NASA’s Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Canaveral on July 16, 1969, on a three-day voyage to the Moon. Apollo 11 saw US astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin take to the skies for the first ever human moonwalk. The monumental journey was full of poignant and inspiring moments as the three men achieved the unachievable. And thankfully for us today, NASA’s Mission Control kept a record of all of its communication channels with Apollo 11 in a detailed travel log.
On the fourth day of the lunar voyage, when Apollo had begun to approach the Moon, a quick exchange between Commander Armstrong and Mission Control caught one of the more touching moments of the journey.
At 71 hours, 59 minutes and 20 seconds into the trip, Apollo 11 was already caught in the Moon’s gravity and accelerating towards the most crucial part of the mission.
It was then, that Apollo 11 passed through the Moon’s shadow and revealed the true expanse of space before the astronauts.
Up until that point, the astronauts were not able to clearly see the stars and the Sun from the Apollo 11 Service Module.
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Commander Armstrong told Mission Control: “Houston, it’s been a real change for us.
“Now we’re able to see stars again and recognise constellations for the first time on the trip.
“It’s – the sky is full of stars. Just like the night side of Earth.
“But all the way here, we’ve only been able to see stars occasionally and perhaps through the monocular but not recognise any star patterns.”
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NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless, who was communicating with Apollo 11, replied: “I guess it’s turned into night up there really, hasn’t it?.”
Commander Armstrong silly replied that it “really has”.
About 30 minutes later, NASA’s Mission Control read out the day’s news headlines to the astronauts alongside some messages from their families.
Mr McCandless said: “West Germany has declared Monday to be Apollo Day. School children in Bavaria have been given the day off.
“Post Office clerks have been encouraged to bring radios to work and Frankfurt is installing TV sets in public places.”
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And astronaut Fred Haise, who was in on the conversation, said: “Back here in Houston, your three wives and children got together for lunch yesterday at Buzz’s house.
“And according to Pat, it turned out to be a gab-fest. The children swam and did some high jumping over Buzz’s bamboo pole.”
Apollo 11 reached its destination on July 20, 1969, but it would take another six hours of preparations before Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon, just before 3am UTC on July 21.
Around 650 million people all around the globe watched the incredible moment unfold live on TV, broadcast from the surface of the Moon.
After spending a total of 21 hours and 36 minutes on the Moon, Apollo 11 touched back down on Earth on July 24.