(train rumbling)
NARRATOR: 50 years ago--
ANNOUNCER: Man is
about to launch himself
on a trip to the moon.
NARRATOR: Mankind
redefined what is possible.
ANNOUNCER: Liftoff on Apollo 11.
NARRATOR: This is the story
of a generation's ambition.
All I could think
of, this is nuts.
NARRATOR: The risks they took.
If I had been older, I
might've had a heart attack.
ASTRONAUT: And if that failed,
you had two dead men on
the surface of the moon.
NARRATOR: The people
who blazed the trail.
I was the only
woman in the field.
I was a part of it, a
very important part of it.
It's wonderful.
NARRATOR: The generations
they would inspire.
Apollo 11 is a national
watershed event.
I get emotional when I
kind of think about it.
NARRATOR: The
technology that made
those dreams come true.
MICHAEL: You have
to be pretty precise
and if you goof,
bad things happen.
NARRATOR: This is the story
of American ingenuity.
ASTRONAUT: Base here,
the eagle has landed.
One of the greatest
human achievements
in engineering ever done.
NARRATOR: And the greatest leap
in the history of civilization.
NEIL: It's one
small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.
NARRATOR: This is the story
of Apollo 11, 50 years later.
It was 1961, the
heart of the Cold War,
and the Soviet Union
had reason to celebrate.
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had just
become the first
human to reach space.
The United States had been
watching with a wary eye,
ever since the Soviet
satellite Sputnik
entered Earth's orbit.
And with the space
race now well underway,
many Americans feared the
U.S. was falling behind.
By that May, President
John F. Kennedy
was determined to move ahead.
I believe that this nation
should commit itself
to achieving the goal
before this decade is out
of landing a man on the moon
and returning him
safely to the Earth.
The United States had
a total of 15 minutes
of human space
flight experience.
So it was a really
short suborbital flight
with Alan Shepard at the
beginning of the month
and by the 25th of May,
President Kennedy was
proposing Project Apollo.
NARRATOR: It was
a daring challenge
that would ignite
American momentum.
With new urgency,
NASA's fledgling
Mercury and Gemini projects
scored quick success.
Zero-G and I feel fine!
NARRATOR: John
Glenn's solo orbit
and for the first
time, space walks.
NASA astronauts, engineers,
and American industries
spent the decade
working round the clock.
And by 1967, it was time for
Apollo's first manned flight.
But before it could take
off, tragedy struck.
ASTRONAUT: I've got
fire in the cockpit!
NARRATOR: Flames trapped
the three-man crew
inside the cabin
during a launch test.
There was no escape.
But the heartbreaking
setback proved temporary.
And with a critical redesign,
Apollo was back on track.
Christmas Eve 1968,
the world watched
as Apollo 8 astronauts
ventured further
than humans had ever traveled.
ASTRONAUT: I can
see the entire Earth
now out of the center window.
NARRATOR: Bringing us our
first full view of home.
An image that helped
unite Americans
at the end of a turbulent year.
ASTRONAUT: This is
the crew of Apollo 8,
we close with good night,
good luck, a Merry Christmas,
and God bless all of you,
all of you on the good Earth.
NARRATOR: Seven months
later the moment arrived.
NASA was ready.
And after years of training,
so was the
carefully-selected team
of Neil Armstrong, Buzz
Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
I feel very fortunate to,
first of all, to be on that crew
and second, fly
with Neil and Buzz.
Neil had been an X-15 pilot,
Buzz, on the other hand,
was the whizbang
orbital expert from MIT.
So the two of them were
extraordinarily well-trained
and competent and I was
delighted to fly with them.
NARRATOR: On the morning
of July 16, 1969,
the trio made their
way to the launchpad.
When we had been out
to Pad 39 before,
it was the hub of
machine activity.
Not today, nobody's around,
we're the only ones.
NARRATOR: The action this
day was in mission control
and along the
beach and highways,
where a million
spectators had gathered.
ASTRONAUT: We're on
time at the present time
for our planned liftoff of
32 minutes past the hour.
NARRATOR: As the
astronauts climbed aboard,
the world held its breath.
When I was standing up there,
here is the most gigantic,
complex pilot machinery
you've ever seen in your life.
ASTRONAUT: T minus one minute,
35 seconds on the
Apollo Mission,
flight to land the
first man on the moon.
NARRATOR: The eight-day
journey was about to begin.
ASTRONAUT: Five, four, three,
two, one, zero, all
engines running.
Liftoff, we have a liftoff.
NARRATOR: All six million pounds
of the massive Saturn five
rocket roared skyward.
Each of its three stages firing
to power into Earth's
orbit in mere minutes.
Once there, after circling the
planet one and a half times,
the rocket's third
stage fired again,
propelling the spacecraft
out of orbit and
toward its target.
Collins piloting the command
module, took the controls.
His first order of business,
separating Columbia
from the spent rocket,
turning it around, and
docking with Eagle,
the lunar landing
module, known as the LEM,
all while moving at
17,000 miles an hour.
I always think of it as
a long and very fragile
daisy chain of events.
If you break one little
link in the chain,
you got deep trouble.
NARRATOR: For the
next three days,
the hurtled toward the moon.
As the mission goes on,
event by event by event,
you never get a chance to relax.
You're worried about,
oh God, what next?
NARRATOR: Before long, they
had entered lunar orbit.
There, Collins would stay
in the command module
while Armstrong and
Aldrin moved into the LEM.
ASTRONAUT: Okay our
flight controller
is going out of the heart
and gonna go for undocking.
MISSION CONTROL: Okay
retro, go, final.
Go, go.
NARRATOR: After a series of
checks, the two pulled apart.
MISSION CONTROL: Roger,
how does it look?
NARRATOR: The Eagle
was now on its own.
