WEBVTT - How Going to the Moon Works 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.840 Hey, everybody comes see us, because we're coming to see you. Specifically, 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.160 if you live in Chicago. On July, we're gonna be 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:09.760 at the Harris Theater, and the following night we're going 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:12.000 to be at the Dan Fourth Music Hall in Toronto. 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:14.600 And that's just the beginning, that's right. We're also going 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:18.120 to our beloved Wilbur Theater, which we own in Boston 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:21.439 on October twenty nine, and then our first visit to Portland, 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.280 Maine at the State Theater in August. YEP. That's going 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:26.640 to be followed in October. We're gonna take a little 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.760 break because that's a lot of touring in October. On 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:31.800 the ninth we're going to be at the Plaza Live 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:34.760 in Orlando, and then on October ten, we're gonna be 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.680 at the Civic Theater in New Orleans, that's right. And 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:40.680 in October we're gonna round it all out at the 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:46.120 Bellhouse in Brooklyn for three shows October YEP. So go 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.960 to s y s K live dot com for tickets 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:52.040 and information, and we will see you starting this July 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:56.880 in Chicago. Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:05.360 of I Heart Radios. How Stuff Works, Hey, and welcome 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.360 to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck, 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.559 Brian over there, and there's Jerry over there, and this 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:17.679 is coming up on the fiftieth anniversary Chuck of the 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:24.039 first time humans ever set foot on the Moon. One 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:30.520 small step for podcasts. Oh wow, giant or podcasting. That's 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.240 a that's a really good nail, Arnce Sean, Oh boy, 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:36.760 that was dumb. I liked it though. I think this 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:39.720 serves as a companion piece to our June two, thou 0:01:39.920 --> 0:01:42.880 fourteen episode on the Space Race. Yeah, and was the 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.600 moon landing of hoax? We did that one too, Cheez, 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:49.320 did we do that silliness so long ago? Two? That 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.200 sounds about right. I think we landed on it not 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.040 being a hoax if I remember correctly, that's right. Yeah, 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:58.880 this is a good companion of the Space Race one. 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.600 I went back and watch the uh, the full CBS 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:06.360 broadcast of this. It's like two minutes long. Huh. It's 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.320 really cool. Yeah, I mean Cronkite is kind of crying. 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.200 It's easy. Well, he was a big cry baby. Everyone 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:14.720 knows that about cron cut He cried the drop of 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.520 the hat. Yeah, basically you should have seen him when 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:23.200 Princess die got married. Good lord, oh boy. So um, 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.960 there's nothing wrong with crying, Walter. No, so, Chuck, I 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:32.000 was reading about that, that transmission and the the it's 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.600 pretty amazing that the world got to see Neil Armstrong 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:39.359 and Buzz Aldrin bouncing around on the moon in the sixties. Yes, 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.480 in the sixties, at the end of the sixties. But 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.680 still this was far and away the first time anybody 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:46.919 had ever done anything like this. But what I did 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.120 not know until this very day is that the guy 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:55.000 who invented basically the the the whole setup for this 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.960 for Westinghouse, that that carried this out. Um, when he 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:03.160 saw that that that transmission come through, he was he 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:07.320 almost had a heart attack. It was way way worse 0:03:07.480 --> 0:03:10.800 visually than it was supposed to be. Okay, so he 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:14.120 was upset at the picture quality. Yes, he I know, 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.280 That's what I'm saying to Like, you see this and 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:19.520 you're like, wow, that's really good. No, this apparently he 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:24.200 had not factored in the compression that had to take 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.480 place from the signal, Like if you see the raw signal, 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.640 like it was just crisp and clear um or you 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:32.799 imagine it would be. It turns out NASA lost the 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:37.560 magnetic tapes that have the original raw signal on it um, 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:40.480 but when it was compressed for TV, it kind of 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:44.360 messed it up a little bit. But he he apparently 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:46.840 went with it and was like, that's still good. We're 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.560 still broadcasting live from the Moon, yeah, which is beaming 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:53.200 it down, then back up, then back down. Like what 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.320 what does he expect? I guess he was a bit 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:58.840 for perfectionist. So he had a heart attack dramatic. Well, 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:00.880 I said he had a heartest. Oh, I thought he 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:03.680 literally had a hard No, no, no, no, no, It's 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:08.400 like sure beats cron Kite. He just fell right over. 