Tag Archives: Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr

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

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.

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

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

21 July 1969

Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon, 21 July 1969. (Neil A. Armstrong, NASA AS11-40-5903HR)

21 July 1969: Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on the surface of The Moon in a photograph taken by Neil Alden Armstrong.

The reflection of the Lunar Module Eagle and of Armstrong can be seen in Aldrin’s face plate.

Buzz Aldrin and the flag of the United States of America on the surface of The Moon, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstong/NASA)

“We choose to go to the moon. 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. . . .”

—President John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module Eagle after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA)
Buzz Aldrin in the Lunar Module Eagle after the EVA, 21 July 1969. (Neil Armstrong, NASA)

© 2017, Bryan R. Swopes

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

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.

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)

© 2018, Bryan R. Swopes

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

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.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes

19 July 1969, 22:42 UTC, T + 81:10

Colonel Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr., United States Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astronaut, in the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Eagle, 20 July 1969. (Neil Alden Armstrong/NASA)

19 July 1969, 22:42 UTC, T + 81 hours, 10 minutes: Just over 58 minutes since the Apollo 11 spacecraft entered a circular orbit around the Moon, Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin entered the Lunar Module Eagle to power it up and start systems checks in preparation for the descent to the Lunar surface.

© 2015, Bryan R. Swopes