1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,440 Speaker 1: Nine Days in July is a production of I Heart 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Radio and trade Craft Studios in association with High five Content. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: September three, in the air of Page or nine, Korea. 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: Do you hear that sound? That's the roar of a 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: Grummin F nine panther holding the stick is a twenty 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: one year old well boy. He's a newly minted lieutenant 7 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: junior grade and he's only been in the Navy for 8 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,280 Speaker 1: two and a half years. It's the height of the 9 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: Korean War. Our pilot is in one of five U. S. 10 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: Navy Fighter jets flying over a narrow road known as 11 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: Green six. The ground is blurring beneath him at three 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty miles per hour. The squadron's mission is 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: to bomb some freight yards and a bridge the enemy 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: is using to resupply their troops. Well, the men have 15 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: been warned they're going into a hot zone. None are 16 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:02,440 Speaker 1: prepared for what they encounter at three o'clock's slip information. 17 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: According to one of the pilots, the anti aircraft fire 18 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: was so thick it looked as if he could have 19 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: climbed out of his jet and walked on top Beyond 20 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: the pilot in the jet. Just in front of ours 21 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:23,399 Speaker 1: is Lieutenant Frank Sistruct. He's heading for the bridge. The 22 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: lead panther is struck. Lieutenant Sistructs aircraft spirals into the ground, 23 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,839 Speaker 1: exploding on impact. Our pilot doesn't have time to mourn 24 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:38,040 Speaker 1: or panic. He inhales deeply and takes a His aircraft 25 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: is also hit. As he wrestles to maintain control, his 26 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: panther plows into a metal cable strung across the valley 27 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,639 Speaker 1: as a booby trap for low flying aircraft. The cable 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: slices through the panther's right wing, sharing off nearly six feet, 29 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,160 Speaker 1: narrowly missing the cockpit. Our pilot manages to stay locked 30 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: just long enough to return to friendly territory, but there 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: is no away. He's landing this plane. Facing an impossible decision, 32 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 1: He has no choice but to eject over a rice pat, 33 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: cracking his helmet in half and breaking his tailbone in 34 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:18,679 Speaker 1: the process. This is a polo control at twenty two 35 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:23,119 Speaker 1: hours forty nine minutes ground the lapsed time spacecraft communicator 36 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: here in mission control, Bruce McCandless is standing by to 37 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: make a call to the crew. It's July sev nineteen 38 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: sixty nine, day two of the Apollo eleven mission. Apollo 39 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: eleven has left planet Earth and is on its way 40 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: to the Moon. As the crew begins their first full 41 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,600 Speaker 1: day in space, it's the perfect time to tell you 42 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: how Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins became the 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: Dream Team, as well as how a handful of kids 44 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: built Mission Control. But first, let's check in with the 45 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: capsule communicator, who's decided it's time to wake our crew 46 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,959 Speaker 1: with some morning news from Earth eleven. When you're really 47 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: to copy the eleven I've got in the morning nude. 48 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: This will become a tradition. Each day the capcom and 49 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 1: mission control will let the astronauts know what's going on 50 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:13,560 Speaker 1: on the planet they left behind. Okay, we're all immigration 51 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: of facial and Louva. Laredo announced Wednesday that hippies will 52 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: be refused third Guard banner Mexico and large. They take 53 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: a bath and get haircut. It's sometimes hard to remember 54 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 1: given all of these clean cut NASA types running around 55 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:28,959 Speaker 1: that nineteen sixty nine was also the epicenter of the 56 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: hippie movement. For historical context, the Woodstock Music Festival, perhaps 57 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: the most famous expression of hippie culture is less than 58 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: one month away. But the House of Lords was assured 59 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: one day that I made the American submarine would not 60 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: quote damage or a full unquote. They locked as monker 61 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: in one the British tabloid Daily Express said no one 62 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: will ever understand Lockness. Its conquest will be a greater 63 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: triumph than the conquest of the mood. Fitting then that 64 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: the old Georgia man named Dan Taylor built a yellow 65 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 1: submarine in his garage and shipped it to Scotland, where 66 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: he planned to fire biopsy darts into the creature so 67 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: scientists could figure out exactly what it was. Luckily, the 68 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: most famous sea monster in history was safe from the 69 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: midget sub The Locknest Monster was nowhere to be found. 70 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: That's Apollo control. Pollo eleven's distance from Earth is three 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: eight nautical miles velocity five thousand, four hundred eleven feet 72 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: per second. Uh, the Earth should be a lot more 73 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: in your field of you today, and I'm sure you're 74 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: a lot more qualified to tell us about that than 75 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 1: we are. It's true. Exactly one day after their Saturn 76 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: five left the Earth, Michael thinks to himself that his 77 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: home planet appears no larger than the watch face on 78 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: his wrist. It's really a fantasticing we all end view. 79 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: The view up there today is all about mission critical housekeeping, 80 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: ensuring their metallic home, currently moving at nearly thirty seven 81 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 1: hundred miles an hour, remains in tip top shape. This 82 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: means purging fuel cells, stirring oxygen tanks, recharging batteries, dumping wastewater, 83 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: and chlorinating their drinking water. All of it is essential 84 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: to getting them from here to where they need to go. 85 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: Remember the story that opened our show, our pilot whose 86 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: F nine panther was so badly damaged that he had 87 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: to eject over a rice patty, breaking both his helmet 88 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: and his tailbone. While that pilot was none other than 89 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: Neil Armstrong. It's time to meet the astronauts of Apollo eleven. 