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:10.600 You know, it's funny as cron Kite missed the second 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.160 half of the quote he said, he said, that's one 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.840 small step for man. I didn't catch that second part. 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.880 And then a couple of minutes later, when Neil Armstrong 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:22.800 is talking about the the so he quickly goes in 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.400 you know, he has a great quote then kidding, No, 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:29.120 I'm serious. Uh So when Armstrong he says that great 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:31.080 quote and then he quickly kind of goes into work 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:33.599 mode and he's just talking about the surface of the Moon, 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:40.880 how it looks like charcoal us basically, and uh cron 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.679 Kite interrupts him basically and talks over him. He's like, okay, 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.560 we have the second part. Apparently he said one giant 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.159 leap for man kind. Okay. It's like, all right, well, 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.600 I have never seen that broadcast. It's kind of cool. 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:56.120 They have a simulation going, uh so you can you know, 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.200 a really kind of corny looking sixties simulation of the 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.280 lunar odile landing and then it picks up with the 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:05.000 live feed. Does it look like that mountain climber on 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:11.800 the prices right? It was an unlike that. So, for 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:13.800 those of you who haven't called on yet, we're talking 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.159 about the Apollo eleven moon landing, which happened on July 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:22.960 nineteen sixty nine. Um, and there was a lot of 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:26.400 work that went up to that. We didn't just happen overnight, 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:31.240 you know, and it actually all started. Um. A lot 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:33.800 of people trace it back to that speech that John 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:38.479 Kennedy gave at Rice University in Houston, Texas in nineteen 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:45.280 sixty one I believe, yeah, of ninety one. Yeah, where 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.400 he said that he basically challenged the United States to 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:50.680 go to the Moon to put a man on the 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:55.000 moon before the end of the decade, right, he said, 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.960 he said, we go to the moon not because it's easy, 0:05:58.000 --> 0:06:00.480 but because it's up there mocking us when we sleep. 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.480 He was quite insane. And I'm told it's made of cheese. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:11.080 They bring me some of that cheese. He turned into 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:17.400 Steinbrenner George Steimerer. So, yeah, this this is what really 0:06:17.440 --> 0:06:19.240 I mean, the space race had been going on, and 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:20.839 like I said, we did a pretty good show on 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:26.400 that uh and on June five, two fourteen. But you know, 0:06:26.520 --> 0:06:30.520 most of the nineteen fifties were consumed with the Russians 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:34.680 and the United States or the Soviets rather um just 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.120 sort of well we were in second place, but just 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:39.840 one after the other, like oh, they're doing this, and 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:41.479 we gotta do this, and they're doing this, and we 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.880 gotta do this, um and or or both pursuing the 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.320 same goal and the Soviets beating us to it almost 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:50.040 every time by three months, which is enough for the 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:53.080 world to be like, but boy, we got the last laugh. 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:55.640 We did. But that's what Kennedy went bankrupts. That's what 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.600 Kennedy was doing. Well, you can thank Reagan for that. Yeah, 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:02.359 that's what Kennedy was doing is he was upping the anties, like, 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:06.160 all right, enough of this tip fitat stuff. We're gonna 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:10.320 really stick it to him. And he said, we're going 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:12.480 to the Moon. We're gonna put a person on the moon, 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:13.880 a man on the moon. But you know, if it 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.240 were today, say human, yeah, and I think you know, well, 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:20.200 we'll talk more about what's actually gained by a manned 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:25.120 like sending a person to the moon. But beyond that, 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.600 it was very much a symbolic thing to do this 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.280 and to beat the Soviets there and to plant that 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.360 American flag firmly in that lunar soil. But that's one 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:39.760 one big reason why it was televised live from the moon. 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.920 Number one, we were showing we might say the moon world. 