By Libbie Summers
Assisted by David Dempsey
July 20, 1969
The moonwalk, began at 10:39 p.m. when Commander Neil Armstrong of Apollo 11 opened the hatch of Eagle and backed outside, watched by Buzz Aldrin. He carefully moved down the ladder, turning on the TV camera on the way. His first step took place at 10:56 p.m. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he radioed Earth.
Armstrong quickly moved to take samples from nearby Eagle, and Aldrin followed him on to the surface. The moonwalk lasted 2.5 hours, in which time the men picked up several rock samples, deployed science experiments, erected a flag and took a phone call from U.S. President Richard Nixon. Eagle’s hatch was closed, astronauts inside, at 1:11 a.m. the next morning.
Today…I continue to celebrate that auspicious occasion with a silly drink that I think the astronauts would have found funny and delightfully delicious.
No comments yet. You should be kind and add one!