Apollo 11
July 20, 1969
Sunday, July 20th, 1969. At 4:17 PM Eastern time, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Lunar Module Eagle in the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong said: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." I was in my living room. I am not ashamed to say I could not speak…
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Apollo 11
July 16, 1969
This morning the Saturn V carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins lifted off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The engine ignited at 9:32 AM. They are going to the Moon. I watched with my family and none of us spoke when the rocket rose. There are…
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Apollo 10
May 22, 1969
Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan flew the Lunar Module down to 47,000 feet above the Moon today. Eight-point-four nautical miles. They could see the craters. They could see where Apollo 11 will land. They were RIGHT THERE. And then they flew back up. I respect the mission plan. I am…
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Apollo 8
December 24, 1968
On Christmas Eve 1968, three American astronauts in orbit around the Moon read from the Book of Genesis. Before they read, Bill Anders took a photograph. He called out: "Oh my God, look at that picture over there!" He had seen the Earth rising above the lunar horizon. Earthrise. The…
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Apollo 8
December 21, 1968
Apollo 8 launched this morning and they are not going to Earth orbit. They are going to the Moon. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders are riding the Saturn V to lunar orbit. For the first time in history, human beings are leaving Earth to go to another world.…
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Apollo 7
October 22, 1968
Eleven days in orbit. All systems tested. Three men home safe. Schirra had a head cold the whole time, which made him even more cantankerous than usual with Mission Control. But more importantly: they broadcast live television from space for the first time. The picture was shaky. The men were…
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Apollo 7
October 11, 1968
Apollo 7 launched this morning. For the first time since the fire twenty-one months ago, American astronauts are in space. Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, and Walt Cunningham rode a Saturn IB into orbit and the spacecraft worked. I watched from home. I was not entirely certain, until I saw the…
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Apollo 1
June 1, 1968
Eighteen months since the fire. The spacecraft has been redesigned — new quick-opening hatch, new materials, 1,341 engineering changes. The Saturn V has been tested twice. Apollo 7 will carry men for the first time in a few months. I find myself thinking about Grissom again. I think he would…
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Technology
November 9, 1967
The Saturn V rocket fired for the first time today. Unmanned. All five engines. 7.5 million pounds of thrust. They say people thirty miles away felt it in their chests. They say the sound cracked windows. The cameras at the press site showed the shock wave rolling toward them through…
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Apollo 1
February 15, 1967
The investigation is underway. The fire started in the pure oxygen atmosphere used in the Apollo cabin. The hatch opened inward and couldn't be opened under the internal pressure. There were flammable materials throughout the spacecraft. Reading these reports is difficult. Some of this seems like it should have been…
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