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.040 It was broadcasting around the world, but to it documented 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:48.520 it as proof that we were up there. To most people, 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.480 it was documented as proof. But then also there was 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:54.400 a certain amount of bravado in the fact that we 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.000 were broadcasting from the Moon live. So not only did 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.320 we accomplish this one feat of somebody people to the Moon, 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.680 we broadcasted at live, which is another feat as well. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.760 So we had the US Ranger program from six to 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:10.440 sixty five, and these are things that all you know, 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.760 Like you said, it was a long process, Yeah, building 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:14.880 up to actually putting people there, And it's easy to 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.040 overlook that that, like every every mission that was carried 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.640 out was a test or. They were trying to just 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.440 build it by step by stair, including like full on 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.880 dress rehearsals. Uh So, the Ranger program for four years 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:31.880 sent nine missions. They're collecting data basically two say here's 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.839 how we can do this. UM In sixty two, Ranger 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:39.679 four reached the surface but crashed. But then two years 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:43.520 after that, Ranger seven UM sent back more than four 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.000 thousand photographs. Not bad. Rangers six made it, but the 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:51.600 camera failed. But get this, Ranger three and five missed. 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.800 It was like, oh I can't. I mean, it's amazing 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.000 that we were able to put people on the Moon 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:00.320 and bring them back safely in a very short time. 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.600 Like when you imagine all of the things that can 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.480 go wrong and what year it was, it's just it's 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.160 nuts to think about. Yeah, so you said, Rangers seven 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.200 landed in nineteen sixty four and sent America back its 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:16.200 own first images of the Moon. Five years later, we 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:19.040 put humans on the moon that's a very short amount 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:24.160 of time. Yeah. Yeah, the Soviets were the first to um, 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:27.280 so you know these rangers, they were basically like take pictures, 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.440 take pictures, take pictures, crash right, right, But the Soviets 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:34.520 were the first ones who actually land gently land a 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.679 spacecraft on the Moon without just crashing into it. They 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.640 were also the first to the very first step with 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.559 lunar orbit. The second one was crashing on the Moon, 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.760 and then the third step was landing softly on the Moon. 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:48.960 And the Soviets beat us every step of the way, 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.640 that's right. Which so it was a kind of um, 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:55.000 gutsy for Kennedy to be like, we're going to be 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:57.360 the first of the Moon because we've been we've been 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:00.000 behind every step of the way. I bet the Moon 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:04.560 was like WTF, Like what's going on? I've been up 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.679 here for a long time and now there's just a 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.080 lot of activity getting on pock mark. People are crashing 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:12.320 stuff on me. Here's a dude, he's coming at me. 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:17.599 He's about to jump on me. That was the Moon's quote. Okay, 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:23.199 so all this led up to obviously, um, these these 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.280 tests pre flight test on the ground, which uh some 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:33.640 ended in tragedy. Notably in n a fire swept through 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:37.360 the Apollo command module and killed Gus grissom Ed White, 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:42.360 and Roger Chaffee. And that was um They dined with asphyxiation, 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:44.920 And after reading up on it, there was like there 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:48.119 were so many things wrong, Like their space suits were flammable, 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.160 they had a hatch door that opened in and like 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:54.160 took a long time to open. Well, the the UM 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.400 fire itself created a vacuum that made it impossible for 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:59.839 the hatch to open, Like there was it was impossible 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.560 where that hatched. It was a really really sad accident, 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.040 but it might have been one that was like like 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:06.840 I wish there weren't people involved, but it might have 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:10.080 been something necessary to you know, get everything right. It 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.920 definitely changed the mentality of the space program and that 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.760 safety became even more important. And I think Gus Grisson 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.240 was the first of the Mercury seven to die. Oh yeah, 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:24.240 very sad. Yeah forty one years old? Was he just 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:27.840 forty one? He looked way It's crazy, like what forty one? 