Apollo 11

Apollo 11: In their own words

Fragments from the official Nasa transcript of conversations between the Apollo 11 team and mission control
Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon at Tranquility Base, ca. July 20, 1969. Photograph: Neil Armstrong/Corbis

109 hours, 23 minutes, 38 seconds since liftoff:

Neil Armstrong: I'm at the foot of the ladder. The LM [lunar module] footpads are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine-grained as you get close to it.

It's almost like a powder. [The] ground mass is very fine. (Pause.)

I'm going to step off the LM now. (Long pause.)

That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind. (Long pause.)

Yes, the surface is fine and powdery. I can kick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, like powdered charcoal, to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.

Houston: Neil, this is Houston. We're copying. (Long pause.)

Armstrong: There seems to be no difficulty in moving around - as we suspected. It's even perhaps easier than the simulations of one-sixth G that we performed in the various simulations on the ground. It's absolutely no trouble to walk around.

109 hours, 34 minutes, 56 seconds since liftoff:


109 hours, 36 minutes, 7 seconds since liftoff:

Buzz Aldrin: Didn't know you could throw so far.

Armstrong: (Chuckling) You can really throw things a long way up here!

109 hours, 43 minutes, 16 seconds since liftoff:

Aldrin: Beautiful view!

Armstrong: Isn't that something! Magnificent sight out here.

110 hours, 9 minutes, 3 seconds since liftoff:

Michael Collins (who is in orbit around the moon): Yeah. Reading you loud and clear. How's it going?

Houston: Roger. The [extra-vehicular activity] is progressing beautifully. I believe they are setting up the flag now.

Collins: Great!

Houston: I guess you're about the only person around that doesn't have TV coverage of the scene.

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


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