the obligation
to look ahead

to the role of the space program
will play in the future.

There was a recognition

that decisions
on what to do after Apollo

were urgently needed.

The idea was that
just looking out

to the end of the century

in justifying NASA's missions

wasn't a long enough view.

And one of von Braun's
assignments

was organizing a view of NASA

over the next hundred years
or so,

not just the 30 years remaining
in the 20th century.

Where do you think
we ought to go from here?

I think the next ten years

will undoubtedly
be a little more versatile.

We will have
a number of activities

in several areas rather than
one big thrust in one direction.

He was looking
at the big picture.

Von Braun
had a nuclear stage plan

for Saturn 5 to go to Mars,

and he met Kennedy
at Los Alamos.

They watched
a nuclear test firing

of an engine of
what was called a NERVA...

A nuclear engine test vehicle.

With that nuclear stage
on the top

of the Saturn 5,
he was confident

that we could send a crew
out there.

If you had to estimate,

when would you see
a man on Mars?

Well, if you foot the bill,
in 1985,

but at the moment,
there's no national commitment

to do that,
and it would probably require

a national commitment
of a similar magnitude

as the Apollo program
to land a man on the moon.

But the technology
is there to do it,

and we could land a man on Mars
in a little over ten years

if we really wanted to do it.

And von Braun
presented that project

to Nixon's vice president,
Agnew,

two weeks after Neil
walked on the Moon.

Nobody was listening,
nobody cared.

This is a live special report
from ABC Radio News...

The flight of Apollo 12.

I'm Mark Graham
with Merrill Mueller...

It was never going to
be the same again.

The quest was fulfilled.

And coverage
of the second mission,

you had to sell it a little bit
to your editors.

Doing something
for the first time

is so much better
than doing something

for the second time.

I mean, who remembers

the second team
that climbed Everest?

If you can do it once,
you can do it again.

The Apollo program,
short of money

and no longer
as fashionably popular

as it once was, is ending.

But it will end on a spectacular
note with a nighttime launch,

perhaps one of
the most exciting sights

a visitor to Cape Kennedy
can see.

What is it in our makeup
that is possible for us

to get excited
about an Apollo 11,

man's first step on the moon,

and within two short years
of that time,

be as blasé as the public
seems to be today about,

about this particular launch
and the space program generally?

Well, I think it's
the excitement of the new.

I mean, it's like
getting married,

you know, and being married.

The love is still there,

and the excitement
is still there,

but it's no longer
the honeymoon.

I was all in favor
of people going into space.

It was the particular way
of doing it

which didn't make sense.

Right from the beginning,

Kennedy thought of it
as a ten-year project.

You went to the moon,
you waved your flags,

and you came home,
and that was it.

Apollo would have made sense

if it had been
a 100-year program.

The Apollo mission,
it was wonderful that

they managed to do
as much as they did.

It was amazing how quickly

the money dried up
in our space program.

At the Cape, they stared
handing out pink slips

right after the launch.

♪♪

There is such a thing
as spinoffs,

and in the early 1960s,
NASA brought together

hundreds of the best minds
it could find

to build
an Apollo guidance computer

capable enough to get these guys

to the moon and back

and small enough to fit
in the command module.

At the end of the effort
to build that guidance computer,

the people working on it
dispersed.

And they went everywhere
you can imagine.

And these become
the individuals who sort of

build the computing industry
in the 1970s.

The thing about technology

is that every little advance

really multiplies
in a lot of unexpected areas.

And, in that sense,
I think that the space program

did a whole lot for technology.

I think they accelerated
miniaturization in the area

of computers
and everything else.

I mean, all kinds of things
were made smaller

because you needed to make
them smaller

in order to fly.

The Apollo project

was a great achievement.

National pride,

a dose of national pride
was a good thing

for the country.

It showed that this country
could do

what it wanted to do
technologically if it devoted

enough time
and effort and resources to it.

I think we could do

lots of things today
technologically

if there were
the political will,

and there was political will
to go to the moon.

I think the really interesting

thing in the future is Mars.

Mars is a long way off.

I don't get all philosophical
about

"We need a place to escape
when the sun expands."

You know, the sun
isn't going to expand before

we've wiped ourselves out
ten times over

with global warming
or some other thing.

Sure, humans ought
to go to Mars,

but only after it's been

thoroughly worked over
for decades

by unmanned vehicles.

♪♪

And irony of ironies,
as time has gone by,

the robotic program
now of course

has taken over
space exploration.

Mars now has something like
15 or 16 American-made machines

either flying over
or making their way

across the Martian surface.

I think that the manned program

only begins, really,
to make sense

when it becomes sort of
like the Mayflower

going across the Atlantic.

People go
because they want to go,

and they want
to go and live there.

So, to my mind,

these are the adventurers
who will take risks

and go out there
and try and make a go of it.

I don't know whether Mars is
such an interesting place to go,

that remains to be seen.

Life expands

and life always takes chances.

Taking risks is in fact
what makes life interesting.

♪♪

♪♪

♪ I'm the king
of my own land ♪

♪ Facing tempests of dust,
I'll fight until the end ♪

♪ Creatures of my dreams ♪

♪ Raise up and dance with me ♪

♪♪

I believe we should
go to the moon.

Three, two, one...

zero, liftoff.

♪ Now and forever ♪

♪ I'm your king ♪

♪♪

But it will be done.

And it will be done before
the end of this decade.

♪♪