90 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:41,679 Speaker 1: Neil Armstrong was born on August fifth, nineteen thirty, in Wapakanetta, Ohio, 91 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: a small town of barely five thousand people. James Hansen 92 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: wrote Neil's definitive biography, First Man, from the time he 93 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: was this very small boy who became passionate about the 94 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,360 Speaker 1: whole idea of airplanes, and as a boy, Neil just 95 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: begged his mother for the model airplane, and as he 96 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,800 Speaker 1: got older, his model airplanes got more and more. Just 97 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: before his sixth birthday, Neil and his father skipped Sunday 98 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: school to take a ride in a Ford trimotor. Do 99 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:09,679 Speaker 1: you remember the plane that Indiana Jones, Willie and Short 100 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: Round jumped out of in the beginning of Indiana Jones 101 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: and the Temple of Doom. That's a Ford trimotor. It 102 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: was there in those wicker seats that Neil realized he 103 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: wanted to spend the rest of his life in the sky. 104 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,479 Speaker 1: At age fifteen, he began working in the stock room 105 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: of a local pharmacy, earning forty cents an hour to 106 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: pay for flying lessons. It's a little grass airfield outside 107 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: of his town of Waplicanetta, Ohio, where they were living. 108 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 1: Uh He soloed and got his pilot's license on the 109 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: dairy day of his birthday. Neil could pilot an aircraft, 110 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: but he wasn't even old enough to drive a car. 111 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:46,520 Speaker 1: At seventeen, Neil graduated from high school and began studying 112 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: aeronautical engineering at nearby Purdue University. While he'd been accepted 113 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: to m I T his family convinced him to take 114 00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: advantage of a new post war government program that paid 115 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: for students tuition if they would commit to three years 116 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: flight service with the U. S. Navy. You finished two 117 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: years of schooling when the Korean War started, and so 118 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,039 Speaker 1: he was notified that at the end of his second 119 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,360 Speaker 1: year he would need to report to Pensacola, Florida, where 120 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: the naval aviation training took place. Then suddenly, in the 121 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: pre dawned darkness of June nineteen fifty, South Korean's what 122 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: jarred awake by living nightmare, unprovoked and unannounced, the Communist 123 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: latest war of conquest had begun. Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. 124 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: Was born into a flying family on January nineteen thirty 125 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: in New Jersey. His father was a World War One 126 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: Army pilot and later served as the assistant commandant of 127 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: the Army's Test Pilot School. Young Edwin was the youngest 128 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,160 Speaker 1: of three children. His sister, fay Anne, who was just 129 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: a year and a half older, struggled with the word brother. 130 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: She consistently pronounced it as buzzer. Edwin enjoyed her mispronunciation 131 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: so much that he shortened it to buzz and a 132 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: opted it as his own. Buzz was a terrific student 133 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: and a champion football player in high school. His father 134 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: wanted him to attend the U. S. Naval Academy, but 135 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:12,200 Speaker 1: Buzz stood up to him. He wanted to fly, not sail. 136 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: There was no US Air Force yet, so if you 137 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: wanted to fly in the military and you didn't like boats, 138 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: you joined the Army Air Corps. Buzz did just as 139 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:22,280 Speaker 1: well at West Point as he did in high school, 140 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: graduating third in his class. The Korean War had broken 141 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: out during his junior year, and he now chose to 142 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: transition out of the Army and into the brand new 143 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: Air Force, even though he knew he'd be heading straight 144 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:45,800 Speaker 1: for the front lines. Like Buzz, Michael Collins's father was 145 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: in the Army, assigned to a base in Rome, Italy, 146 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: when Michael entered the world on Halloween Day ninety Over 147 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: the next seventeen years, Michael called eight different military bases home. 148 00:08:57,559 --> 00:08:59,839 Speaker 1: One of those bases was in Puerto Rico, where a 149 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,760 Speaker 1: teenage Michael took his first plane ride aboard a Grumm 150 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 1: and Widgeon, a small aircraft that could take off and 151 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:08,080 Speaker 1: land in the water. He even took controls for part 152 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: of the flight and was immediately hooked. Michael finished high 153 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: school in Washington, d c. His mother was keen for 154 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: him to work as a diplomat, but Michael wanted to 155 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: follow his father into military service. He attended West Point 156 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: and graduated in nineteen fifty two, two years after Buzz, 157 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: with a bachelor's degree in military science. Buzz graduated third 158 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:32,559 Speaker 1: in his class. Michael, I went to West Point primarily 159 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 1: because it was a free and good education. When I 160 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:41,079 Speaker 1: graduated from the Military Academy, there was no Air Force academy, 161 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: but we had a choice of either going into the 162 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,400 Speaker 1: Army or the Air Force. The Air Force seemed like 163 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: a more interesting choice. Had he not transition to the 164 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: Air Force, we wouldn't be talking about him today. This 165 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,720 Speaker 1: is control. The ignation time for this mid course correction 166 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,199 Speaker 1: will be twenty six hours, four four minutes fifty seven seconds. 167 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: Back in Apollo eleven, more than one hundred and eight 168 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: thousand miles from the Earth and traveling at more than 169 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: thirty four hundred miles, the crew is preparing to make 170 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: a minor course correction. Yesterday, the third stage of the 171 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: Saturn five launched Apollo eleven toward the Moon. Isaac Newton 172 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: is currently piloting Apollo eleven. An object in motion will 173 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: stay in motion unless acted upon by some other force, 174 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,600 Speaker 1: but the crew does need to make small course corrections 175 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: here and there. One minute to the burn, the duration 176 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: will be three seconds burning shut down. There's the burn 177 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:41,199 Speaker 1: complete that you caught me in our residual term. What 178 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: was a good burn. Apollo eleven will now begin a 179 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,839 Speaker 1: series of passive thermal control burns. The astronauts have dubbed 180 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:51,679 Speaker 1: this barbecue mode because the spacecraft spins like a rotisserie 181 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,440 Speaker 1: chicken to ensure one side of the spacecraft is not 182 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 1: always exposed to the blistering heat of the sun. And 183 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:06,679 Speaker 1: now recovered an opulent rap out of the row of 184 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: car driving up down. That was Michael. Ever, the class 185 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: clown chances are if someone on this mission is cracking 186 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 1: a joke or horsing around, it's Michael. He and Buzz 187 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: are chatting with astronaut Jim Level, who has temporarily taken 188 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,760 Speaker 1: over at Capcom out of the deal of the airborne again. 