In the Shadow of the Moon Page #4

behalf of all Mankind.

Collins:
I had the feeling

the whole world was watching us.

So, not only do I have

a lot of things I can do wrong,

but the consequences

should I do them wrong

are going to be immediately obvious

to three billion people

and... that's

a worrisome thought.

Capcom:
T-minus ten minutes

and counting, t-minus ten.

We're aiming for our planned lift-off

at 32 minutes past the hour.

This is Kennedy launch control.

Aldrin:
I don't know why

people who have not been on rockets

continue to ask

"You were not scared? "

No, we were not scared!

Until something happens,

then it's time to get scared.

Capcom:
We're just past

the two minute mark in the countdown,

t-minus 1 minute, 54 seconds.

Collins:
The countdown

is a very negative thing.

You just hope nothing goes wrong.

You think, "oh, whoosh,

we got by that one

and maybe

we'll get by that one..."

and then when you get

very close to launch,

suddenly, it's like someone turned on

a big electric light bulb,

You think, "You know,

I think we're really going to go, you know,

I think it's going to happen.

We're going to leave!"

Capcom:

Astronauts report it feels good.

T-minus 25 seconds...

T-minus 15 seconds.

Guidance is internal.

Ignition sequence starts.

Six, five, four,

Three, two, one, zero.

[Engines roaring]

Aldrin:

At the moment of lift-off,

There were numbers

changing on the dashboard,

there were sounds

indicating in the voice loop

that we'd had lift-off,

but what did we feel?

I think we felt,

in those early moments,

that we were not attached

to the ground any more,

but there was

a slight hunting, maybe,

of the guidance system.

I'd describe it as a nervous novice

driving a wide car down a narrow alley.

You know, you've got to make corrections,

you're not quite sure.

You zig this way and that way...

And what it is,

it's those big motors underneath

"gimbaling", you know,

swivelling back and forth

to keep you in balance.

This thing is a pencil as it goes up

and it has to be

balanced very precisely.

And the gimbaling of the motors,

you feel in the seat of your pants

and thinking, "Gee, that launch tower

is just a few feet off to one side.

I hope this sucker ain't gonna gimbal over

in that direction too much."

And then when they tell

you launch tower clear,

you kind of say, "Oh, whoosh,

that's good. We don't have to worry

about hitting that moose."

And then off you go from there.

[Music playing]

Will metal

stand this kind of vibration?

Have the engineers realized

how this thing shakes?

Because it shakes and vibrates

so much more than I ever imagined.

Lovell:
When they open up

the fuel manifolds,

we could hear the fuel

rumble down these huge pipes.

Then it dawned on me,

from an emotional point of view,

that we're going to go to the Moon.

Mitchell:

The sound and the reverberations

coming from those engines,

those five engines

when they're ignited,

it shakes the whole body,

the reverberations from it.

It's very emotional.

Scott:

You're not just riding along.

A lot of people think

you're just lying on your back

waiting for it to happen.

But not really,

because every second

is something of significance.

Duke:
I found out

from the flight surgeon later on

that my heartbeat

was a 144 at lift-off.

John's was 70.

Yeah, well, I told him.

I said mine was too old

to go any faster. Yeah.

I was wondering, why did we do

all these launch simulations?

If I had had to reach a switch

with all of that vibration going on

I wouldn't have quite been sure

where I was putting my hand.

Cernan:

We were on our way.

Man:
[On radio]

What a ride, babe, what a ride!

Cernan:
I had control of that vehicle

right in the palm of my hands.

If the guidance failed

or started to stray

or went somewhere we didn't like,

or the Ground didn't like,

I could flip a switch

and I could control seven...

over seven and a half million pounds

of rocket thrust with this handle

and fly the thing to the Moon myself.

And I guarantee you, I had practiced it

and trained for it so many times,

I almost dared...

I almost dared her to quit on me.

Every breath she breathed,

I breathed with her.

She was uniquely something special

and what a hell of a ride she gave us.

[Music playing]

Duke:
We had been warned

about shutdown with the Saturn

because you go

from four and a half Gs

to zero just like that.

[Finger snap]

And this big fireball

comes roaring up

the length of that booster...

And just...

Out in front of you

then the second stage fires

and you fly right through the fireball

and you're on your way again.

Capcom:
Roger, Houston,

you are go for staging.

[Music playing]

[Radio chatter]

Capcom:
[On radio]

Houston, thrusters go, all engines.

You're looking good.

Man:
[On radio] Roger, hearing you

loud and clear, Houston.

[Music playing]

Man:
[On radio]

Tower's gone.

Capcom:

Roger, tower.

Man:
[On radio] Yeah!

They finally gave me a window to look out!

Collins:

You go up into Earth orbit

and you go around the Earth once

and again that's a busy time,

because you want to make sure

that everything on board

is working properly

before you set sail for the Moon.

Capcom:
[On radio]

Apollo 11, this is Houston.

You are go for TLI. Over.

Man:
[On radio]

Apollo 11, thank you.

Collins:
And then you get

the word you're go for TLI

and that means you can ignite the motor

and head on off to

the Moon and you do,

and you go, and that's it!

Man:
[On radio]

Ignition.

We confirm ignition and the thrust is go.

Just a second.

Apollo 11, out.

[Music playing]

Get out.

Climb velocity 35,570 feet per second.

Altitude, 177 nautical miles.

Man:
[On radio]

Houston, Apollo 11,

that Saturn gave us a magnificent ride.

Capcom:
Uh, roger, 11,

we'll pass that on.

And it kind of looks

like you're on your way now.

[Music playing]

In Earth orbit, the horizon's

just slightly curved.

When you head on out to the Moon,

in very short order,

and you get a chance

to look back at the Earth,

that horizon slowly curves

around in upon itself

and all of a sudden,

you're looking at something...

that's very strange

but yet is very, very familiar

because you're beginning

to see the Earth evolve.

I was able to look out the window

to see this incredible sight

of the whole circle of the Earth.

Oceans were crystal blue,

the land was brown,

and the clouds and the

snow were pure white

and that jewel of Earth

was just hung up in

the blackness of space.

The only people that have seen

the whole circle of the Earth

are the 24 guys that went to the Moon.

Mitchell:

When you see Earth like that, it's powerful.

Not... Not even bigger

than that, way up there.

Collins:
How peaceful and calm

and quiet and serene it looked,

how fragile it appeared.

That was the... oddly enough...

the overriding sensation I got

looking at the Earth was,

"My God, that little thing

is so fragile out there."

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes