The backside of a photography checklist, labeled "Ye Ole Lunar Scratch Pad," strikes a more whimsical note. A similar checklist describes the countdown for the crucial "TLI" (Translunar Injection), which would fire the rocket on the third stage of the Saturn and accelerate the astronauts out of Earth orbit. These cards detailed the procedures followed during Armstrong and Aldrin's "extra vehicular activity" (EVA) on the Moon such as photography, inspecting equipment, and collecting samples of lunar soil. A NASA "Data Card Kit," for example, provides a record of the astronauts' activities on the lunar surface. #LUNAR LANDING JULY 20 1969 HOW TO#Congress considered how to honor the nation's newest heroes.ĭocuments from the National Archives record the history of Apollo 11 and the world's reaction to it. Navy rehearsed its role in the successful recovery of the spacecraft at sea. The United States Information Agency, which was responsible for keeping foreign populations informed of the progress of the flight, sponsored public television viewings of mission events for citizens of other countries at American cultural centers. The State Department accepted the best wishes and congratulations of foreign governments. The White House planned for "Presidential Activities" related to the mission. But other agencies integrated the Moon landings into their work as well. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which ran the mission, was of course fully devoted to Apollo 11. While they were away, much of the federal government focused on their voyage. For the next eight days, the world watched as Apollo 11 flew to the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin landed and explored its surface, linked up with Collins, and returned to Earth. Shortly afterward, the single booster in the Service Module launched them out of orbit and toward the Moon. At just after 9:30 A.M., the long countdown ended, and the Saturn rocket's engines ignited. Attached below them were a "Service Module," whose engine would be used to take them out of Earth orbit, and a "Lunar Module," named Eagle, which would be used to take Armstrong and Aldrin to the surface of the Moon and back to Collins, who would orbit the Moon in the Command Module, for the trip home. On top of the Saturn V, three Apollo 11 astronauts-Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin- waited in their tiny "Command Module," over three hundred feet above the ground. Its first-stage liquid fuel engines produced 7.5 millions pounds of thrust-enough power to light up all of New York City for an hour and a half. The Saturn V stood 281 feet high and weighed 6.2 million pounds. On the morning of July 16, 1969, an enormous three-stage Saturn V rocket-the largest rocket ever built-stood on launch pad 39A at Cape Kennedy, Florida. "20 July 1969" will show how this momentous episode in American history affected the work of the entire government and how the world reacted to Armstrong's "giant leap for all mankind." Using original documents, photographs, and video clips set in an environment reminiscent of a NASA "mission control" station, the exhibit will recreate this one historic day in the nation's history. Nowhere was this truer than in the many agencies that make up the federal government of the United States. The events surrounding the Moon mission were recorded and noted in great detail. Culminating with Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong's first step onto the Moon on July 20, 1969, the space flight, the lunar landing, and the crew's safe return to earth were seen as epochal events, worthy of intense media coverage, international celebration, and careful social analysis. This is the premise behind one of the new exhibits under development for the National Archives Experience, "20 July 1969." Millions of Americans-and millions of others around the globe-remember the summer of 1969 as the time humans first landed on the Moon. What would it be like if we could recreate a single day in our past? Not just the parts we remember, the events to which we attribute great significance, but the whole day filled with all its interacting parts. Astronaut Neil Armstrong's words as he made his first step onto the surface of the Moon "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for all mankind."
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