189 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: Bud about Daddy, I've been having a ball floating around 190 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: in air. Lovel and Buzz shared a far smaller capsule 191 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: three years earlier on their Gemini mission. But that's jumping 192 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: too far ahead in our story. When we last checked 193 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:40,839 Speaker 1: in with our cruise younger selves, becoming astronauts wasn't even 194 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:43,760 Speaker 1: on their radar screens. They had far larger things to 195 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:47,040 Speaker 1: worry about, like surviving one dred and forty collective combat 196 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 1: missions in the skies over Korea. That's one hundred and 197 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: forty different times when our boys could have suffered the 198 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,240 Speaker 1: same fate as the more than thirty six thousand American 199 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:58,760 Speaker 1: war fighters who perished in the Korean War. When Neil's 200 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 1: number got called, he just nineteen. A year or so later, 201 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: he'd already made his first aircraft carrier landing. In late 202 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,199 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty, he became the youngest officer at VF fifty one, 203 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: the Screaming Eagles, the Navy's first all jet fighter squadron. 204 00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: Here's Hanson again. Once that squadron was then its pilots 205 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,120 Speaker 1: were ready to go. They got aboard their carrier, the Essex, 206 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: which headed over to the Sea of Japan, where they 207 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: began operations to fly over North Korea during the Korean War. 208 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: Neil flew nearly eighty combat missions over Korea, including the 209 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: one we profiled at the beginning of this podcast. His 210 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,559 Speaker 1: active duty commission ended when he was only twenty two, 211 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 1: and he transferred back to the United States. As Neil 212 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: was leaving Korea, Buzz was just getting there. After his 213 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: initial flight training, Second Lieutenant Aldren had to decide what 214 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:52,199 Speaker 1: kind of aircraft he wanted to pilot. His father recommended bombers. 215 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: Once again, Buzz stood up to his old man and 216 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 1: chose fighters. In late nineteen fifty two, Buzz began patrolling 217 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: an area of Korea the serviceman dubbed MiG Alley, looking 218 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,240 Speaker 1: for enemy fighters heading south to terrorize American troops. On 219 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: May fourteenth, nineteen fifty three, he was in his F 220 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: eighty six Saber when he spotted an enemy aircraft below him. 221 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: Luz locked his guns on his target and shot the 222 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 1: plane down. Less than a month later, the tables were 223 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: turned a MiG surprise Buzz and moved in behind him 224 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: for the kill. Buzz had only one chance, a high 225 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,319 Speaker 1: gi maneuver in which he kept crossing over the MiG's 226 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: direction of travel while cutting his speed. Buzz hoped his 227 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,640 Speaker 1: adversary would miscalculate and overshoot him. His plan worked. The 228 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: fifty caliber machine gun brought the enemy plane down Back 229 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: on Apollo eleven. Michael Collins, of course, is joking around 230 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: with Jim Level about all the housekeeping chores Houston has 231 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:51,839 Speaker 1: the crew doing. I've been very busy so far. I'm 232 00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: working for it, tagging afternon. I've been cooking and sleeping 233 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: and almost going and then well, you know the years, 234 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: your little house, big thing. It was very convenient the 235 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,800 Speaker 1: way they put the food preparations. That's right next to 236 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:09,599 Speaker 1: the math days, everything right next to everything that was 237 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:13,800 Speaker 1: armstrong reminding level than in a spacecraft this small, everything's 238 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 1: within arm's reach. While the crew takes a break for lunch, 239 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: Bruce McCandless returns to the capcomposition. I gred that music 240 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: got here in the background thing. Okay, ye, Michael's having 241 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: a joke at Bruce's expense. The crew is enjoying Angel 242 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 1: of the Morning by Merrily Rush and the Turnabouts. Shortly 243 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: after they conclude their lunch, the crew passes a significant milestone. 244 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: A Polo eleven distance from the Moon is one five thousand, 245 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: seven hundred nine nautical miles. At the present time. In 246 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: terms of distance, Apollo eleven has just passed the halfway 247 00:14:57,680 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: point on its trip to the Moon. In terms of time, 248 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 1: they still have more than a day's journey. Based on 249 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: the present trajectory, a Polo eleb and will enter the 250 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: lunar sphere of influence at an elapsed time of sixty 251 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: one hours, thirty nine minutes fifty eight seconds. The lunar 252 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: sphere of influence is that point at which the gravity 253 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,320 Speaker 1: of the Moon becomes stronger than the gravity of the Earth. Yeah, 254 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 1: are you that way? How are you fine? Team? Today? 255 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: The White teams bright at Bucky Dale, wherever learned down there. 256 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,440 Speaker 1: It's time to meet Neil, Buzz and Michael's co pilots 257 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: and mission control. These are the guys who keep a 258 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: close watch over the spacecraft's trajectory, hardware, and software, as 259 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: well as the crew's health. These unsung heroes are the 260 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: backbone of every NASA mission. They operate out of a 261 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:55,360 Speaker 1: place they initiated, reverently referred to as the Cathedral. The 262 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: high priest of the cathedral is the flight director, whose 263 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: call sign is simply flight. These men were responsible for 264 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:05,600 Speaker 1: overseeing every element of any given mission while a mission 265 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: was in progress. Not even the NASA administrator or the 266 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: President of the United States could countermand in order given 267 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: by flight. If they wanted to overrule him, they had 268 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: to fire him. Flight supervises a hive mind of brilliant kids. 269 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 1: And I say kids because for most of the men 270 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: helming these consoles, this was their first job out of college. 271 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 1: Why are they so young? Simple? NASA needed flight controllers 272 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: fluent in the latest emergent technologies, meeting computers. Bill Barry 273 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: is NASA's chief historian who's an expert on going into space. 274 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: Nobody that that capability didn't really exist in MR Control. 275 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: Their average ages about six uh and so it's a 276 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: really young group of folks who really set the stage 277 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: for getting to the Moon and really create our space program. 