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14 Time Lines
President Nixon gives the “OK” sign to the Apollo 11 astronauts quarantined in the isolation unit aboard
the USS Hornet after splashdown and recovery, July 24, 1969. The astronauts, from left are Neil Armstrong,
Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. (AP Photo)
It came at a high cost, both in
dollars and lives lost, three astro-
nauts died in training, another
two while flying on NASA related
business.
To many, the moon mission
seemed a fool’s errand, a waste of
money and ultimately of people.
“Keep in mind that progress is
not always linear,” Aldrin said.
“It takes constant course correct-
ing and often a lot of zigzagging.
Unfortunate things happen, ac-
cidents occur, and setbacks are
usually painful, but that does not
mean we quit.”
The Apollo 11 launched on July
16 and on July 20, the lander
known as Eagle, touched down on
the surface of the moon.
It was technically July 21 when
Neil Armstrong took his giant
leap for mankind, followed shortly
after by Buzz Aldrin.
While the two were on the sur-
face, Michael Collins orbited the
moon in the command module.
Aldrin and Armstrong spent a
total of 21 hours and 36 minutes
on the moon’s surface before lift-
ing back off and connecting with
the command module for the ride
home.
“There are great ideas undis-
covered, breakthroughs available
to those who can remove one of
truth’s protective layers. There
are places to go beyond belief,”
Armstrong said.
On July 24, the crew splashed
down in the Pacific, completing a
historic 8-day journey that cap-
tured the attention of the world.
The three astronauts were cel-
ebrated as heroes with ticker-tape
parades in New York and Chicago.
Each were awarded the Presiden-
tial Medal of Freedom and em-
barked on a 38-day world tour
that reached 22 foreign countries.
For his part, Collins said the
world could benefit from taking a
higher level view.
“I really believe that if the po-
litical leaders of the world could
see their planet from a distance
of, let’s say 100,000 miles, their
outlook would be fundamentally
changed,” he said. “The all-impor-
tant border would be invisible,
that noisy argument suddenly si-
lenced.”
50 Years Ago - The Moon Landing