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On 20 July 1969, Apollo 11's lunar module Eagle, with Neil Armstrong as commander and Buzz Aldrin as lunar module pilot, left Columbia, the command module in lunar orbit with command module pilot Michael Collins aboard and began it's historic descent to land the first men on the Moon. After a protracted landing drama with computer program alarms and a boulder-strewn planned landing site forcing Armstrong to take manual control of the LM while Aldrin called out altitude and velocity data, the Eagle touched down on the lunar surface at 1:20 p.m. PDT with about 25 seconds of fuel left. The first words from man on the Moon were not what history has recorded. Buzz Aldrin uttered those very first words and said, "Contact light! Okay, engine stop. ACA - out of detent ." Armstrong acknowledged "Out of detent" and Aldrin continued, "Mode control - both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm - off. 413 is in." Armstrong then sent the famous transmission, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Changing Eagle's call sign to Tranquility Base caused a moment of confusion at Mission Control that was soon overcome in the elation of the moment. A planned sleep period was ignored (could YOU sleep at a time like that?) and Armstrong and Aldrin prepared for their EVA on the lunar surface. There were some raised heart rates as Armstrong had trouble getting through the lunar module's hatch in his pressure suit with PLSS (Portable Life Support System) pack, but at 7:56 p.m. PDT 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of another planet, saying, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin followed and, after setting boots on the moon, exclaimed, "Magnificent desolation!" The Apollo program continued to put men on the moon until budget cuts forced the program to be abandoned. Of interest to 4WD&SU readers is the Lunar Rover used in later missions, a 4-wheel drive electric vehicle used to explore the lunar surface. That was REAL off-roading. On that hot July 20th, I was dropped off after Sunday School and raced up the driveway, exploding into our house just as Neil Armstrong was transmitting, "Houston, Tranquility Base here." How exciting! Do those of you who were around then remember Walter Cronkite becoming overcome with emotion on CBS as he reported the news? The Apollo 11 moon landing was a bright spot in troubled times. The engineering triumphs, coupled with the astronaut's courage, raised the planet's consciousness for a short period. While the scientific rewards of Apollo are inestimable, the spiritual rewards were just as great. On this 40th anniversary of man's first steps on the moon, I'd like to salute Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, the rest of the astronauts, all at NASA, the contractors, and the U.S. Government for having the courage to do this thing. Not just the United States, but all humanity triumphed in a way it never had before, nor has since. No human has left Earth's orbit since the cancellation of the Apollo program.
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