Demonstrate the ability to go to the moon, to land there, and to return to earth. Narrator what are your responsibilities as commander of apollo 11 . Mr. Armstrong in general, the responsibilities of the commander are to make the onboard decisions whenever required, because i oversee the performance of, the duties of all the crew, including himself. In this particular case, i participate in procedures on board the spacecraft as well as oversee those of my fellow crewmembers, and the specific tasks that i am charged with the performance of include monitoring the launch, the manual climb of the boosters, should that be required, and taking my turn on watch and normal monitoring of the spacecraft systems in the command module. In the lunar module, im charged almost equally with the lunar module pilot in the operation of the lunar module systems and control of the vehicle during descent and ascent. Interviewer will you describe what will be happening before the lunar module touches down on the moon . Mr. Armstrong we will continue burning the engine until an altitude of about five feet, at which the probes will ignite a light on our panel. We see it illuminate, we cut the engines, and fall the last several feet to the moon. Interviewer columbus explored one new world. You are about to explore another. How do you feel about such comparisons . Mr. Armstrong well, im impressed to be compared with columbus, and of course we recognize his discovery and have honored it in some respects by the call sign of our command module, columbia. There are favorable comparisons and some that wont hold true. Certainly columbuss venture was one that was very asked in his time, was one that very few countries could afford, and spain could afford only by digging into the very depths of their treasury. It was a voyage with a good bit of risk and some complaint, however, in many ways it was not at all like the voyage of apollo 11. First, he wasnt sure where he was going, at least he thought he was going to china or the indies and ended up in a completely new world. I very much hope that we want terminate at some place that we didnt expect to plan to visit. We know a good bit about the place that we are going. And it is also necessary to note that he did it without an entire nations efforts behind them. Our voyage is a voyage of the nation and a voyage of humanity, while his was a voyage of a very limited few. Narrator this is mr. Michael collins, command module pilot of the apollo 11 mission. What do you think will result from the apollo 11 flight . Mr. Collins obviously, we have opened up a travel system which has heretofore been impossible. We now will be able to offer to human beings the option of either walking on the surface of the earth, or walking on the surface of the moon, or hopefully on some not too far distant date, the option of walking on the surface of another planet. And i think the possibilities therein are almost unlimited, although i am not equipped to say in great detail what they may be. Historically, we have been unable to predict the effectiveness of various inventions and various discoveries. Interviewer how do you view your role as apollo 11 pilot . Mr. Collins it is as important than the other two positions. I would be a fool if i said, i have the best seat of the three. On the other hand, i can say with complete candor and complete honesty that i am very happy to have the seat which i have, and to be doing the job which i intend to do. Interviewer will you be kept pretty busy as you fly alone in the command module . Mr. Collins yes and no. I hope i will be very unbusy. I have two roles to play. I as the passive target vehicle, and in the event everything is working perfectly within the lem, then i have many chores to do. And i am prepared to take an active role in bringing the two vehicles together, however, provided the lem works and its radar is working properly and it is capable of making each and every maneuver leading up to the rendezvous and docking, then my job is essentially a pleasant one. On the other hand, if difficulty arise within the lem, my job is to rescue the lem, and then i find myself being an active partner in charge of a very complex vehicle with a very complex job, and this is when i truly become busy and i am literally racing from one side of the cockpit to the other, Getting Solutions to various problems from my digital computer, making sure that my rendezvous radar transponder and vhf ranging systems are working properly, and doing a host of other small details, all of which are necessary for the successful completion of the rendezvous. Interviewer this is astronaut edwin aldrin, lunar module pilot for the apollo 11 moon landing mission. What is the first thing you and Neil Armstrong will do after landing . Mr. Aldrin one of the first things we will be engaged in is making immediate decisions as to how long we will be staying on the surface. There are several favored abort points that we will be checking various systems to get a stay or no stay beyond these points. The first one occurs some four or five