Subtitles by explosiveskull
20 seconds to drop.
Arm switch light, check.
Brakes out, check.
What's your mixing chambers?
Real rough up here,
fluctuating a half degree on each side.
I see that.
Ten seconds.
Good on track, 15...
...a visual estimate of your location?
Okay. 140,000 feet.
On your way down.
Approaching 115,000 feet.
Should be regaining aerodynamic controls.
Right turn.
We show you ballooning, not turning.
Altitude rising.
A lot more right.
Neil, you're bouncing off the atmosphere.
The altitude's still rising, Neil.
You're gonna have to
stretch out your glide.
You seem to be a tad short.
Stow your flaps down, Neil.
I'm down.
Roger.
All right, let's get him out.
I'll step up in there.
You okay?
Yeah.
Okay, Neil.
Kid's a good engineer.
But he's distracted.
He got home, Chuck. He bounced off the atmosphere
and still figured out how to get home.
Third mishap this month.
Bikle should ground him before he hurts himself.
There you go.
It's okay.
It's okay, sweetheart.
It's okay. Come here, come here.
Okay.
What's that?
Look. Who's that?
Is that a kite?
Does that fly in the sky?
Yeah.
How?
♪ I see the Moon
♪ The Moon sees me
♪ Down through the leaves
♪ Of the old oak tree
♪ Please let the light
♪ That shines on me
♪ Shine on the one I love.
Maybe I should talk
to Dr. Johns about it.
Who?
Dr. Harold Johns.
He developed a procedure in Saskatchewan.
So you'd go to Canada?
I guess I would take some time off.
Why don't you talk to the hospital?
- See if the tumor might be... - I spoke to them already.
I'm sorry, Neil.
I wish I had more to offer.
That's okay, Jack.
Uh, appreciate it.
- Of course. - Give my love to June.
- You got it. - Okay.
- Bye, now. - Bye.
Now, who made that? You or Grace?
Grace did.
I'll take it, then.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Dick Day called from Houston.
He was asking after you.
That about Gemini?
They're looking for pilots
with a solid background in engineering.
Well, maybe once Karen starts feeling better.
Just, you know, I wouldn't want to move her until then.
Well, it would be nice to keep you around.
- Enjoy the casserole. - Thank you.
You're welcome.
Joe.
Hey, Jan.
You, uh, hanging in?
Oh, you know.
It's nice of you to come by.
Of course.
Night, now.
- Thank you so much. - Absolutely.
Dad, want to come play?
I should, um...
I have to help your mother.
I thought I might go to work.
Okay.
They're gonna use VTOL technology.
They won't even have figured out
how to get there yet. I'm not gonna waste my time on...
Morning.
Neil.
You can take a few days off, you know.
I know.
I'm just getting up to speed on the new delta wing in the UK.
Bikle canceled the trip.
He wants you focused on writing up
the pilot report from your last flight.
Am I grounded, Joe?
Write up the report on the bounce, okay?
Thank you, sir.
Civilian?
- Yeah. - Yeah. Me, too.
Elliot.
Neil.
Tough morning, huh?
I barely lasted two minutes in that ice bath.
Course, I suppose NASA's more interested
in the psychological reaction.
Well...
I think I made it pretty clear that I thought it was cold.
Armstrong.
- Good luck. - You, too.
Another egghead.
Neil, we've been chatting
with candidates about the program.
As you know, our decision to forgo direct ascent
in favor of a lunar orbit rendezvous approach
to the eventual Moon mission
has had a major impact on Gemini.
Do you have any thoughts on that decision?
Well, even considering von Braun's initial criticism,
it seems that the payload saved
by parking the primary vehicle in orbit
and sending a smaller ship down to the lunar surface
is well worth the resulting challenges.
What do you see as the challenges?
Cislunar navigation, for one.
And rendezvous and docking.
Why do you think space flight's important?
I had a few, uh, opportunities in the X-15
to observe the atmosphere.
It was so thin, such a small part of the Earth,
you could barely see it at all.
And when you're down here in the crowd
and you look up, it... it looks pretty big,
and you don't think about it too much.
But when you get a different vantage point,
it changes your perspective.
I don't know what space exploration will uncover,
but I don't think it'll be exploration
just for the sake of exploration.
I think it'll be more the fact that it allows us to see things
that maybe we should have seen a long time ago
but just haven't been able to until now.
- Does anyone have anything else? - Yeah.