278 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:59,600 Speaker 1: I'm Steven Bales. I was the guidance officer on Apollo 279 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,200 Speaker 1: level the time to follow eleven mission flew. I was 280 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: the people that led us were older than example Jean 281 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: Kransmas Ticks, I believe, and then we call them the 282 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: older folks older. If you picture Mission Control in your mind, 283 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,440 Speaker 1: it looks like something straight out of a movie. A 284 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: high tech control center dominated by massive display screens flanked 285 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: by four long rows of twenty consoles. The first of 286 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,680 Speaker 1: our four rows is known as the trench. These guys 287 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: job was monitoring what the ship was doing and where 288 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: it was going. Let's take a look at our mission 289 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: control roster. The Flight Dynamics Officer or FIDO, supervises the 290 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: spacecraft's trajectory over the course of the entire mission. Guido 291 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: is the guidance officer. He monitors Apollos onboard systems, making 292 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,920 Speaker 1: sure where the spacecraft is and where it thinks it 293 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: is are aligned. When we get to the moon landing, 294 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:53,159 Speaker 1: you're going to get to know Steve Bales and this 295 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:58,040 Speaker 1: console very well. Retro is the Retro fire officer. His 296 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:02,280 Speaker 1: job is getting the crew back home again. Taken together, Fido, Guido, 297 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:06,840 Speaker 1: and Retro are Apollo eleven's ground pilots. Behind the trench 298 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,679 Speaker 1: is a second row of consoles, which includes the surgeon. 299 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:13,200 Speaker 1: That position is occupied by a medical doctor responsible for 300 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: monitoring the health of the crew. To avoid chaos and confusion, 301 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,119 Speaker 1: the astronauts only ever communicate with a single person in 302 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: mission control, the capsule communicator or capcom. You should already 303 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:26,920 Speaker 1: know this position pretty well. The person in this seat 304 00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:30,919 Speaker 1: is always an astronaut. The flight director oversees everything from 305 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,119 Speaker 1: the third row. The final top row is reserved for 306 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: various agency management and the public affairs officer giving play 307 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: by play commentary for the public. Obviously, these guys can't 308 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,199 Speaker 1: stay at their console. Apollo eleven had four rotating shifts, 309 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: divided into the black, White, Green, and Maroon teams. And 310 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: that's not even everybody. There were also hundreds of other 311 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: mission control technicians working in various back rooms throughout the building, 312 00:18:57,119 --> 00:18:59,840 Speaker 1: directly supporting each of the consoles we just ran through, 313 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 1: plus nearly two dozen more. Oh and one last thing. 314 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,720 Speaker 1: This was a man's world, if ever there was one. 315 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: But that didn't mean there weren't women already taking pick 316 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:16,680 Speaker 1: axes to that glass ceiling. I was tired, is what 317 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,920 Speaker 1: was called a computerst It occurred to me that I 318 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: was as smart as those guys, that we're earning a 319 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,840 Speaker 1: lot more million than I was. That's Poppy north Cut. 320 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,280 Speaker 1: She had a degree in mathematics and was hired by TRW, 321 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: a NASA contractor, to check the work of the male 322 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: engineers in mission control. Unlike her male colleagues who were salaried, Poppy, 323 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:39,600 Speaker 1: because she was a woman, was hourly and not paid 324 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: beyond nine hours a day. My supervisor would come around 325 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: and tell me, you know, at six o'clock, state law 326 00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: says we can't pay you. And I would just say, 327 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,640 Speaker 1: I understand that. I just keep on working. Poppy would 328 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,040 Speaker 1: not only come in early and stay late, she would 329 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 1: bring her work home with her, going over everything until 330 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: she knew it backwards and forwards. I think that was 331 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: the real key to want I got promoted and other 332 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: people didn't. I really became a member of the team. 333 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: Poppy was assigned to the retro flight controller. Her job 334 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,800 Speaker 1: was to help compute the trajectories that ensured the Apollo 335 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,399 Speaker 1: spacecraft traveled to and from the Moon safely. She was 336 00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: the first woman to ever work in mission control. I 337 00:20:18,359 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: didn't know I was going to be the first three 338 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,600 Speaker 1: knowledge and during mission control when I walked in there, 339 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,440 Speaker 1: and you're certainly aware that you stand out and that 340 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: you're an object of attention, and it's it's always a 341 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: little uncomfortable, especially if your whole idea is that you 342 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: want to be a member of the team. I mean, 343 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: you want to blend into the team. You don't want 344 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: to be standing out. Poppy was tall, blond, and beautiful. 345 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:44,080 Speaker 1: She did stand out. ABC's Jules Bergman once interviewed her, 346 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,120 Speaker 1: asking how much attention do men in mission control pay 347 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: to a pretty girl wearing miniskirts? Yeah, she was swimming 348 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,399 Speaker 1: in a sea of sexism. My feeling was that it 349 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: was important for women and men for that matter, to 350 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: know that women could do these jobs. So you had 351 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:00,719 Speaker 1: to put up with a certain amoun out of that stuff. 352 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: And with that, let's return to Apollo eleven, where Michael 353 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: is running an experiment to mess with mission control, because 354 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: that's what astronauts with a bit of spare time in 355 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: their hands. Do you got any maddict right, I'm trying 356 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:17,160 Speaker 1: to do some running in light down here, and I'm 357 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: wondering curiosity where they break my heart rate up? Uh? 358 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:25,119 Speaker 1: Well they will spring in acting here momentarily said Michael 359 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: is running in place in zero gravity. He's curious if 360 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: the exertion, without actually impacting any surfaces, will increase his 361 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: heart rate and show up on the flight surgeon's monitors. Soon, 362 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: Neil and Buzz decided to join him very inflat I'd 363 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: like to see that night. Why don't you give us 364 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: a TV picture of that one? Everybody's running from levon 365 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: Houston Mike, we say about a ninety so hardly now right, 366 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: there's a reasonable Michael decides to haul to his experiment. 