From the Earth to the Moon (1998): Season 1, Episode 5 - Spider - full transcript

[John F. Kennedy]
We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon.

We choose to go to the moon
in this decade and do the other things,

not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.

[Gene Cernan] Look at that.

That's beautiful.

It's got to be one of the most proud
moments of my life. I guarantee you.

[man]
Before painting the Sistine Chapel,

Michelangelo had to first construct
a massive scaffolding

to allow him access to the ceiling

without interfering
with the chapel's daily use.



He had to develop special wax models

so he could study the lighting effects
to be duplicated in the frescoes,

and come up
with a special slow-drying plaster.

He suffered constant deadline pressure
from frustrated church officials

and the pope,
who just wanted the ceiling finished.

The work itself
was uncomfortable and unending,

with wet paint and plaster
dripping in the face of the man,

who was not after all a painter
but a sculptor.

Such challenges arise in all
the great works of human imagination,

be they the creation of our world
rendered upon the ceiling of a church,

or the view of our world,
evident by making the voyage

from the Earth to the moon.

[rocket engines]

[takeoff roar]



["I Wish I Was A Spaceman"
by Barry Gray plays]

♪ I wish I was a spaceman

♪ The fastest guy alive

♪ I'd fly you round the universe
In Fireball XL5

♪ Way out in space together
Conquerors of the sky

♪ My heart would be a fireball
A fireball

♪ Every time I gazed
Into your starry eyes

♪ We'd take the path to Jupiter
And maybe very soon

♪ We'd cruise along the Milky Way

♪ And land upon the moon

♪ A wonderland of stardust
We'd zoom away to Mars

♪ My heart would be a fireball
A fireball

♪ And you would be
My Venus of the stars...

[narrator] For a long time, the only
people who gave much thought

to the idea of going to the moon
were science-fiction writers.

In October 1957, the Soviets launched
Sputnik, and everything changed.

Suddenly, going to the moon
was a possibility.

The question was, "How do you do it?"

Four months after Sputnik,
Wernher Von Braun

briefed the head of the National
Advisory Committee on Aeronautics.

He presented the two best options
for going to the moon.

Well, there are two methods.

The first method
we call "direct ascent."

You build an enormous rocket,
put a capsule on top...

Boom, you go straight to the moon.

The other method,
we call "Earth-orbit rendezvous."

Instead of using one huge rocket,

we perform several launches
with somewhat smaller rockets,

each carrying a component
of the spacecraft.

We put the pieces together in orbit.

And off we go.

And these two methods, these are
the only ways of getting to the moon?

Yes.

[narrator]
Actually, there were other ideas.

So, we started thinking,
"What can we do right now?"

And then it hit us.

The moon! You rendezvous
on the surface of the moon.

The problem isn't getting
a man to the moon.

- That's easy.
- It's not easy.

- Relatively easy.
- Pretty easy.

- The problem is getting him back.
- So we say...

You send up some ships to the moon

with all the extra fuel and supplies
you need to get back.

That way, when the astronauts arrive,

everything they need to get home
is already there.

We put a man on the moon
as soon as possible.

- Just get him there.
- We can keep sending him supply ships.

Until we figure a way to get him back.

Well, that's... Hmm. That's...

No. No, I am sorry, gentlemen.

I'm sorry, but there is no way
on God's green earth

we would ever, ever
do anything like that.

I'm sorry.

[narrator] it looked like either
Earth-orbit rendezvous or direct ascent

would be the way to go.

And either way we go,
the spacecraft that lands on the moon

is going to look like that?

Yes.

- Just like that.
- [man] No.

It doesn't have to look like this.

[narrator]
At Chance Vought Industries in Texas,

an engineer named Tom Dolan
hit upon an interesting idea.

You ever hear of a Russian rocket guy
named Yuri Kondratyuk?

- No.
- No?

Back in 1916, he realized something
that we seem to have forgotten today.