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:30.640 What age that was back then? I think everyone that 0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:33.280 was like the thirty to sixty look the same pretty much, 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.600 you know. I can't deliverate pretty much. So we've we've 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:39.480 gone to lunar orbit, we've crashed landed on the Moon. 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:42.079 There's a there's a bunch of steps that we were 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:44.920 taking in that made up the space race. One of 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:50.520 the next one was to get somebody outside of Earth's 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.920 orbit and into lunar orbit. Big deal. The Soviets beat 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:58.439 us there too, but just very shortly after that, UM, 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:02.480 I think it was Apollo seven. Uh, spent a bunch 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:06.360 of time orbiting the Earth. I think they made it too. Oh, 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:08.640 I know the big the big thing about Apollo seven. 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:12.760 So we've gone We've gone from like Pioneer Ranger and 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:16.680 Pioneer Ranger and surveyor into now these are crude missions 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:21.320 the Apollo program. UM Apollo one and it in tragedy. Uh. 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.920 And then Apollo seven is where, um, it really starts 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.200 to become significant, where things are really picking up by 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.480 leaps and bounce. This is less than a year before 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.319 we would land on the Moon, and Apollo sevens big 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:36.600 one is that this is the first time that we're 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:42.280 testing the command module that we would use to send um, 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:46.320 Armstrong and Aldrin and Collins up to the Moon. Yeah, 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:48.719 so they ordered or orbited the Earth a hundred and 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:52.960 sixty three times, spent almost eleven days in space. So 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:57.199 that was a big success. This was Walter Shiara Jr. Uh, 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:02.079 Don Eassel and Walter Cunningham from Old him Uh. And 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.840 then Apollo eight was a big deal. Um. It was 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.840 happening so fast. That was seven was in October a 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.679 Polo eight was in December of the same year. UM. 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.520 And this was the first one to use h the 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:17.320 Saturn rocket, which was a big, big deal. Yeah, the 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:19.840 Saturn rocket is. Um. You can actually see one on 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:22.680 its side and walk right under it at Kennedy Space 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.600 Center the museum right and UM, it's bigger than I 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.800 think a thirty six story building. It's just this enormously 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.960 powerful rocket. And UM. When they started testing the Saturn, 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.560 this was this was like when the Saturn showed that 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.960 it would work, we people started to realize like we're 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.960 actually we might do this because we'd already tested out 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.199 the command module and UM. Now the Saturn was up 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:50.000 and the Saturn came in three stages. There was the 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.040 the first stage that produced like seven point seven million 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.160 pounds of thrust, which is a lot more than you 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:59.280 know you produce when you jump up in the air. 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:02.839 I looked, I looked for an analogy. I couldn't find 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.840 any good comparison. It's just a lot of thrust. Yeah, 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.560 So this was the thrust that got that. This is 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:11.000 the launch thrust. Yeah, it got you out of Earth's 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:13.480 gravity or the bulk of the gravity. And then so 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:16.600 that first big old stage would fall away, and then 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.680 the second stage got you all the way out of 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:23.280 Earth's gravity, and then the third stage of that second 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:26.240 stage you fall away. Then the third stage would propel 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.240 you to the moon. So it's a three stage rocket. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.720 And by the time that third stage had had fired 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:33.680 and got you up to top speed, you were going 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:37.000 something like twenty five thousand miles per hour in a 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:40.040 little capsule at the top of a rocket. It was. 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:43.800 It was a very amazing rocket. UM. And this test, 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.200 it was I will go to my grave saying that. 