minutes after touchdown, the next one about 10 minutes, and the final stay occurs one revolution afterwards. What we will be doing during that first revolution is very intensely preparing the vehicle for a simulated countdown to launch, which we will carry up to the last five or 10 minutes before the ascent. Following this, we will go ough that to the ascent one revolution later, as the command module comes over. Following this we will go through a powerdown of the systems in the lunar module, preparing it for an extended stay on the surface. We will have an eating period followed by a fourhour rest period. When we awake hopefully from muchneeded sleep after four hours, we will have another eat period and go through a twohour plus eva preparation period. Interviewer about exploring the moons surface, asked her not aldrin had this to say. Mr. Aldrin following the eva exploration period, we will go through planned, two men exploration of the surface with neil going down the ladder first. As he goes down the ladder, i will be taking pictures of him with a 16mm camera through the window. A Television Camera will also be recording his activities. Initially he will collect a contingency sample. As i descend onto the surface, he will then be collecting a bulk sample, a larger sample of lunar material. While he is doing this, i will be participating in an extended eva evaluation, just what are the capabilities of man to perform tasks on the lunar surface. We will then join together following the deployment of television and then the deployment of the flag on the surface. We will then perform jointly an inspection, Walking Around the lunar module, looking at the various systems, landing gear, making a very thorough inspection of everything we can observe on it. In the process of doing this, we well be taking a series of panorama photographs at three different locations as we move around. When we get about three quarters of the way around the lem, we will begin to deploy several experiments. One is a laser reflector, and we will offload these from the scientific equipment bay. The other experiment is a passive seismometer. The deployment of these experiments will take five to 10 minutes, and they are to be deployed 50 to 60 feet away from the lunar module. When we return from this excursion around the lunar module, we will then pick up the equipment for a documented sample in detail, and a predetermined location some 40, 50, 60 feet away from the lunar module. Following this, we will package up these samples, conduct a few core samples and other brief experiments, the solar wind experiment, and then prepare these packages to be transported up into the lunar module. I will enter the lem first and then neil will convey these two sample return containers up on this tether assembly. Once they are inside, he will reenter the lunar module, we will pressurize, and that will be the end of our eva. In esther nancy Neil Armstrong and buzz aldrin were officially welcomed back to earth by president richard nixon. Facebook. Com. Org type apollo 11 in the search bar for our anniversary coverage. Narrator this year marks the 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 landing. Sunday, moonwalk one, featurelength documentary commissioned by nasa covers prelift off preparations to parades for the astronauts after they save returned with rarely seen space in between. Here is a preview. Flight began with a vertical lift to the heavy lower atmosphere and a tilt to the east at 6000 Miles Per Hour. The empty first stage is discarded to save weight and so is an adapter and the ring tower. With the second stage firing, it reaches 50,000 Miles Per Hour when a2 is jettisoned. The third stage places apollo in earths orbit at 17,400 Miles Per Hour. When the spacecraft has been thoroughly checked out by the crew, the third stage hires again, its speed tearing it free from the grips of earths gravity. Postingusand word outward you dock to the lunar module. The empty third stage is left behind. [beeping] apollo loses speed throughout 9 10 of its journey until the moons gravity overcomes the pole of earth. Apollo fires in reverse direction, slowing down enough to be captured in orbit about the moon. Enter theand aldrin eagle which separates, leaving collins in the command Service Module in lunar orbit. Eagle slows still more and breaks to a touchdown on the lunar surface. Apollo 11nced the moon landing 50 years later with moonwalk one this sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern on real america you are watching American History tv. Narrator july marks the 50th anniversary of apollo 11, the First Manned Mission to land on the moon. Up next, apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins returns to the launchpad at nasas john f. Kennedy space center in florida, to talk with Space Center DirectorRobert Cabana about his experience. Nasa hosted this event. Robert good morning. Im out here at pad 309a with command module pilot mike collins. Mike, it was 50 years ago this morning that you, neil, and buzz headed out here to be the first