ASTRONAUT: Still
looking very good.
NARRATOR: Suddenly,
alarms sound.
A warning the crew
didn't recognize
threatens to abort the mission.
ASTRONAUT: Bravo one.
MISSION CONTROL: Bravo one.
ASTRONAUT: Bracket 1201 alarm.
NARRATOR: NASA engineers
immediately identify it
as an overloaded computer and
the Apollo Guidance System
is able to quickly
resolve the problem.
ASTRONAUT: Okay we're go.
ASTRONAUT: We're go, we're go.
NARRATOR: The
landing was still on,
but Armstrong realized they
had overshot their target
by four miles, with a
boulder field now below.
Taking the controls, he spotted
flat terrain further away.
NEIL: 75 feet, it's
looking good down ahead.
NARRATOR: And with
just 30 seconds of fuel
left in the tank--
NEIL: Okay engine stop.
MISSION CONTROL: We
copy you down Eagle.
ASTRONAUT: Base here,
the eagle has landed.
NARRATOR: A smooth landing
in the sea of tranquility.
REPORTER: Man on
the moon, oh boy!
ASTRONAUT: Thank you.
Whew, boy.
ASTRONAUT: You got a bunch
of guys about to turn blue.
NARRATOR: And
several hours later,
Armstrong was ready
to make history.
MISSION CONTROL: Neil,
we can see you coming
down the ladder now.
REPORTER: Armstrong is on
the moon, Neil Armstrong.
38 year old American standing
on the surface of the moon.
NEIL: It's one
small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.
NARRATOR: Taking the most
famous footsteps in history,
he relayed what he saw.
NEIL: The surface
is fine and powdery,
I can pick it up
loosely with my toe.
There seems to be no
difficulty in moving around.
NARRATOR: A colorless,
rock-filled world.
NEIL: It has a stark
beauty all its own
(mumbles) of the United States.
It's different but it's
very pretty out here.
NARRATOR: Soon, it was
Aldrin's turn to emerge.
BUZZ: Okay, ready
for me to come out?
NEIL: All set.
BUZZ: Okay I'm on the top step.
Incredible view.
(mumbles)
NARRATOR: Together
they set up a camera
to capture the barren moonscape.
NEIL: Tell me if you
got a picture Houston.
MISSION CONTROL: We got
a beautiful picture Neil.
NARRATOR: Using every moment
of their two and a
half hour moon walk,
they collected rock samples,
conducted experiments,
and dedicated a plaque.
NEIL: We came in
peace for all mankind.
NARRATOR: And then
spoke by phone
to President Richard Nixon.
RICHARD: Hello Neil and Buzz.
I just can't tell ya
how proud we all are.
Because of what you have done,
the heavens have become
a part of man's world.
ASTRONAUT: Thank you
Mister President,
it's a great honor and
privilege for us to be here.
NARRATOR: While they
explored the surface,
Collins was orbiting,
alone, overhead,
rounding the moon
every two hours
and seeing the
Earth rise 30 times.
MISSION CONTROL: Columbia,
this is Houston reading
you loud and clear, over.
MICHAEL: I believe
they're setting up now.
MISSION CONTROL: I
guess you're about
the only person
around that doesn't
have TV coverage of the scene.
That's all right,
I don't mind a bit.
The question that the
press directed to me,
almost exclusively, weren't
you terribly lonely?
And all I could think
of, this is nuts,
it never occurred to
me that I was lonely.
Through mission control,
I felt like I was,
part of the time I was
down there with them.
At least I understood
what was going on.
NARRATOR: And he understood
that the riskiest part of
the mission was just ahead.
The one that I
worried about the most
was Neil and Buzz coming
up from the lunar surface
and meeting me in my
60-mile orbit above them.
When Eagle, the lunar module,
lifted off from the moon,
it was just one engine.
If that failed, you
had two dead men
on the surface of the moon.
That whole procedure, that
was the part of the mission
that I sweated more than
any of the other parts.
NARRATOR: But when
it was time to go,
the engine fired
and the Eagle rose.
NEIL: 1000 feet high, 80 feet
per second vertical rise.
NARRATOR: Before long, it
had re-docked with Columbia.
Reunited, they were ready
to fire out of lunar orbit
and begin the
three-day journey home.
To fulfill President
Kennedy's goal,
they had to return safely.
And to reenter
Earth's atmosphere,
they had just a 20
mile wide window.
Trying to hit a 20-mile
target from 230,000 miles,
you have to be pretty precise.
NARRATOR: Too shallow an angle
and they'd bounce back into
space in a never-ending orbit.
Too steep and they'd burn up.
Plunging back to Earth at
nearly 25,000 miles an hour.
MISSION CONTROL:
36,000 feet per second.
NARRATOR: The team
in mission control
kept them on course.
MISSION CONTROL: Apollo 11,
Apollo 11 (mumbles) over.
NARRATOR: Splashing
down in the Pacific
where the USS
Hornet was waiting.
Not knowing what they might
have brought back with them,
they'd spend the next
three weeks in quarantine.
Finally, it was
time to celebrate.
America had won the space race.
But while seen as a
victory here at home,
around the world,
Apollo was embraced
as a triumph of humanity.
Neil, Buzz, and
I were privileged
to have an
around-the-world trip.
And I was just amazed by the
response that we received.
Everywhere we went
people said we did it,
we, humankind, we
left this planet.
People around the world
were naming their kids
after the astronauts.
They became sort of global
heroes, world heroes.
NARRATOR: It was a feat
few thought even possible
at the dawn of the decade.
And now, with just
months to spare,
President Kennedy's
dream had been realized.
A tribute to American ingenuity
and lifting America's spirits,
amid the horrors of Vietnam,
as the Cold War carried on.
We choose to go to the
moon in this decade
and do the other things,
not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