Getting to the moon
is going to be all about weight.

Look at the size of this thing.

It's got to be 60, 70 feet tall.

A couple hundred tons at least.

Do you really need to take
all that to the surface? No.

What Kondratyuk wondered...

What I wonder is...

what if you took along
a smaller vehicle, lightweight,

that you just used to land.

Something...

like this.

Tom, you couldn't reenter
the Earth atmosphere in that.

I know. You come back
on the spacecraft you took from Earth.

But that means you'd have to have
a rendezvous between the two of them

- in lunar orbit.
- Exactly.

Von Braun calls his method
"Earth-orbit rendezvous."

I call this "lunar-orbit rendezvous."

We don't even know if rendezvous
is possible in Earth orbit.

And you want to do it around the moon?
Wouldn't that be kind of dangerous?

I don't know.

Would it?

Well, Mr. Dolan, this is certainly
a very interesting idea.

Why don't you let us think about it?

Well, I've prepared a report.

I have everything I need right here,
Mr. Dolan.

Thank you for your time.

[narrator] Chances are, lunar-orbit
rendezvous would probably have ended up

as nothing more than a footnote
in the history of space exploration,

if a report on the idea hadn't landed
on the desk of a NASA engineer

by the name of John Houboult.

When he first started reading
the report,

Houboult had
the same reaction others did.

Lunar-orbit rendezvous seemed like
just another far-fetched scheme.

But the more he read,
the more the idea made sense.

By the time John Houboult
finished the report, he knew.

This was it.
This was how you get to the moon.

Now, over the past few weeks,

I've been able to prepare this report
on lunar-orbit rendezvous.

I think you'll find it interesting.

Look at Houboult.

He reads a report, and he's Moses
come down from the mountain.

So he's a little enthusiastic.

A little enthusiastic?
He's making a fool of himself.

Did you hear what happened
in the Heaton committee?

And he wasn't even allowed
into the technical conference.

Well, he'll get the hint
and he'll give it up.

I hear he's going to write to Seamans.

- He doesn't report to Seamans.
- I know.

- He could get canned.
- I know.

[no audible dialogue]

[Houboult's voice] Dear Dr. Seamans,

Somewhat as a voice in the wilderness,
I would like to pass on a few thoughts

on matters that have been of a deep
concern to me over the recent months.

- I have tried on numerous occasions... ''
-"...to draw attention throughout NASA

to the concept
of lunar-orbit rendezvous.

Regrettably, there has been
little interest shown.

"Now, do we want to get
to the moon or not?"

Yes, sir. Right away, sir.

It goes on like this on
for another eight pages,

and then there's
a 40-page report. Good Lord.

I can make a call. He won't do it again.

No, hold on. I'll tell you what.
Draft a reply.

Say that his idea has merit and
I'm going to send it along to Brainerd.

And then see if this Mr. Houboult
isn't due a vacation sometime soon,

because, dear God, he needs one.

"Somewhat as a voice in the wilderness."

Okay.

Does it have merit?

Well, actually,
it's an intriguing notion.

It's a little risky,
but it could save a lot of weight.

Now, I don't think there's a chance
in hell that lunar-orbit rendezvous

is the way we're gonna go,
but it is interesting.

I'll see you at 3:00.

[narrator] In July 1962,

the idea that didn't have a chance
in hell of succeeding...

succeeded.

NASA selected lunar-orbit rendezvous
as the way to go to the moon.

Now the question became,
who would build the lander?

My name is Tom Kelly.

On the day after election day, 1962,

I waited with the rest
of the Grumman lander team

for a call from my boss, Joe Gavin.

[urgent tapping]

Whoever's tapping the pencil,
if you value your life, please stop.

[man] Sorry.

[sighs]

Any word?

Yeah, Frank. We got the contract.

We're just observing a moment of
silence for the companies that didn't.

[laughter]

Okay, look. This is crazy. Let's...

