NASA astronaut and Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon, taking the historic step at 0356 BST, 109hr 42min after the launch of the mission's mighty Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center.
Coming down the ladder of the Lunar Module Eagle very slowly Armstrong activated the onboard television camera and grainy images of him were broadcast around the world.
Seen to pause at the lowest rung to test his ability to climb back up again he said, "I'm at the foot of the ladder now," and in the next instant, at 0356 BST, he stepped on to the Moon's surface.
His comment as he did it, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,'" must surely enter the history books.
Armstrong is to be joined on the surface by his Eagle pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin shortly and they are to spend a total of about 21h on the Moon, using their Moonwalk to place experiments that will operate long after they are gone at some distance from the lander.
Once the 21h is up Armstrong and Aldrin will use the ascent vehicle on the upper half of the Lunar Module to return to low Lunar orbit and rendezvous with their third crew member, Michael Collins, the Command Module pilot aboard the Apollo spacecraft that remained orbiting the Moon.
Learn more about their observations in the archive......
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- NASA: Hear the private conversations and view the transcript between Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins recorded aboard the Command Module Columbia and Lunar Module Eagle.
- NASA: History of onboard recorders on the Apollo spacecraft and full transcripts of all mission recordings
Source: FlightGlobal.com