367 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:11,680 Speaker 1: Remember there are no showers on Apollo eleven. After the war, 368 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: Neil went back to school. Korea had hijacked his degree, 369 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: and now it was time to jump back in. That 370 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: wasny too, It was really old man. We have this 371 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 1: image of Neil as a stick in the mud, but 372 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 1: he joined a fraternity, wrote and co directed to student musicals, 373 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: and played in the Purdue All American Marching Band, and 374 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: of course he continued flying. At a party one night, 375 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: he met Janet Elizabeth Sharon, a home economics major NASA 376 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: historian James Hanson. Janet grew up in suburban Chicago, a 377 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: very different kind of upbringing than Neil. She went to 378 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: Purdue and she was very popular there. She's a very 379 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,959 Speaker 1: attractive and vivasious young woman. Neil told his roommates later 380 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: that night that he just met his future wife, but 381 00:22:58,760 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 1: it still took him three years to find the askar 382 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: out of a date. He was not the sort of 383 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:07,440 Speaker 1: person to rush into anything. In January of nineteen fifty five, 384 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: Neil graduated Perdue with a degree in aeronautical engineering. The 385 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: following year, he married Janet. Soon the happy couple moved 386 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: to a small off the grid cabin in southern California, 387 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: where Neil began work as an experimental research test pilot 388 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:23,920 Speaker 1: at Edwards Air Force Base. Edwards is the flight test 389 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: center of the United States Air Force Air Research and 390 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:33,360 Speaker 1: Development Command. Here, men in search of truth fly into 391 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: the world of the future. Edwards is the place where 392 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: all the really hot and new experimental airplanes were being tested. 393 00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:44,399 Speaker 1: It was here, nearly a decade earlier that Chuck Yeager 394 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: first broke the sound barrier in the Bell X one 395 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: Glamorous Glennis, and he does it the first human to 396 00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:57,440 Speaker 1: attract the sound barrier. Decades later, the facility would become 397 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,359 Speaker 1: a NASA campus and be renamed the Neil A Strong 398 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: Flight Research Center. But we're clearly getting ahead of ourselves. 399 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: Neil's fellow pilots were astonished at his flying prowess, as 400 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: well as his ability to master dozens of different aircraft. 401 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: He was regarded as intense and enigmatic in a field 402 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: of swagger and bluster. He rarely opened his mouth. He 403 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,359 Speaker 1: let his superb flying do all the talking. But that 404 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: didn't mean he didn't have a close call or two. 405 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 1: There was the time in the spring of nineteen fifty 406 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: six when Neil was co piloting a B twenty nine 407 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: super Fortress when one of the propellers shadowed it, shredded 408 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: the engine beside it, and launched trapnel through the fuselage, 409 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: destroying one of the engines on the opposite wing. Armstrong 410 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: and his copilot landed the massive bomber using only one 411 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: of its floor engines. Neil's next brush with death was 412 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,080 Speaker 1: in something a bit more high tech. The X fifteen 413 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: was more rocket than plane and flew at the boundary 414 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: of space. Before the X fifteen, the question had been 415 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 1: what is to be man's role in space travel? Kenny 416 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:01,919 Speaker 1: pilot on air craft out of the Earth's atmosphere, fly 417 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: it in space, then re entered the atmosphere, and bring 418 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: it back to a safe landing on Earth. During one 419 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,840 Speaker 1: particular descent, the X fifteen's nose refused to pitch downward, 420 00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,760 Speaker 1: meaning that the plane kept bouncing off from the atmosphere. 421 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: Over the course of his life, Neil would have more 422 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: than a half dozen brushes with death. So for six years, 423 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:25,040 Speaker 1: basically he's flying almost every day. You know, Without that experience, 424 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: he really would not have been ready for the astronaut experience. 425 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: Neil might have had the perfect experience, but he was 426 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: ineligible to become an astronaut. He was no longer in 427 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:39,359 Speaker 1: the military, and an active duty status was a NASA requirement. 428 00:25:40,640 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: After the Korean War ended, Buzz returned home and married 429 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:46,119 Speaker 1: Joan Archer, a young woman his parents had set him 430 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: up with shortly before he went overseas. She was a 431 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:52,240 Speaker 1: stage actress with a masters in theater from Columbia University. 432 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,400 Speaker 1: Their wedding day was only the fifth time they'd ever 433 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:00,080 Speaker 1: gone out together. Joan called marriage her greatest role. One 434 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: of Buzz's fellow officers at his new squadron was Ed White. 435 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: Ed was getting a master's degree in aeronautical engineering because 436 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,399 Speaker 1: he wanted to be an astronaut and encouraged Buzz to 437 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: do the same. Buzz enrolled at m I T and 438 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: went all in getting a doctorate instead. Doctor Buzz Aldrin 439 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: graduated in early nineteen sixty three with a degree in astronautics. 440 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: His doctoral thesis was titled Line of Sight Guidance Techniques 441 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 1: for Manned Orbital Rendezvous. He dedicated the thesis to those 442 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 1: working in America's space program. If only I could join 443 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: them in their exciting endeavors, Buzz admitted in the dedication. 444 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: Buzz had applied for NASA's Gemini program, but his application 445 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: was rejected. Another NASA requirement was that all astronaut candidates 446 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: had to be test pilots. Neil and Buzz were out 447 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: of the running. That left Michael Collins. Michael never went 448 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: to war. By the time he graduated from flight training, 449 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:55,879 Speaker 1: the Korean War was over. In nineteen fifty six, Michael 450 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: met his wife, Patricia Finnegan, at the base officers club. 451 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: She was a social worker taking some time off to 452 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: see the world. They were married the following year and 453 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 1: were soon joined by two daughters and a son. Pat 454 00:27:07,520 --> 00:27:10,320 Speaker 1: gushed about how wonderful a husband and father Michael was. 455 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: Unlike many of his colleagues, Michael was able to leave 456 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: work at the office at home. He was happy, relaxed, 457 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: and devoted to his family. Maybe that's because he hated 458 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: his job commanding an aircraft mechanics school. He still managed 459 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: to get in more than fift undred flight hours, the 460 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,520 Speaker 1: minimum requirement for the Air Force's Experimental Test Pilot school. 