I mean, this might not happen
for an hour or more.

Let's go back to work
and I'll let you know, okay?

[sighing]

[phone rings]

Tom Kelly.

Hi, Joe.

We've been...

I see.

Uh-huh.

Okay.

Thanks, Joe.

Bye.

I'm afraid you'll have to tell your
wives and kids the bad news, fellas.

Looks like you won't be seeing
much of them for the next couple years,

because we got the contract.

[cheering]

- You did it, Tom.
- No, I'm trying to hit the flashing.

The contract? You did it.

Oh, well, we did it. We all did it.

There we go.

Quite a story, really.

- Local Long Island boy makes good.
- Yeah, yeah.

Local Long Island boy
convinces government

to give local Long Island company
half a billion dollars.

The rubber balls
you'll have to pay for yourself.

[no audible dialogue]

You know, if weight wasn't a factor,
we'd have this thing done in a year.

Hmm. True enough. But weight's
gonna be the most important factor.

Of course, if we could find
some teeny-tiny astronauts,

we'd be done in a month.

[laughter]

They've given us seven years.
We might as well use them.

Seven years.

Well, let's get started.

Okay, specs call for five legs.
I think four would be better.

It'll be as stable.

We won't have to worry about
interference with the thruster quads.

Let's go with
an octagonal descent stage.

I think a round one will be
more trouble than it's worth.

Bob, how much do these windows weigh?

- I don't know. A couple ounces.
- Bob...

- The real ones?
- Yeah.

Five, six hundred pounds, at least.

- Really?
- Yeah.

Do we need them?

I think the astronauts
might want to see where they're going.

Do they need windows this big?

No. Of course they do.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able
to see from their seats.

- What?
- What if they don't need seats?

They have to have seats, John.

Why? They can fly standing up.

- Yes, but they have to land.
- In one-sixths gravity.

And legs are great shock absorbers.

If they were standing, they'd be
a lot closer to the window,

which would increase
their field of view.

Which would mean we wouldn't need
such big windows in the first place.

- What do you think?
- I think it's interesting.

But I don't really see it. Sorry.

Good try, though.

Hey. Let's help him see it.

What the heck is that?

What we did instead of sleep.

Well, John, I can certainly see it now.

Okay, beautiful.

Gotta call Joe Gavin about the budget.
One more thing.

Thermal shields. Costing us
too much weight in the descent stage.

You know, I don't think we need shields.

Oh, right, Frank.

It's gonna be 250 degrees in the
sunlight and minus 250 in the shade.

But we don't need thermal shields.

Sarcasm's really helpful, Jim.

I just mean, maybe we can do the job

with something other than the shielding
that's been used before.

It would look kinda like that.

Mylar film between layers of Kapton
with an outer layer of nickel foil.

- How thin is the Mylar?
- One eight-thousandth of an inch.

Well, well,
as long as it's good and sturdy.

We'll use a couple dozen layers
all around.

More where we need it, by the thrusters.

It'll do the job, Tom.

Okay, well, we'll see
how it goes in testing.

Now, hatches.

As it stands,
we have two docking hatches.

We can't afford the weight.

I've been on the phone with Owen
over at NASA

and John Healey at North American,
and we all agree.

We're going
with just one docking hatch up top

and use a forward hatch for egress.

That means when they come back,

we'll have to rendezvous and dock blind.

I know. We're gonna put a window up top
so the pilot can look up as he docks.

Another window? Jeez.
How much is that going to weigh?

It's got to be less than
a second docking hatch, right?

Uh, Tom, that will require
the astronaut flying the LEM

to make a 90-degree change in axis.

Uh... left roll becomes left yaw,

- but left yaw becomes right roll...
- Arnold. Arnold.

Astronauts are smart.

They'll figure it out.

Okay, apparently we're not done
with the hatches.

I just got off the phone
with Pete Conrad.

