40th anniversary of man landing on moon • 20th July 1969 — 2009

The crew

NEIL A. ARMSTRONG; Commander; Born August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio

Armstrong resigned from NASA in 1971 to become a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He later served on the board of directors for several private companies. He also served on the National Commission on Space from 1985 to 1986 and on the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident in 1986. In 2005, Armstrong’s authorized biography, “First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong,” by James R. Hansen, was published by Simon & Schuster. He lives in Cincinnati.

EDWIN E. ALDRIN JR.; Lunar module pilot. Born January 20, 1930, in Montclair, NJ

Aldrin, known as Buzz, resigned from NASA in July 1971 and from the Air Force in 1972. He founded Starcraft Boosters, a rocket design company, and the ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing space education, exploration and affordable space flight. He published an autobiography in 1973, “Return to Earth” (Random House), and another memoir this year called “Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon” (Harmony), in which he describes his battle with alcoholism and his continuing commitment to space exploration.

Aldrin lives in Los Angeles.

MICHAEL COLLINS, Command module pilot; Born October 31, 1930, in Rome.

Collins left NASA in 1970 and became the director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. He later formed his own consulting firm.

He is the author of “Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) and “Liftoff: The Story of America’s Adventure in Space” (Grove Press), as well as a children’s book, “Flying to the Moon and Other Strange Places” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).

Collins is retired and lives in southern Florida.

Startling facts

The moment when man first walked on the Moon was watched by half a billion people and was arguably one of the most significant events in human history. Here are some surprising facts about Apollo 11 mission.

• There is only one blurry direct photograph of Neil Armstrong actually on the Moon. All the famous shots are of his fellow spaceman Buzz Aldrin. Mr Aldrin denied speculation that this was because of ‘sour grapes’ over coming second. He said he had intended to take some shots after the flag planting but they then received an unexpected phone call from Richard Nixon.

• Buzz Aldrin’s father, Edwin Aldrin, was a good friend of Orville Wright — one of the famous brothers who built and flew the world’s first airplane.

• The Command Module pilot Michael Collins had been originally slated to pilot Apollo 8. However he was replaced by Jim Lovell (played by Tom Hanks in the film Apollo 13) after he had surgery on his back. He took what would have been Lovell’s spot on Apollo 11.

• Buzz Aldrin was a firm Presbyterian Christian and had communion on the Moon. However it was kept secret from the public as Nasa was fighting a lawsuit by atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair who objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis. Aldrin’s communion kit was prepared by the pastor of his church.

• Apollo 11 though a success was not a completely smooth mission. When landing the Eagle, Armstrong had to navigate over an unexpected boulder field, landing the craft with just 20 seconds left of fuel. The astronauts also had to use a biro to replace the re-ignition switch to send them back into space after Aldrin accidentally broke it.

• Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon but Aldrin was the first to pee there. He took a lunar leak into a special bag within his suit.

• The pair left behind a retroreflector array which is still used by scientists today to measure the distance between our planet and the Moon. Every day laser beams are shot towards the Moon from the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. Some of these are reflected back by the array and the distance can be calculated by the time this takes.

• Buzz left a small gold olive branch on the Moon, along with an Apollo 1 patch and two Russian cosmonaut medallions to honour those that were killed during the space race. He almost forget to leave them until Armstrong reminded him and he unceremoniously dumped them on his way back into the command module. The pair also left their moon boots and urine bags on the lunar surface.

• The American flag they placed near the Command Module was blown over by the downdraft when they launched back into space, according to Buzz Aldrin. In future Apollo missions flags were placed a good distance away.

• Buzz, Neil and Michael suffered from excessive and ‘fragrant’ flatulence caused by hydrogen bubbles in their water.

Armstrong got it right

For 40 years Neil Armstrong has been accused of fluffing his lines during his first steps on the Moon.

On tapes of the Moon landings, he appears to drop the “a” from the famous quote: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But new analysis of the tapes has proved Armstrong right after all. In 2006 Computer programmer Peter Shann Ford used audio analysis software to show that the missing “a” was blotted out by transmission static.

Conspiracy theories

Theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo Moon landings were faked by NASA and possibly members of other involved organizations. Some groups and individuals have advanced various theories which tend, to varying degrees, to include suggestions that the Apollo astronauts did not land on the Moon, that NASA and possibly others intentionally deceived the public into believing the landings did occur by manufacturing, destroying, or tampering with evidence, including photos, telemetry tapes, transmissions, and rock samples, and that the deception continues to this day.

