Neil Armstrong Lands on the Moon (1969)

On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. America had won the race. This is the transcript of Armstrong’s and Aldrin’s conversation with NASA officials in Houston, as Armstrong prepares to step on to the moon’s surface. Armstrong

reported later that he had misspoken, his original intention had been to say “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Mankind had taken its first steps on an

extraterrestrial body, a trip that represented a triumph in American technology and ingenuity. Millions huddled around their television sets to catch a glimpse of this remarkable

event. The United States had answered and succeeded to the late President Kennedy’s challenge to place a man on the moon. America claimed victory over the Space Race versus its

Cold War adversary the Soviet Union.

The American Experience: The History and Culture of the United States through Speeches, Letters, Essays, Articles, Poems, Songs, and Stories, Edited by Erik Bruun and Jay Crosby.

Armstrong: Everything is a go here. We’re just waiting for the cabin pressure to be equal, to be low enough pressure to open the hatch, it’s about .1 on our gauge now.

Houston: Neil this Houston, over.

Armstrong: Go ahead Houston.

Houston: Roger, we’re showing a relatively static pressure on your cabin, do you think you can open the hatch at this pressure, about .12 psi?

Armstrong: We’re gonna try it.

Houston: Roger…

Armstrong: OK, Houston, I’m on the porch.

Houston: Roger, Neil. Columbia, Columbia, this is Houston 1 minute 30 seconds till all systems go, over.

Armstrong: Houston, this is Neil, radio check.

Houston: Neil this is Houston, loud and clear, break, break, Buzz this is Houston, radio check and verify TV circuit breaker in.

Aldrin: Roger, TV circuit breaker’s in.

Houston: Roger. And, we’re getting a picture on the TV.

Armstrong: I’m, at the foot of the ladder. The LAM foot pads are only, depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches. Although the surface appears to be, very, very fine grained as you get close to it. It’s almost like a powder down there. It’s very fine. OK, I’m gonna step off the LAM now.

That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Buzz, the surface is fine and powdery, I can, I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers, ahh like powdered charcoal to the spool and insides of my boot. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch. But, I can see the footprints of my boot from the treads in the fine sandy particles.

Houston: Neil, this is Houston, we’re copying.