Because of the square backpacks, we're
gonna have to put in a square hatch.

Did you like Ed swinging around
like Tarzan yesterday?

Yeah. A rope ladder's not going to fly.

No. I'll call the configuration
control board.

Put some rungs right on the forward leg.

Okay, one more thing. It's no longer
the lunar excursion module anymore.

Everybody feels that "excursion"

sounds like
it's going out on a school trip.

[snickering]

From now on, it's just the lunar module.

Well, I'm still going to call it
the LEM for short.

John, you do whatever makes you happy.

Well...

I guess we better start building them.

Let's make sure
we film everything we do.

You want to show NASA
where its 500 million is going?

Yeah. And I want to show my kids
where I was while they were growing up.

[Tom narrating]
Every LEM would have to be handmade.

There was no supplier
to order LEM parts from.

And because everything on a LEM was new,
everything had to be tested

and tested and tested again.

The thrusters...

the engines...

the deployment of the landing gear.

We had to know how a LEM would react

when exposed to intense sunlight
or when pelted with dust.

We had to know
how the landing gear would perform

if a LEM came down on a slope.

Thousands of tests,
day after day, for years.

Some of the tests went well.

And some did not.

[sighs]

Is this why the leg snapped?

Apparently, I made the initial
miscalculation a few months ago.

Everything's been based
on that since then.

Mr. Kelly, I'm sorry.

Uh-huh.

- When did you find this out?
- Last night.

After the test, I decided
to go over my figures.

I understand if you...

You know.

Go home.

And get some rest.

Look...

Did you come to me
when you found out about this,

or did you try to cover your ass?

You did a good thing. Not this.

This is bad.

But as long as people speak up
about their mistakes, we've got a shot.

Okay? They try to sweep it
under the rug,

and we're not gonna go
to New Jersey, let alone the moon.

Get some rest.

[Tom narrating] Truth be told, we were
behind schedule from the beginning.

But mistakes and miscalculations
were only a small part of it.

The real problem is that a LEM
isn't one spacecraft but two.

The lower half of the LEM,
the descent stage,

contains the engine that the astronauts
will use to control their landing.

After the moonwalks,

the descent stage will serve as
a launch platform for the ascent stage,

the cockpit of the LEM,

which the astronauts will fly
into lunar orbit for their rendezvous

with the command module.

Now, this particular ascent stage
belonged to LEM-3.

LEM-1 and LEM-2 were designed
and built for unmanned test flights.

LEM-3 would be the first to be flown
in space by astronauts.

We worked with the astronauts
from the beginning of the LEM program.

They showed us
what we were doing right...

and what we were doing wrong.

From early on, much of their attention
was given to LEM-3,

but it wasn't until a day
in November 1966

that NASA decided which crew
would be the one to actually fly her.

I just got off the phone
with Deke Slayton.

The crew assigned to take
the LEM-3 into space

on the first manned flight
of a lunar module is as follows.

Commander, Jim McDivitt, a Gemini vet.
One of the best pilots in the program.

Command module pilot, Dave Scott,
another Gemini vet.

And flying right beside McDivitt,
as his LMP, Rusty Schweickart, a rookie.

Now, any crew is a good crew,
but these guys...

Well, I think we're pretty fortunate.

Because, gentlemen,
this won't be an easy mission.

We're off the lake, Jim.
Can we talk business now?

Well, if you insist.

I've been going over the mission plan,
and it looks a little rough.

It is kind of ambitious, Jim.

Heck, it's not ambitious.
It's impossible.

Look, everyone's focusing
on us flying the LEM.

It's only a small part of it.

Every mission's got a few things
never been done before.

This one's got about ten.

First manned launch of a LEM,
first docking extraction of a LEM,

first men in a LEM in space.

We just go out and fly the LEM, right?

Wrong.

Before we can even undock
the LEM from the command module,

we gotta make sure
we can do an emergency transfer

outside the spacecraft.