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.080 And this test of the Apollo A mission showed that 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:54.440 it would work. Yeah. So Apollo nine follows just two 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.560 and a half months, three months later, And this one 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:02.600 was a big deal because actually UM practice a very 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.520 important procedure, which was the docking between the command module 0:15:06.560 --> 0:15:09.760 and the lunar module. So you've got this Saturn rocket 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.840 that's providing the juice. Then you have the command module, 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:16.320 which is where essentially where you're you know, you're you're 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:19.240 flying what you would think of as the spaceship. It's 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.240 like the crew quarters. Yeah, yeah, that's where the crew 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:22.960 is, is is where they're flying. It's where they're eating and 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:26.800 pooping and sleeping. Uh. And then you actually need to 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:28.440 land on the Moon, and you don't do that in 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:30.480 the command module. You do that in the lunar module. 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.680 But those two guys have to connect, right, So the 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:38.840 command module and the lunar module for launch are facing 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:42.520 the same direction. But once they get out into a 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:46.400 lunar trajectory, I and I could not find why they 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.360 designed it like this. You couldn't either. But the the 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.320 lunar module, that thing that you've seen laying on the 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.600 Moon that looked just totally ungangly ungainly um had to 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:01.880 blast off and it was tethered m It blasted off, 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:07.000 turned around, and then redocked with the command module. Knows 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:10.040 to know. I don't think I'm surprised that there had 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.440 to be something they just couldn't figure out a work around. Four. 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:14.800 I would love to know anybody who knows, please write 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:17.600 in because I was looking all over for but consider this, Chuck. 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.160 You had two pieces of equipment that we're facing the 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.080 same direction and you had to turn one around and 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.040 face the other one in space at twenty five thousand 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:31.960 miles per hour. So that's pretty impressive that they were 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.640 able to do in the sixties, right, So this was 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:37.320 this was Apollo nine was the first to show this 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.320 is this is working, like this is going to work. 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.560 So they did that, and then Apollo ten was the one. 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.360 This was the last one in the dress rehearsal. The 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:51.680 Apollo ten astronauts you could call them um understudies, I guess, 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.000 so just really took it for the team. I mean 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.280 they did everything but touchdown on the Moon. Yeah, they 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.240 brought that. So they did this whole docking procedure where 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:03.640 the the lunar module was blasted off and turned around 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:07.080 and nose the nose connected to the command module, and 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.200 then they did the lunar landing thing where they blasted 0:17:10.200 --> 0:17:14.119 off the lunar module, brought it down within fifty feet 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:17.160 of the moon surface, and then took it back up 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:19.680 and redoct again. I wonder if they were like, it's 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:23.119 right there, maybe we should just I wonder too. Surely 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.240 they joked at least, yeah, probably, but there's probably a 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.320 lot of humor going on. I would hope so. But 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.199 the whole mission, though, is you've got this this command 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.439 module and the lunar module and the command module. When 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:35.880 the lunar module goes down to the Moon and then 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.840 back up, the command modules just flying around in a 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:43.440 lunar orbit waiting to rendezvous again. So they did everything 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:45.439 but touchdown and then they came back. And when they 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:48.399 came back, they said, we're ready. This is it that 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.840 we're ready? Yeah, hint hint uh. And that was like 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:55.560 two months before A followed eleven left it off. Should 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.160 we take a break? I think so? All right, let's 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.760 take a break and talk about the stars of the show, 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:33.120 Polo eleven. I also want to shout out Apollo ten, 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.320 by the way. Um, So, with Apollo eleven, the command 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.240 module was named Colombia and the lunar module was famously 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.199 named Eagle. In Apollo ten, the command module was Charlie 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.560 Brown and the lunar module was Snoopy, which I love. 0:18:47.760 --> 0:18:53.119 That's pretty sweet. Yeah, so everyone knows the three human 0:18:53.160 --> 0:18:56.560 beings that we sent up in Apollo eleven Commander Neil Armstrong, 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:01.159 Lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, and the other guy, I know, 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:04.840 poor Michael Collins. Yeah, Command module pilot, Michael Collins, and 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:07.719 you really like we want to sing his praises because 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:10.800 it stinks to be known as the other guy. I 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:14.880 would imagine everyone remembers those other two names. Ask Roger Daltry. 