Tag Archives: Eagle

14 October 1997

October 14, 2023Aviation84-046, Ace, Charles E. Yeager, Charles Elwood Yeager, Chuck Yeager, Eagle, Edwards Air Force Base, F-15D-38-MC, Fiftieth Anniversary, Fighter Pilot, Glamorous Glennis III, McDonnell Douglas F-15D Eagle, Sound Barrier, Supersonic Flight, Test PilotBryan Swopes

YEAGER, Charles E. (Chuck), Brigadier General, USAF, (Retired) at Edwards AFB, 14 October 1998, photograph © 2010 by Tim Bradley Imaging — Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager, United States Air Force (Retired), photographed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, 14 October 1997, the Fiftieth Anniversary of his historic supersonic flight. (Photograph used with permission. © 2010, Tim Bradley Imaging)

14 October 1997: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of his historic supersonic flight in the Bell X-1 research rocketplane, Brigadier General Charles Elwood (“Chuck”) Yeager, United States Air Force (Retired) once again broke the Sound Barrier when he flew over Edwards Air Force Base in a McDonnell Douglas F-15D-38-MC Eagle, serial number 84-046. Lieutenant Colonel Troy Fontaine flew in the rear seat of the two-place fighter. Glamorous Glennis III was painted on the Eagle’s nose.

The Associated Press reported that an estimated 1,000 spectators were at Edwards Air Force Base in the high desert north of Los Angeles, California, to see this historic flight.

My friend, aviation photographer Tim Bradley, and I were there. Tim took the photograph above a few minutes after General Yeager landed. As he concluded his comments to the crowd, he said, “All that I am. . . I owe to the Air Force.”

Chuck Yeager, 50th Anniversary of Mach One Flight — Brigadier General Charles E. Yeager, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), with *Glamorous Glennis III*, an F-15D Eagle, 84-046, at Edwards Air Force Base, October 1997. (U.S. Air Force)

21 July 1969, 17:54:00 UTC, T + 124:22:00.79

July 21, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Ascent Stage, Astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Columbia, Command and Service Module, CSM-107, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Michael Collins, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

Apollo 11 LM Eagle Ascent Stage approaching CSM Columbia in Lunar Orbit, 21 July 1969. (Michael Collins/National Aeronautics and Space Administration AS11-44-6642) — The Ascent Stage of the Lunar Module *Eagle* (LM-5) approaches the Command/Service Module *Columbia* in Lunar Orbit, approximately 2130 UTC, 21 July 1969. (Michael Collins, NASA)

21 July 1969: After spending a total of 21 hours, 36 minutes, 21 seconds on the surface of The Moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin fired the rocket engine of the Lunar Module’s Ascent Stage. The liftoff was at 17:54 UTC.

Three hours and forty minutes later, the Eagle ascent stage docked with Columbia, the Command/Service Module, in lunar orbit.

Apollo 11 Command and Service Module Columbia (CSM-107) in Lunar Orbit — The Apollo 11 Command and Service Module, *Columbia* (CSM-107), in Lunar Orbit, as seen from the Lunar Module, *Eagle*. (NASA)

21 July 1969, 02:56:15 UTC, T + 109:24:15

July 21, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronaut, Eagle, First Step, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, Neil A. Armstrong, Neil Alden Armstrong, Neil ArmstrongBryan Swopes

Apollo 11 Lunar Module, with Neil Armstrong, first step, 0256 UTC 21 July 1969 — Neil Armstrong steps onto the Moon, 10:56:15 p.m. EDT, 20 July 1969. (NASA)

10:56:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Sunday, 20 July 1969 (02:56:15, 21 July 1969 UTC): 109 hours, 24 minutes, 15 seconds after the Apollo 11/Saturn V was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, NASA Astronaut Neil Alden Armstrong set foot on the surface of the Moon.

“That’s one small step for a man. . . one giant leap for mankind.”

This was the most significant event in the history of mankind.

Neil Alden Armstrong inside the Lunar Module on the surface of the Moon, 20 July 1969 — Neil Alden Armstrong inside the Lunar Module *Eagle* on the surface of the Moon, 21 July 1969. (Edwin E. Aldrin/NASA)

20 July 1969, 20:17:39 UTC, T + 102:45:39.9

July 20, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, LM-5, Lunar Landing, Manned Space Flight, Mare Tranquillitatis, Moon Shot, NASA, Neil Alden Armstrong, Tranquility BaseBryan Swopes

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle shortly after separation from the Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins/National Aeronautics and Space Administration AS11-44-6598) — Apollo 11 LM -5, *Eagle*, just after separation from the Command/Service Module in Lunar Orbit, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins/NASA)

102:45:25 Aldrin: Four forward. Four forward. Drifting to the right a little. Twenty feet, down a half.

102:45:31 Duke: Thirty seconds (until the ‘Bingo’ call).

102:45:32 Aldrin: Drifting forward just a little bit; that’s good.

(Pause)

102:45:40 Aldrin: Contact Light.

102:45:43 Armstrong: Shutdown.

102:45:44 Aldrin: Okay. Engine Stop.

102:45:45 Aldrin: ACA out of Detent.

102:45:46 Armstrong: Out of Detent. Auto.

102:45:47 Aldrin: Mode Control, both Auto. Descent Engine Command Override, Off. Engine Arm, Off. Four-thirteen is in.

102:45:57 Duke: We copy you down, Eagle.

102:45:58 Armstrong: Engine arm is off. (Pause) Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Tranquility Base. The shadow of the Lunar Module Eagle cast of the surface of Mare Tranquillitaris, 20 Jukt 1969. (Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr./National Aeornautics and Space Administration AS11-37-5454) — The shadow of the LM *Eagle* cast on the lunar surface at Mare Tranquillitatis, 20 July 1969. The hills are raised portions of the rim of a 200 meter crater and are about 200 meters from the LM. (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr./NASA)

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100:40:01.9

July 20, 2023Space FlightApollo 11, Apollo Program, Astronauts, Command and Service Module, Eagle, Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr, Lunar Landing, Lunar Module, Manned Space Flight, Michael Collins, Moon Landing, Moon Shot, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Neil Alden ArmstrongBryan Swopes

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle shortly after separation from teh Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (NASA) — The Apollo 11 Lunar Module *Eagle*, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard, shortly after separation from the Command and Service Module, in orbit around the Moon, 20 July 1969. (Michael Collins, NASA)

20 July 1969, 18:12:01 UTC, T + 100 hours, 40 minutes, 1.9 seconds: The Lunar Module Eagle completes the separation maneuver, moving away from the Apollo 11 Command and Service Module Columbia.

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