Which means, Rusty,

you're gonna have to do an EVA on
the PLSS backpack, first use of that.

Dave, we're gonna leave you alone
in the command module.

First time that'll happen.
Then the real fun begins.

First, I pop the thrusters,
see if the LEM can fly.

If it can, Rusty and I fire
the descent engine,

take the thing on its maiden voyage.

We go out 100 miles or so.

God willing, the ascent engine lights,
first firing of that in space.

Then Rusty and I head back to you

for the first docking
of a two-man spacecraft.

So, it's only nine things
that have never been done before.

Come on. Give me a hand
with the trailer, will ya?

[chuckling]

You guys are right. It's a lot
for one mission. Maybe too much.

We get even half of it done,
we can call it a success.

I can't wait!

[Tom narrating] While Scott went to
Downey to work on the command module,

McDivitt and Schweickart
joined us on Long Island.

So, gentlemen, do you want to go see
the vehicle and take it for a spin?

- Gee, Dad, can we?
- Sure.

As long as you don't
bring her back empty.

[Tom narrating] The hardest part
of getting the first LEMs to fly

was getting the thousands of systems
and subsystems to work together.

Most of the time, it was like having
a ballroom full of dancers

dancing different steps to music
that wasn't quite right for any of them.

[system powering up]

[man on radio] -Bring that to yellow.
- - Roger, TC.

And TTCA, four jets down.

Copy, TC.

TTCA, four jets down.

[system powering down]

Well, that can't be good. [sighs]

- Now, let's cycle that one more time.
- Yep. Roger, TC.

Oh, for the...

[metallic clang]

You know, you look more and more like
Steve McQueen in The Great Escape.

Funny you should say that.

I got some guys digging a tunnel
out under the east fence.

Should reach the trees by Sunday.

Ready to start up again.

I think we've got it.

Let's do it.

[whistling "The Great Escape Theme"]

[man on radio] -DFI 23 cal off.
- - Copy, TC.

- DFI power off.
- Roger, TC.

- RNDA off.
- Copy that, TC.

Oh, God bless it.
Tom, what's up with the radar?

[phone rings]

Tom Kelly.

Hi, Lou.

Yeah, no, I know. We'll...

Yeah.

I know what we're up against, Lou.

We will make the date.

I need to know if we can make the date.

If we can't, I'm gonna
have to take cash from the safe

and move to South America.

[laughter]

Okay. Bob?

Yep.

- Arnie?
- Sure.

- John?
- Yes, sir.

The other John.

Sorry, Tom.

The cockpit's gonna take
another three weeks.

We could use a few weeks ourselves.

[murmurs of agreement]

If we had a week or two,
we could use it, you know?

You know, Tom, I hear Bolivia
is really nice this time of year.

[laughter]

You know, this is so bad,
I can't even joke about it.

[Tom narrating] Perhaps the main reason
we were behind schedule and over budget

was because budgets and schedules
are based on previous experience

with similar projects.

We really didn't know how much
it would cost to build the LEMs

or how long it would take.

All we really knew was how much time
we'd been given,

and that was running out.

LEM-3 was scheduled to be launched
in the fall of 1968.

To make the launch, NASA needed delivery
sometime that spring.

We were working as fast as we could,
24 hours a day, seven days a week,

and it wasn't enough.

In June 1968, it was decided that we
would ship LEM-3 to NASA as she was

and finish the work at the Cape.

[ball bounces]

I don't know
what I'm so worked up about.

What's the worst that could happen?

Well, we ship the LEM to NASA.
We never get it to fly.

The Russians beat us to the moon.

And within ten years, we're all living
under the iron thumb of communism.

Exactly.

Hey...

Remember when seven years
seemed like a long time?

[Tom] Hmm.

You remember when this whole thing
was only gonna cost 500 million?

No, I can't even remember when it
was going to cost a billion.