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:20.240 They got what they got to, uh, walk around on 0:19:20.240 --> 0:19:25.280 the moon while Michael Collins essentially babysat the command module 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:27.800 in the command module eating ho hoes, waiting for them 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.800 to come back. That's that's unselfish, extremely and I'm sure 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.439 they were assigned these roles because of their you know 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.080 what they had trained for. But to be the guy 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:40.240 that's like, yeah, you know what, that's okay, Yeah, I'll 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.680 be number three. That's what he did, though. He sat 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:44.560 up there with the command module and made sure it's 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.040 stayed in orbit and that's right, just waited for the 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:51.159 dudes to come back. So hats off to you, Michael Collins. Alright, 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:56.440 So July in the morning, I'm so excited Apollo eleven 0:19:57.280 --> 0:20:01.440 lists off from JF Case Base Center at Cape Canaveral. 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:07.280 It's no, no coincidence there. He said, our go get 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:11.199 him and name it after me. So it was a 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:15.040 it was a huge moment um for the sort of 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:17.520 the end of the space race, you know, if it 0:20:17.560 --> 0:20:20.240 all went well, if it all went well. So remember 0:20:20.240 --> 0:20:24.240 we practiced everything up to the actual landing. We'll get 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:27.679 to the landing in a second, but um buzz Aldern 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:31.080 later said that he was the most worried about the 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.240 landing because they were the most unknowns, the most questions remaining, 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.720 because it was the one thing that hadn't been studied 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.600 and practiced and done before, and it was up to 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.800 these guys. This is the last thing, the last part 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:45.000 of this whole thing, and no one had done it. 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.320 And so when they took off at two they went through. 0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:51.240 Everything just went perfectly. The first stage fired fine, second 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.000 stage fired fine. The third stage got him into a 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.879 lunar trajectory. And I think they traveled this two and 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.080 thirty eight thousand miles uh over about two and a 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:04.520 half days before they started to reach lunar orbit. Yeah, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.520 so on July nineteenth is when they enter that orbit. 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:11.320 They spent about a day there. Um sort of, you know, 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:14.959 there's a lot of checking on things you don't just 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.240 you know, like plow ahead with her your plan. You 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.199 take a day once you get up there to make 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:23.640 sure everything's working there, checking the communication systems, and basically 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:28.960 preparing for the big uh, the big show to come, 0:21:29.359 --> 0:21:33.720 convincing Michael Collins that he couldn't come. Sorry, still drawing 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:37.480 straws up there in the orbit. So here was the 0:21:37.560 --> 0:21:39.440 kind of cool thing that I think, maybe if you 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:43.119 don't know this full story that's really pretty remarkable is 0:21:43.160 --> 0:21:47.119 the lunar module was supposed to basically land on autopilot, 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:50.240 but they saw where they were headed. Uh they didn't 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.520 you know, the Moon doesn't have atmosphere. They had never 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:55.800 really done this, so they didn't know exactly how to 0:21:55.840 --> 0:21:59.280 calculate their altitude and air speed and realize in short 0:21:59.400 --> 0:22:03.080 order they were ahead toward a crater with very steep, 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.360 sharp rims, and landing either on those rims or down 0:22:06.440 --> 0:22:10.520 in that crater was no good. So Neil Armstrong said, 0:22:11.359 --> 0:22:13.840 screw it, I'm gonna fly this baby down. He did. 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.400 He wasn't even the lunar module pilot. He just took over, 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.399 I guess as commander because if they were going to 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:22.320 crash it was gonna be on him. I need to 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.200 see this movie. Have you seen it? No, not yet. 0:22:24.560 --> 0:22:27.879 And there's another documentary I think just called Apollo eleven 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.040 that's coming out. Oh, it'll have been out because we're 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:34.240 releasing this around the anniversary. So I think it came 0:22:34.240 --> 0:22:39.200 out in late June, maybe on CNN or something, right, Yeah, So, um, 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.080 so Armstrong had to take over the controls and again, 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:44.800 no one had ever done this before. And this guy 0:22:44.880 --> 0:22:50.159 is landing a lunar module basically manually, and this was unscheduled. 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:52.760 He had to make the thing travel further away from 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:54.520 the spot I was going to land. And so when 0:22:54.520 --> 0:22:58.840 they finally landed, um, they had something like thirty seconds 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:01.720 of fuel left nuts and it was a little hairy. 0:23:01.800 --> 0:23:05.000