461 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: At where else Edwards Air Force Space, and in nineteen 462 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: sixty he began flying the most technically challenging and futuristic 463 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:42,400 Speaker 1: aircraft rolling off the line. But after John Glenn became 464 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,560 Speaker 1: the first American to orbit the Earth on February nineteen 465 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,879 Speaker 1: sixty two, Michael instantly knew what he wanted to do, 466 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: and it was simple logical thing to go on to 467 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: the next increment, which was higher and faster, and become 468 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: an astronaut rather than a test pilot. The Air Force 469 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: was behind him all the way, going so far as 470 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: to send him to specialized training and even charm school 471 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: to increase his chances. But despite it all, Michael, like 472 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: Neil and Buzz, was rejected. I didn't make that I 473 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,800 Speaker 1: didn't have sufficient experience, They said. None of these men 474 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: were ever going to see space. Now that their housekeeping 475 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:23,080 Speaker 1: duties have been accomplished, it's time for the crew of 476 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: Apollo eleven to begin their first scheduled color telecast, transmitting 477 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:30,639 Speaker 1: their incredible views back to their home planet. Neil begins 478 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: by describing the view of Earth out of Polo eleven's windows. 479 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,240 Speaker 1: Our left hand window, we're looking at the eastern Pacific 480 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:46,520 Speaker 1: of the North America. We got doing a good job 481 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 1: at the real estate picture here. Clarity is an excellent Today, 482 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:53,240 Speaker 1: we're so used to images of our beautiful spherical planet 483 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: that it's necessary to be reminded that just fifty years ago, 484 00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: seeing Earth from space was still a unique and aw 485 00:28:59,560 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: spy thing. The person holding the camera so steadily is Michael, 486 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:07,360 Speaker 1: but always the jokester. He can't pass up an opportunity 487 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,280 Speaker 1: to give millions of people back on Earth vertigo. Hey world, 488 00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 1: hold on your head, I'm gonna turn you upside down. 489 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,000 Speaker 1: He begins spinning the camera eleven. That's a pretty good 490 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 1: roll there, that's very flappy. Let me out hein, You'll 491 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: never be at the Thunderberg. Charlie Duke is mocking Michael's 492 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: camera work, claiming he'll never be better than the Air 493 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: Force's aerobatic Demonstration Squadron. Magay that good and put you 494 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: back right inside up bray Blon Roger could comply, we'd 495 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: like to see smiling faces up there if you could 496 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:42,239 Speaker 1: give us some intery re views. I'm sure everybody likes 497 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: to see you over. Mission control has seen enough of 498 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: the Earth. Charlie wants to see the astronauts themselves. Quite 499 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: my gout, who they had big Mike Colin there. Yeah, 500 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: hello there, you got up in a may but Mail 501 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,479 Speaker 1: the center couch and Buzzy doing the camera work good time, right, 502 00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: put on a okay, but I don't about them. Add 503 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:06,560 Speaker 1: that Roger looked like Neil was coming in five by 504 00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:10,320 Speaker 1: their eleven and nail Dannon on his head again. He 505 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 1: trying to make me nervous. Buzz must have enjoyed his 506 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,800 Speaker 1: exercise earlier, because he decides to demonstrate how the crew 507 00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: stays physically fit in zero gravity. We can get some 508 00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,920 Speaker 1: of the wire and untangled. Here. We'll give you a 509 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: demonstration of how easy push ups are up here. Buzz 510 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,600 Speaker 1: begins doing some pushups on what is according to the 511 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: orientation of the camera the command modules floor. And it's 512 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: pretty hard doing it that way. Why we just rolling 513 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: over and do it the other way. He begins doing 514 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,720 Speaker 1: more pushups off the ceiling. All right, we copy. I 515 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: didn't figure out whether that was a pin up or 516 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: put up joints. I guess clearly the guys are enjoying weightlessness. 517 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: When we last checked in with Neil, Buzz, and Michael, 518 00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,280 Speaker 1: they had each been rejected by the Astronaut program. Buzz 519 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: had no test pilot experience, Michael didn't have enough, and 520 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: Neil was no longer in the military, all required as 521 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,240 Speaker 1: to be an astronaut. But as time went on, NASA 522 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,640 Speaker 1: began changing its rules. It no longer required active duty 523 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: military service. Civilians could now apply, but Neil didn't even 524 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 1: know if he wanted to. In those days, space flight 525 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: was not generally regarded as a realistic objective. That was 526 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,840 Speaker 1: a bit buying this guy. I was plying the X fifteen, 527 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: and I had the understanding or belief that if I continued, 528 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: I would be the chief pilot of that project. Ironically, 529 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: it was all those hours in the X fifteen that 530 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: made him a shoe in to be selected, or at 531 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: least he would have been had he sent his application 532 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: in on time. NASA's James Hansen, Neil's daughter Karen two 533 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: an a half years old, dies in late January nineteen two. 534 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: She had a glioma of the ponds, which is very 535 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: malignant brain tumor that had been diagnosed a few months earlier. 536 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: So the call for a new class of astronauts came 537 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: right during that spring, when he was still very significantly 538 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,120 Speaker 1: affect by the daughters. That luckily someone at NASA knew 539 00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: of Neil's incredible skills and snuck his tardy application into 540 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: the pile. He got the job. He thought maybe it 541 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: was time for a fresh start, and I think Janet 542 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: felt that way about it too well. Initially depressed after 543 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: his NASA rejection, Michael Collins threw himself into his work 544 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,360 Speaker 1: with even greater abandoned. He began flying the F one 545 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,640 Speaker 1: oh four Starfighter, which was capable of flying at ninety 546 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: thousand feet. Any higher and you'd have to call it 547 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:31,200 Speaker 1: a spacecraft. In nineteen sixty three, when NASA again began 548 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: calling for astronauts, Michael resubmitted his application. He now logged 549 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: more thans of flight time. The second time was the charm. 