[Illustration: 13. Three inflated bags repositioned the spacecraft
following splashdown. The astronauts watch pararescue-man shut hatch
during recovery.]
“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind,” Neil A.
Armstrong radioed Houston from Tranquility Base on the Moon. The first
footprint had been left on the lunar surface. It was 10:56 P.M. (EDT) on
July 20, 1969.
Neil Armstrong was Apollo 11’s commander, Michael Collins was
command-module pilot, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin was the lunar-module
pilot. Their journey began at 9:30 A.M. (EDT) when their Saturn 5 lifted
off under 3.4 million kilograms (7.5 million pounds) of thrust.
The three-man crew made the 383,000-kilometer (238,000-mile) journey to
the Moon in three days, traveling in command-module _Columbia_.
At 1:46 P.M. (EDT), on July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin separated the lunar
module from the _Columbia_ and began the descent to the lunar plain.
During the 2 hours and 47 minutes that the astronauts were out on the
surface of the Moon, they collected samples, deployed instruments, took
photographs, and explored Tranquility Base around the lunar module.
After completing their tasks on the Moon, the astronauts rendezvoused
with Collins in the command module. Jettisoning the ascent stage, they
began the three-day journey back to Earth.
Splashdown occurred in the central Pacific Ocean on July 24. The
astronauts climbed out of this command module and were recovered by
helicopters that took them to the carrier U.S.S. _Hornet_.
Prime contractor for Apollo 11’s command module was North American
Rockwell Corporation.
The _Columbia_ is from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
[Illustration: 14. View of the Apollo 11 Command Module with
Astronaut Collins aboard as seen from the Lunar Module. Terrain in
background is the far side of the Moon.]