[laughter]

[Tom narrating]
Unfortunately, moving LEM-3 to the Cape

didn't ease the pressure we were under.

Tom, there's still at least
a hundred things wrong with it.

- We'll get it fixed in time.
- No, you won't.

There is no way that in three months
that thing is gonna be ready to fly.

[quietly] Look, Jim, it's...

It's a good machine.

It just needs a little fine-tuning,
that's all.

You don't have to whisper, Tom.
It can't hear you.

Look, I want it to go up
as much as you do.

I know we're running out of time.

It's 18 months
till the end of the decade,

and we still haven't had
a single manned Apollo flight.

I know that.

But that doesn't change the facts.
LEM-3 is not ready to fly.

And it won't be anytime soon.

That's gonna have to be
my recommendation to headquarters.

With LEM-3 not ready to fly,

after Wally and the 7 crew
go up with the CSM in October,

that means there won't be another
Apollo flight until the spring, right?

Right.

Well, maybe not.

George has come up
with a rather wild idea.

How wild?

Well, Frank's mission is being scrubbed.

We've created a new C-prime mission,
which will precede your mission.

What's the mission?

Well, we're gonna send the command
and service module, no lunar module...

on a flight around the moon in December.

[scoffs]

Really?

And what does Frank think about that?

I haven't talked to Frank yet.

[sighs] I'm talking to you first.

I don't want to lose your crew's
experience with LEM-3.

That's why we decided to send Frank
on this mission ahead of you.

But I wanted to see what you had
to say about it before I told Frank.

I told him we'd stick
with the mission we got.

Good.

Going around the moon
sounds like a blast and all,

but I really want to fly the LEM.

Well, that's pretty much what Dave said.

I called him in Downey.

He said he really wanted to fly
the command module solo,

get us out of his hair for a few hours.

I don't know, though. Maybe
we're making a mistake. Maybe...

Maybe we're missing out
on some historical voyage.

I don't know, Jim, maybe.

It sounds like
they're just gonna be sightseeing.

With all the things we got to do,
our mission's fun.

Yeah, we got a great mission.

Providing that thing will fly.

[Tom narrating] In the fall of 1968,
while work continued on LEM-3,

the Apollo program
finally got off the ground.

On October 11th, just a few miles
from where LEM-3 was being fine-tuned,

Apollo 7 was launched.

Two months later, Frank Borman,
Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders

took Apollo 8 on its historic flight
around the moon.

All that time, LEM-3 was being
worked on around the clock.

By February 1969, George Skurla
and the rest of the Grumman crew

had tested every circuit
and tightened every bolt.

LEM-3 was ready.

[no audible dialogue]

- [Tom] I like the call sign.
- [Jim] Spider?

- It seemed appropriate.
- How about the command module?

Gumdrop.

When it came from North American,
it was wrapped up in blue plastic, so...

Sort of what it looked like.

Maybe you should go up with us, Tom,
make sure everything's okay.

[Tom] I'd love to go up with you.

She's ready.

I know.

We better get back to the sim.

- It's a beautiful machine, Tom.
- Isn't she?

- You really think it's beautiful?
- God, no.

Looks like a toaster oven with legs,
but I'm not telling him that.

- Whoa! Hold on there a minute, Billy.
- I got to get him to the airport.

Look, he spent the last seven years
of his life building that thing.

Let's give him a moment to say goodbye.

It stays up there, remember?

Now, as far as LEM-3 was concerned,
that should have been it for me.

I should have been able to sit back
in the SPAN room in Houston

and watch the show.

But in the early hours of launch day,

the pressure in one of LEM-3's
descent-stage fuel tanks

was reading disturbingly high.

It's the helium tank?

Well, actually, sir,
the supercritical helium.

How's it reading now?

We're still on the edge.

Meaning?

Meaning we'd like to be down the middle
of the tolerance band, but we're not.

Give me the worst-case.