550 00:32:39,480 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 1: This time Project Gemini came calling, went their pockets started 551 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,440 Speaker 1: the first Mercury astronauts were more or less along for 552 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: the ride. They had little to do. The rocket went up, 553 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: their capsule came back down. But Buzz knew that the 554 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: Moon was the goal, meaning the complexity was about to 555 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,640 Speaker 1: increase exponentially. NASA would soon need people for the Gemini 556 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: and Apollo programs who were fluent in navigating space and 557 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 1: finding and doalking with other spacecraft in short, NASA would 558 00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 1: need more than just hotshot test pilots. They would need 559 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:35,960 Speaker 1: brilliant engineers who understood complex orbital mechanics. In nineteen sixty three, 560 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: doctor Buzz again applied to become an astronaut. This time 561 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,760 Speaker 1: NASA was requiring either test pilot experience or a thousand 562 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 1: hours of flight time in a jet aircraft. Buzz and 563 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: more than two thousand he was in. Finally, the stars 564 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,560 Speaker 1: were calling. Neil, Buzz and Michael traded their military green 565 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:58,080 Speaker 1: flight suits for NASA blue. Buzz was the first astronaut 566 00:33:58,160 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: with an advanced degree, and based his studies, was assigned 567 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: to help NASA develop docking scenarios. Soon he earned the 568 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,760 Speaker 1: name Doctor Rendezvous. His fellow astronauts did not always intend 569 00:34:08,840 --> 00:34:11,080 Speaker 1: that as a compliment, it was said he could out 570 00:34:11,160 --> 00:34:15,120 Speaker 1: compute a computer. A loner among his fellow astronauts, Buzz 571 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,680 Speaker 1: was regarded as an easy man to admire but a 572 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: hard man to like. But he was, also, according to 573 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: one of his trainers, the best scientific mind to ever 574 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:27,640 Speaker 1: go into space. Neil's first trip into space where Gemini eight, 575 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,160 Speaker 1: was almost his last. After docking with an unmanned a 576 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: Gina target vehicle, he and crewmate Dave Scott suddenly realized 577 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,720 Speaker 1: that their capsule was rotating. Neil used the capsule's thrusters 578 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,279 Speaker 1: to stop their rotation, except that it didn't work. Nothing 579 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: Neil did seemed to stop the joint spacecraft from tumbling 580 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,320 Speaker 1: end over end. Something must be wrong with the aegina. 581 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,360 Speaker 1: Scott separated the two spacecraft and Neil backed their capsule away. However, 582 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:57,560 Speaker 1: instead of finding themselves stabilized, the capsules spin began accelerating. 583 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,320 Speaker 1: The capsule was spinning at revolution a second. Neil and 584 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: Dave's vision was beginning to blur. When the rates became 585 00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: quite violent. I concluded that we just we couldn't continue. 586 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:16,239 Speaker 1: I was afraid we might lose consciousness. If Neil didn't 587 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: stop this, they would soon pass out and die. He 588 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 1: noticed that his thruster propellant reserve indicated less than There 589 00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,560 Speaker 1: was no way it should be that low. Even with 590 00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,000 Speaker 1: all the maneuvers he had been attempting. One of his 591 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:31,320 Speaker 1: thrusters must be locked in the on position. Neither of 592 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: us thought the Germany might be the culprit, because it 593 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:39,560 Speaker 1: could easily hear the gemany thrusters were whenever they fired 594 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,800 Speaker 1: crack crack, crack, crack, and we weren't hearing anything. The 595 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,560 Speaker 1: reason we didn't hear it as you don't hear it 596 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:47,799 Speaker 1: when it's running steadily. Neil shut the entire system off 597 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:51,200 Speaker 1: and engaged the thrusters designed to orient the spacecraft for 598 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 1: atmospheric reentry. It was a dangerous choice. They'd need those 599 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,400 Speaker 1: thrusters to get home, but if they didn't get this 600 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 1: issue fixed, they wouldn't be going home. By the time 601 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:03,640 Speaker 1: Neill regain control of the spacecraft, he'd used up seventy 602 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 1: of the re entry thrust or fuel. That meant they'd 603 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,080 Speaker 1: have to cancel the rest of the mission and return 604 00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,319 Speaker 1: to Earth immediately. It was a great disappointment to us 605 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 1: to have to cut that flight short. We had so 606 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,720 Speaker 1: many things we wanted to do it well. The mission 607 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: was more or less considered a bust. One thing stood 608 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: out Neil Armstrong. Not only did he not break under pressure, 609 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,280 Speaker 1: his quick thinking and skilled piloting saved the mission. Michael's 610 00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: first mission was Gemini ten, during which he conducted a 611 00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,320 Speaker 1: number of spacewalks. His orders were to exit the capsule 612 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 1: and traverse the length of the a Genus spacecraft they 613 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,879 Speaker 1: docked with, but there weren't nearly enough handholds built onto 614 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:44,800 Speaker 1: either spacecraft, and Michael couldn't wrap his bloated pressurized gloves 615 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: around the ones that were there. And then I went 616 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: car whiling ass over cake cattle, up and around and 617 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,320 Speaker 1: about until I came to the end of my tether 618 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:57,000 Speaker 1: and then it swung me in a great, big arc. 619 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:01,040 Speaker 1: I mean, it was more acrobatics and on a trap 620 00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 1: pays as terrifying an experience as that was. Michael later 621 00:37:05,239 --> 00:37:07,840 Speaker 1: said he felt like a Roman god writing the skies 622 00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:12,720 Speaker 1: in his chariot. Buzz flew on Gemini twelve, the final 623 00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:16,839 Speaker 1: Gemini mission, alongside Jim Lovell in nineteen sixty six. When 624 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: Gemini twelves radar failed in orbit, Buzz had to use 625 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,959 Speaker 1: an old fashioned sextant and rendezvous charts that he helped 626 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:27,879 Speaker 1: create to successfully locate their Genus spacecraft. Before Buzz left, 627 00:37:28,160 --> 00:37:30,359 Speaker 1: his wife Jones, said that she was convinced that once 628 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:33,480 Speaker 1: Buzz got back, their relationship would be much more magical 629 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,239 Speaker 1: and meaningful because of this experience. But after Buzz returned home, 630 00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:41,080 Speaker 1: he instead fell into a deep depression. This dark period 631 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,960 Speaker 1: coming right on the heels of such an astonishing personal 632 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,680 Speaker 1: accomplishment would not be Buzzes last. It would happen again. 