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Apollo 11: The Eagle has landed
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Apollo montage, edited/credit NASA
The world collectively held its breath as Neil Armstrong, with Buzz Aldrin aboard, jockeyed the Apollo 11 lunar landing module down to the moon's surface. Dangerously close to running out of fuel and slightly off-course from the projected landing site, Armstrong guided the Eagle's last few hundred feet through the slowest space flight in history.
The official estimate is that Eagle had less than 30 seconds of fuel left. Long-time space workers say that actually, it was closer to 15 seconds or less as Armstrong brought the first manned lunar landing craft to a historic touchdown.
Overhead, Command Module Pilot Mike Collins watched and photographed in mother ship Columbia.. If something went wrong, he had absolutely no way to rescue Armstrong and Aldrin. Part of his mission mandate: be prepared to leave his friends to save his own life and the command module. It wasn't an easy role to fill.
If the major milestones, especially engine performance, didn't go perfectly, American would have landed, and lost, two men on the moon--in front of the entire world. The risks were well-known.
Despite the years of planning, astronaut training, and precise engineering, the final few seconds of Eagle's flight had the drama and tension of a cliff-hanger movie serial. But what was once only part of science fiction was very real on July 20--and the view not only of the moon, but the one looking homeward toward Earth, would never be the same.
And then, as precise measurements were called out, suddenly, there they were, the first men on the moon. Armstrong crisply reported "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Watch CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, who passed away Friday provide commentary on the July 20 1969 landing. With him: astronaut Wally Schirra, providing insight and explanations.
A reminder--you can watch live streaming HD TV of all NASA Apollo 11 programming today, along with coverage of the Endeavour mission at the International Space Station here.
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