There is abundant independent evidence for Apollo Moon landings and these conspiracy theories have been generally discredited. Many commentators have published detailed rebuttals to the hoax claims. A 1999 poll by The Gallup Organization found that 89% of the US public believed the landings were genuine, while 6% did not, and 5% were undecided.

Wide Awake in the Sea of Tranquillity

Neil Armstrong was supposed to be asleep. The moonwalking was done. The moon rocks were stowed away. His ship was ready for departure. In just a few hours, the Eagle’s ascent module would blast off the Moon, something no ship had ever attempted before, and Neil needed his wits about him. He curled up on the Eagle’s engine cover and closed his eyes.

But he could not sleep.

Neither could Buzz Aldrin. On a day like this, what else could you expect...?

July 20, 1969: The day began on the farside of the Moon. Armstrong, Aldrin and crewmate Mike Collins flew their spaceship 60 miles above the cratered wasteland. No one on Earth can see the Moon’s farside. Even today it remains a land of considerable mystery, but the astronauts had no time for sight-seeing. Collins pressed a button, activating a set of springs, and the spaceship split in two. “You are Go for powered descent,” Houston radioed, and the Eagle’s engine fired mightily. The bug-shaped Eagle was so fragile a child could poke a hole through its gold foil exterior. Jagged moonrocks could do much worse. So when Armstrong saw that the computer was guiding them into a boulder field, he quickly took control. The Eagle pitched forward and sailed over the rocks.

Meanwhile, alarms were ringing in the background.

“Program alarm,” announced Armstrong. “It’s a 1202.” The code was so obscure, almost no one knew what it meant. Should they abort? Should they land? “What is it?” he insisted.

Scrambling back in Houston, a young engineer named Steve Bales produced the answer: The radar guidance system was pestering the computer with too many interruptions. No problem. “We’ve got you...” radioed Houston. “We’re Go on that alarm.”

Armstrong scanned the jumbled mare for a safe place to land. “60 seconds,” radioed Houston. “30 seconds.” Mission control was hushed as the telemetry came in. Soon, too soon, the ship would run out of fuel.

Capcom later claimed the “boys in mission control were turning blue” when Armstrong announced “I found a good spot.” As for Armstrong, his heart was thumping 156 beats per minute according to bio-sensors. The fuel gauge read only 5.6% when the Eagle finally settled onto the floor of the Sea of Tranquillity.

Houston (relieved): “We copy you down, Eagle.”

Armstrong : “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”

Immediately, they prepared to leave. This was NASA being cautious. No one had ever landed on the Moon before. What if a footpad started sinking into the moondust, or the Eagle sprung a leak? While Neil and Buzz made ready to blast off, Houston read the telemetry looking for signs of trouble. There were none, and three hours after touchdown, finally, Houston gave the “okay.” The moonwalk was on.

At 9:56 p.m. EDT, Neil descended the ladder and took “one small step” (left foot first) into history. From the shadow of the Eagle, he looked around: “It has a stark beauty all its own—like the high desert of the United States.” Houston reminded him to gather the “contingency sample,” and Neil put some rocks and soil in his pocket.

Soon, Buzz joined him. “Beautiful view!” he exclaimed when he reached the lander’s broad footpad. “Isn’t that something!” agreed Armstrong. “Magnificent sight out here.”

“Magnificent desolation,” said Aldrin. Enough of that. It was time for work.

Almost forgotten in Apollo lore are the checklists sewn to the forearms of the spacesuits. These “honey-do” memos from NASA were jam-packed with activities—from inspecting the lander to deploying the TV to collecting samples. Some of the tasks were as detailed as bending over and reporting to Mission Control how it went. They had a lot to do.

Neil and Buzz deployed a solar wind collector, a seismometer and a laser retroreflector. They erected a flag and uncovered a plaque proclaiming, “We came in peace for all mankind.” They took the first interplanetary phone call — “I just can’t tell you how proud we all are,” said President Nixon from the Oval Office. Finally, after two and a half busy, exhilarating hours, it was time to go. The checklist continued: Climb back in the Eagle. Stow the rocks. Eat dinner: Beef stew or cream of chicken soup. And finally, sleep.

The best Aldrin managed was a “couple hours of mentally fitful drowsing.” Armstrong simply stayed awake.

When the wake-up call finally came, “Tranquility Base, Tranquility Base, Houston. Over.” Armstrong answered with alacrity, “Good morning, Houston. Tranquility Base. Over.” It was time to go home, to Earth, for a good night’s sleep.