When the LEM's heading away
from the command module

and they're throttling up,

the tank could over-pressurize
and the burst disc could blow.

And then we would lose the helium
on the descent stage.

Now, they would not be stranded,
they'd still have the ascent engine,

but it would... kill the mission.

Tom, I'll need the official
Grumman position on this.

We're still within the limits.

It'll fly.

In the last few minutes before launch,

I actually managed to put the tank
pressure problem out of my mind

for a few moments.

I tried to imagine what it was like
in LEM-3 just then.

Astronauts have said that sitting
in the command module

during the last part of a countdown
can be almost peaceful.

Must have been
even more peaceful in LEM-3.

At least until...

[rocket engines firing]

[intense rattling]

[Tom narrating] For the next ten
minutes, it must have been like LEM-3

was stuck in a paint mixer
in a hardware store.

And when it must have seemed like
the shaking would never stop,

it did.

On the second day of the mission,

Rusty became the first person
to enter a LEM in space.

Later that day, shortly after Rusty
and Jim extended the landing gear,

something happened which brought
the mission to a grinding halt.

Okay, I got gear out in front of me now.

Okay, landing gear deploy, uh, safe.

Roger, safe.

Sequence camera off.

GET is 45: 11:35.

DFI telemetry cal off.

DFI power off.

DFI off.

RNDA off.

DFI power off.
RND instrumentation A off.

RND instrumentation A off?

[gasping]

[retches]

Okay, Deke.

I'm going to have to recommend
we scrub the EVA tomorrow.

[man on radio] We got you, Jim.

Jim?

If Rusty doesn't do the EVA...

I understand the ramifications, Dave.

I don't think it's safe
for you to do it, Rusty.

I don't think we can put you
in a pressurized suit and helmet

if it looks like you're gonna throw up.

We'll proceed with checklists tomorrow.

We'll check out as many systems
as we can without undocking.

That's just gonna have to be it.

[Tom narrating] If Rusty
were to throw up in his suit,

he would likely asphyxiate and die

before Jim could get him back
into the LEM and re-pressurize.

But if Rusty didn't test the backpack,

the LEM couldn't undock
from the command module.

When Jim canceled the EVA, we all
understood, but we were devastated.

LEM-3 would not fly.

The next day, as Rusty and Jim
went through their checklists,

the mood around NASA was pretty grim.

The mood lifted when one of Jim's
air-to-ground transmissions

made everyone smile.

Well, almost everyone.

Hey, Houston. This is Apollo 9.

[man on radio] Go ahead, Apollo 9.

Uh, Houston, if some of our friends
from Grumman are listening in,

I suggest on the next LEM, they give
an extra go with a vacuum cleaner.

We got a few odds and ends
floating around in here.

Roger, Apollo 9. We'll pass that along.

[Tom narrating] Oh, well. In a few
minutes, even I would be smiling.

You look like you're feeling better.

Yeah, I am. I feel good.

How good?

Real good.

Then what do you say you go outside?

I think that's a good idea.

Yeah, Gumdrop, this is Spider.

- [Dave on radio] Roger, Spider.
- Yeah, Dave.

Rusty says he's feeling a lot better
and he looks better, too.

I thought maybe we should let him go
out on the porch and get some fresh air.

Hey, man. I like the sound of that.

[laughter]

[Tom narrating] For 45 minutes,

every available camera
on Apollo 9 was put to use

filming the first two-man space walk
in history.

While Rusty stood on LEM-3's porch,

Dave stood in the open hatch
of the command module

to film Rusty's test of the backpack.

When one of Dave's camera's broke,
he went back inside to fix it.

That gave Rusty
something unheard of on an EVA.

Free time.

For three minutes, there was nothing
for him to do but look at the Earth.

With the backpack tested,
it was time to see if LEM-3 could fly.

[thruster fires]

[Dave on radio]
That's a nice-looking machine.