633 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:50,880 Speaker 1: So how did Neil, Buzz and Michael make it on 634 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,960 Speaker 1: too Apollo eleven? Sure they had the resume and they 635 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:57,160 Speaker 1: had the skills, but how exactly did these three men 636 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,320 Speaker 1: get chosen for the Moon? Each part of a Paula 637 00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:04,800 Speaker 1: was tested in stages, two uncrewed missions for crude missions 638 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,160 Speaker 1: to test the various spacecraft, and finally the seventh mission, 639 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,000 Speaker 1: the landing itself. Most people assume the astronauts were assigned 640 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,279 Speaker 1: to their missions ahead of time, with Neil, Buzz and 641 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: Michael knowing they were going to the Moon from the 642 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,640 Speaker 1: very beginning, But that wasn't the case because NASA knew 643 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,799 Speaker 1: that any hiccup, either a sick astronaut or a malfunctioning 644 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:26,759 Speaker 1: spacecraft would throw the entire rotation into chaos, and there 645 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:28,920 Speaker 1: were a lot of traumatic hurdles on the weight of 646 00:38:28,960 --> 00:38:32,759 Speaker 1: the Moon. One astronaut was repeatedly injured in training, three 647 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: others were killed in a series of plane crashes, and 648 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:40,840 Speaker 1: of course, on January nine, the Apollo programs stopped cold 649 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: when Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffey, the crew 650 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:47,880 Speaker 1: of Apollo one were burned to death in a training exercise. 651 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,600 Speaker 1: Apollo astronauts Roger Chaffey, Edward White, and Gus Grissom lose 652 00:38:57,719 --> 00:39:00,440 Speaker 1: their lives and a tragic flash fire aboard a grounded 653 00:39:00,480 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 1: space capsule. The tragedy occurred during a simulated countdown for 654 00:39:04,239 --> 00:39:07,800 Speaker 1: the first flight of the Apollo program. If ed White's 655 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:10,879 Speaker 1: name sounds familiar, that's because he was Buzz's friend who 656 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:13,360 Speaker 1: encouraged him to get an advanced degree and apply to 657 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:17,759 Speaker 1: become an astronaut. Meanwhile, Michael Collins began losing sensation in 658 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,480 Speaker 1: his legs. Sometimes they would buckle beneath him while he 659 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:22,960 Speaker 1: was walking and he'd end up sprawled on the ground. 660 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,239 Speaker 1: He developed a bone spur in his neck pressing on 661 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:28,840 Speaker 1: his spinal cord, and he had to be yanked for surgery. 662 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:34,000 Speaker 1: For all the people back on Earth eight having that 663 00:39:34,160 --> 00:39:39,400 Speaker 1: made that we would like then a beginning. On Christmas 664 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:44,120 Speaker 1: Eve night, as Apollo eight orbited the Moon, Deeck Slayton, 665 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: the director of Flight Crue Operations, pulled Neil Armstrong aside. 666 00:39:48,520 --> 00:39:51,240 Speaker 1: He told Neil he was being given command of Apollo 667 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: eleven unless something throw a monkey wrench into Nassa's plans. 668 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:58,239 Speaker 1: This was going to be the mission that would land 669 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: on the Moon. Michael call And had just returned to 670 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,880 Speaker 1: duty after a successful surgery, and Slayton wanted to put 671 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,719 Speaker 1: him on Apollo eleven, and by this time Neil had 672 00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,880 Speaker 1: been teamed with Buzz, but Slayton gave Neil the option 673 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,560 Speaker 1: of replacing him. A lot of people didn't like Buzz. 674 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:15,160 Speaker 1: He was a bossy, know it all and rubbed many 675 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:18,239 Speaker 1: people in the program the wrong way. Slayton offered Jim 676 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,040 Speaker 1: Lovell in his place, but Neil said that he wanted 677 00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:23,319 Speaker 1: to keep Buzz. He'd never had any issues with him, 678 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: and besides, Buzzes arrogance was equal to his skills, the 679 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: perfect companion to accompany him to the surface of the Moon. 680 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 1: And just like that, the crew of Apollo eleven was cemented. 681 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 1: There would be no further reshuffling. Less than a year later, 682 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:41,200 Speaker 1: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldron, and Michael Collins would leave for 683 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:45,399 Speaker 1: the Moon. It was more than anything else, pure dumb luck. 684 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:48,880 Speaker 1: Before we get back to the Apollo spacecraft. I'd be 685 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:50,960 Speaker 1: remiss if I didn't say that. While Neil, Buzz and 686 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: Michael were obviously thrilled to be going to the moon. 687 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,120 Speaker 1: Their wives greeted the news somewhat differently. When Joe Aldron 688 00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,360 Speaker 1: found out that Buzz had been selected, she didn't know 689 00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,799 Speaker 1: whether to cheer year or weep. She suddenly found herself 690 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:05,920 Speaker 1: wishing she'd married a carpenter or a truck driver, anything 691 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 1: but an astronaut. Neil's wife, Janet, was angry with her 692 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:12,399 Speaker 1: husband because the closer the launch date came, the more 693 00:41:12,520 --> 00:41:16,759 Speaker 1: withdrawn and uncommunicative Neil became. She had to force him 694 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:19,160 Speaker 1: to sit down with their children and explain that if 695 00:41:19,239 --> 00:41:24,440 Speaker 1: something went wrong, Daddy would not be coming home. Polo 696 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:26,839 Speaker 1: eleon hethan as it doesn't think slowly, and it went 697 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,360 Speaker 1: the white thing they do. Good night, Hey Aaron, you 698 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:36,799 Speaker 1: play today night? Day two is over. On day three, 699 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,080 Speaker 1: a million things need to go right to ensure Apollo 700 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:43,800 Speaker 1: eleven makes it to the Moon in one piece. The 701 00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 1: Apollo program is the result of hundreds of companies, tens 702 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,719 Speaker 1: of thousands of people, and billions of dollars. On our 703 00:41:51,760 --> 00:41:54,800 Speaker 1: next episode, we'll look at how we built Apollo and 704 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,719 Speaker 1: why I believe it or not. Most Americans did not 705 00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:04,800 Speaker 1: want to see us go to the moon. This podcast 706 00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:08,120 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio and trade Craft Studios, 707 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 1: Executive producers Ash Serohia and Scott Bernstein in association with 708 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:18,560 Speaker 1: High five Content, and executive producer Andrew Jacobs. Amazing research 709 00:42:18,640 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: and production assistants by associate producers Brian Showsau and Natalie Robomed. 710 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:28,400 Speaker 1: Our incredible editor is Bill Lance. Original music by Henry 711 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:32,040 Speaker 1: ben Wah. The experts who contributed to this episode were 712 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:36,480 Speaker 1: NASA historian Bill Berry, Neil Armstrong, biographer James Hansen, and 713 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:40,680 Speaker 1: mission controls Steve Bales and Poppy Northcutt. Thanks to this 714 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,400 Speaker 1: episode's voice actor Chris Germain. Licensing rights and clearances by 715 00:42:45,480 --> 00:42:48,640 Speaker 1: Deborah Correa. This is a brand new podcast and we're 716 00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:51,040 Speaker 1: so excited to be sharing it with you. Help us 717 00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,000 Speaker 1: spread it far and wide, tell your friends, leave ratings 718 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: and reviews, and chat about it on social media. Our 719 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 1: hashtag is nine D I J. We would love to 720 00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:02,919 Speaker 1: hear what you think. New episodes come out every week, 721 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:05,880 Speaker 1: so be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. 722 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,399 Speaker 1: I'm Brandon Phibbs. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll 723 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:10,440 Speaker 1: see you next episode.