Mission Details
| Mission Name: Apollo 11 |
| Mission Type: Crewed Lunar Lander |
| Operator: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) |
| Launching State: United States |
| Location: Sea of Tranquillity |
| Latitude: 0.67322 |
| Longitude: 23.47315 |
| Launch Date: 16 July 1969, 13:32:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 20 July 1969, 20:17:40 UT |
| Crew: Neil Armstrong, commander; Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot; Michael Collins, command module pilot |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Lunar Module Eagle (Descent Stage) Messages of Peace Spring Scales (two left on site) Scongs Hasselblad Data Camera Hasselblad Lunar Surface Superwide Angle Cameras Lunar Surface Close-up Steroscopic Camera Solar Wind Composition Staff Arm rests (four on site) Handle of Contingency Lunar Sample Return Container Small Scoop Trenching Tool Mesa Bracket Document Sample Box Seal Film Magazines (two sets left on site) Storage Container Empty Tripod Handle/Cable Assembly for Television Camera York Mesh Packing Material SWC Bag (extra) Core Tube Bits (two left on site) Environment Sample Containers “O” Rings (two left on site) Sample Return Container Seal Protectors (two left on site) ESC Bracket OPS Brackets (two left on site) Stainless Steel Cover Left Hand Side Stowage Compartment Insulating Blanket Small Aluminum Capsule Passive Seismic Experiment Gold Olive Branch Flag Kit Apollo 1 Patch Cosmonaut Medals Lunar Module Eagle (Ascent Stage) Laser Range Reflector Plaque Filter, Polarizing Portable Life Support Systems (PLSS) (two left on site) Remote Control Units for PLSS (two left on site) Defecation Collection Device (Four left on site) Lunar Overshoes (two pairs left on site) Pressure Garment Assembly Gas Connector Covers (two left on site) Lunar Equipment Conveyor Waist Tether Kit Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC) Bag, Deployment, Life Line Bag for Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC) Life Line, lightweight Lunar Equipment Conveyor Waist Tether for Extra Vehicular Activity Food Assembly (4 crew days), Beef and Vegetables Food Assembly (4 crew days), Day 3 Meal Food Assembly (4 crew days), Peaches TV Subsystem Lunar Television Camera Wide Angle Television Lens Wide Angle Television Lens Television Cable Assembly (100ft) Adapter, SRC/OPS (two left on site) ECS LiOH Cannister (two left on site) Small Urine Collection Assembly (two left on site) Large Urine Collection Assembly (two left on site) Emesis Bag (four left on site) Disposal Container Assembly Disposal Container Assembly PLSS Condensate Container S-Band Antenna Cable for S-Band Antenna Lunar Equipment Transfer Bag Pallet assembly #1 Central Station Pallet Assembly #2 Primary structure assembly Hammer Large Lunar Sample Scoop Extension Handle Tongs Gnomon (Excludes mount) Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The mission of the Apollo program was to perform a crewed lunar landing. The first four flights, including Apollo 10, tested the equipment used to ultimately place humans on the lunar surface.
The first Apollo flight happened in 1968. The first Moon landing took place in 1969. The last Moon landing was in 1972. A total of twelve humans walked on the Moon as a result of the Apollo program. The astronauts conducted scientific research, studied the lunar surface and collected Moon rocks to bring back to Earth.
Per NASA: “The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.
Additional flight objectives included scientific exploration by the lunar module, or LM, crew; deployment of a television camera to transmit signals to Earth; and deployment of a solar wind composition experiment, seismic experiment package and a Laser Ranging Retroreflector.
During the exploration, the two astronauts were to gather samples of lunar-surface materials for return to Earth. They also were to extensively photograph the lunar terrain, the deployed scientific equipment, the LM spacecraft, and each other, both with still and motion picture cameras. This was to be the last Apollo mission to fly a “free-return” trajectory, which would enable a return to Earth with no engine firing, providing a ready abort of the mission at any time prior to lunar orbit insertion.”
Read more:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
Heritage Consideration
The Apollo 11 site contain the bootprints of the first human steps ever taken on another celestrial body besides Earth. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin left a number of items on the site including a disc with messages of peace from the leaders of 74 Earth nations. Astronaut Michael Collins was the Command Module pilot and orbited the Moon while Aldrin and Armstrong were on its surface.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Lunar Module Eagle (Descent Stage) | |
| Cospar: 1969-059C | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: 0.67408˚ N, 23.47297˚ E | |
| Launch Date: 16 July 1969, 13:32:00 UT | |
| Landing Date: 20 July 1969, 20:17:40 UT | |
| Deployment: N/A | |
| End Date: 22 July 1969, [time to be inserted] | |
| Function: The Saturn V rocket consisted of a 3-stage launching system. The third stage, the SIVB, was used to propel the docked Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module from Earth orbit into lunar trajectory. | |
| Image Sources: NASA and the Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institution |
Description
Per the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the lunar module had two stages:
1. A silver-and-black ascent stage, containing the crew’s pressurized compartment and the clusters of rockets that controlled the spacecraft.
2. A gold-and-black descent stage, similar to the ascent stage, containing a main, centrally located rocket engine and tanks of fuel and oxidizer. The descent (lower) stage was equipped with a rocket motor to slow the rate of descent to the lunar surface. It contained exploration equipment and remained on the Moon when the astronauts left. The ascent (upper) stage contained the crew compartment and a rocket motor to return the astronauts to the orbiting command module. After the crew entered the command module for the trip back to Earth, the lunar module was released and eventually crashed into the Moon. To rejoin the command module, the astronauts fired the ascent-stage rocket engine and lifted off, leaving the descent stage on the Moon. The ascent stage met and docked with the command module in lunar orbit. The ascent stage then was programmed to crash into the Moon.
A commemorative plaque is affixed to the ladder on the descent stage of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing Module. Each of the Apollo lunar landing missions included a similar plaque. The plaque is stainless steel and measures 22.9 by 19.4 centimeters. The plaque bears the inscription: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” It also bears the signatures of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin”Buzz” Aldrin, Michael Collins and United States President Richard Nixon. Pictures of the two hemispheres of Earth are also depicted on the plaque.
Read more:
https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/apollo-11/about-the-spacecraft.cfm
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Messages of Peace |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 16 July 1969, 13:32:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 21 July 1969, 20:17:40 UT |
| Deployment: 21 July 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: N/A |
| Function: Symbolic. |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
A small silicon disc carrying messages of goodwill from leaders of 74 countries around the world was left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts. Each message – some handwritten, others typed – was reduced 200 times to a size much smaller than the head of a pin and appears on the disc as a barely visible dot. The disc remains on the lunar surface, protected within an aluminum capsule.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Spring Scales (two left on site) |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 16 July 1969, 13:32:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 21 July 1969, 20:17:40 UT |
| Deployment: 21 July 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: N/A |
| Function: Weigh material. |
| Image Sources: NASA and Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institute |
Description
There were strict limits on the weight of materials that could be loaded into the lunar module and returned to Earth. On Apollo 11 and 12 a heavier scale was used, replaced on later missions by a more compact device.
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Scongs |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 16 July 1969, 13:32:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 21 July 1969, 20:17:40 UT |
| Deployment: 21 July 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: N/A |
| Function: Collect samples. |
| Image Sources: NASA and Air and Space Museum Smithsonian Institute |
Description
Combination scoop-and-tong for obtaining small samples of soil and rocks.
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