It's not like an F-86,
I'll tell you that.

It's an ungainly beast.

But it really flies.

[Jim on radio] Houston, Spider.

We are preparing to
throttle up the descent engine.

[Houston radio] Roger, Spider.

[Tom narrating] It was time
to see if the decision I'd made

just before the launch
was the right one.

The tank will be fine.

It'll hold.

[Jim on radio] Throttle to 20%.

[engine firing]

It's a little rough there.

[Rusty on radio] Yeah, wasn't it?
I think we swallowed a little helium.

[Jim on radio] Yeah, let's try it again.

Throttle to 40%.

Houston, Spider.

Everything looks good here.

It was a good burn.

[Rusty on radio]
Hey, keep track of us, will you, Davey?

[Dave on radio]
Roger that. See you in a while.

[Tom narrating] Jim and Rusty took LEM-3
out 1 10 miles from the command module.

To get back to Dave, they had
to separate from the descent stage,

then fire the ascent engine.

[engine firing]

[engine whooshing]

Thirteen feet per second.

At nine feet per second,
I have the interconnects.

Five, four, three, two, one.
We have shutdown.

Roger, we have a good burn.
No residuals.

And there goes half our spacecraft.

[Tom narrating] A short time later...

LEM-3 redocked with the command module.

[thudding]

Her mission was over.

[repetitive banging]

Well, that's a song I haven't heard
in a long time.

[laughs]

- You all set, Rusty?
- Yeah, Jim.

All right, I'll see you up in the CSM.

I don't suppose

they're gonna let anybody back up
they think's gonna get sick, huh?

Well, I don't know, Rusty.

I tell you...

Those few minutes I had outside
while Dave was working on the camera...

[laughs] Yeah.

That was something special.

I just wanted to say thanks.

Hey, the only reason
it was even a question

was I didn't want you to go outside
and kill yourself.

[chuckles]

And I'll try not to
for the rest of the mission.

All right. I'll see you inside.

Yep.

[Tom narrating]
LEM-3 would fly one last time,

but this time, she would fly alone.

Okay, the tunnel's closed out,
the pyros are armed.

We're all set.

All right.

So long, Spider.

Hope I didn't leave anything in there.

Yeah...

When I first saw the LEM, I thought,
"You got to be kidding."

It kind of grows on you.

It really is a beautiful machine.

Listen to me. I sound like Tom Kelly.

[applause]

[Jim's voice] You guys are right.
It's a lot for one mission.

Maybe too much.

We get even half of it done,
we can call it a success.

I can't wait!

[Tom narrating] Apollo 9 had shown
that a LEM could fly,

at least in Earth orbit.

Two months later on Apollo 10,

Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan
took LEM-4 down to within 50,000 feet

of the lunar surface.

Look at that. There's enough boulders
down there to fill up Galveston Bay.

Houston, we is going, and we is
down among them, Charlie.

[Tom narrating] Only one question about
the LEM remains, the biggest question,

and it will be up
to the next LEM to answer it.

When I said good-bye to LEM-3,

I felt like a proud parent
watching a child go off to college.

As I say goodbye to this LEM,
I feel like a parent of centuries past

saying farewell as his child embarks
for the New World.

To some people, that might sound
like I'm stretching the point.

A LEM is not a child, it's a machine,
and a machine doesn't have a soul.

We may yell at our toasters
and give names to our cars,

but in the end, even a LEM is just
a collection of wires and circuits

and nuts and bolts.

I don't know.
I think each LEM does have a soul.

It's a soul of all the people
who built her,

designed her, first dreamed of her.

What number is this one?

This one is LEM-5.

- Thank you for inviting us here today.
- You're welcome, Mr. Houboult.

Without you guys, there might not
be anybody here today.

- Someone would have thought of it.
- Maybe.

This is the actual machine
that's gonna land on the moon?

Yep.

- What are they calling this one?
- This one...

This one is the Eagle.