Neil, I was sorry to hear about your daughter.
I'm sorry, is there a question?
Um, what I... what I mean is, uh,
do you think it will have an effect?
I think it would be unreasonable to assume
that it wouldn't have some effect.
All right, Neil.
Thank you. That's fine.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time.
Hello?
Yeah, sure. Neil.
Hello?
Can I go play outside?
Yeah.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, sir.
I got it.
It's a fresh start.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
Hey.
It'll be an adventure.
Since the time of Jules Verne,
man has imagined traveling to the Moon.
The old idea of how to get to the Moon
was to send one spacecraft all the way there and back.
However, NASA engineers have developed a modern approach
where one rocket contains several ships
that will make the journey together.
Just as Columbus took a rowboat
from the Santa María to the shore of the New World,
the astronauts will take a smaller spacecraft
from the mother ship down to the lunar surface.
When it's time to return,
the smaller craft will lift off from the surface
and dock with the mother ship,
which will then power the crew back to Earth.
Thus, thanks to the brilliant minds of NASA,
the age-old dream of going to the Moon
will soon be achieved.
Sputnik, Sputnik 2,
Vostok, Gagarin.
The Soviets have beaten us
at every single major space accomplishment.
Our program couldn't compete.
So we've chosen to focus on a job so difficult,
requiring so many technological developments,
that the Russians are gonna have to start from scratch.
As will we.
Hi.
- Hi. - I'm Pat.
Got here about a week before you,
so welcome to the neighborhood.
Oh, that's so nice of you.
- Well, it's... - I'm Janet.
- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
So, instead of here, we go...
Hey.
Here.
That's to scale. Check it.
That's my husband, Ed, and that's Eddie Junior.
I don't know where Bonnie is.
- You've got two? - I do.
I see... Is this your first one?
Oh, no, no.
We've got a boy, Rick.
How old is he?
He's five and a half.
Oh, well, we should get them together.
If we want to get this done,
we need to prove that two ships
can find each other in orbit and dock without crashing.
That's the primary mission of Project Gemini.
When we think you're ready,
each of you will be assigned a flight with a specific task.
Only after we master all these tasks
do we move on to Apollo,
consider trying to land on the Moon.
- It's nice to meet you. - And you, Pat.
- Bye. - Bye.
- Eddie, you put that down. - Gus.
Eddie Junior, don't you dare...
You got anything to add?
Just do your job.
Yes, sir.
Almost to scale.
The Multi-Axis Trainer
was designed to replicate roll coupling on three axes,
the kind you might encounter in space.
The challenge is to stabilize the machine
before you pass out.
First victim, Armstrong.
White, you're up.
Yeah, I got it.
I'm okay.
Let's go again.
Oh, fuck.
Gentlemen, welcome to Basic Rocket Physics.
We'll just be covering the first chapter tonight.
When using a multi-stage launch vehicle,
it's necessary to determine
what the right sizing is of those stages.
- Hi. - Hi.
You okay?
Yeah.
Just thinking about this lecture.
It's kind of neat.
What's neat about it?
Well, it was about how to rendezvous with the Agena.
If you thrust, it-it actually slows you down,
because it puts you into a higher orbit,
so you have to reduce thrust
and drop into a lower orbit in order to catch up.
It's-it's backwards from what they teach you as a pilot,
but if you work the math, it-it-it follows.
It's kind of neat.
Yeah.
What's funny?
No, it's not funny. It's just...
It's kind of neat.
Do you remember this?
Yeah.
I'm surprised that you remember it.
♪ If you miss the train I'm on... ♪
Let's see. I want to make ten.
Before you panic...
There we go.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
It's a pleasure.
Carrie.
Here you go. Would you like some salad?
- Thank you. - That's a lovely piano, Pat.
- Do you play? - Bonnie's taking lessons.
- Mm. - Well, perhaps we'll sing
for our supper.
Neil plays piano?
Neil knows all kinds of show tunes.
- Janet. - Oh, come on.
He was musical director at his fraternity in college.
- Honey. - Yeah, he wrote the musical
for the all-student revue.
- I didn't write the music. - Yeah, you did.
No, I... We used music from Gilbert and Sullivan.
Well, he wrote all new lyrics.
"The Land of Egelloc."
It was quite funny.
"The Land of Egelloc"?
- Egelloc. - Mm-hmm.
You've never heard of it?
I-I haven't.
Oh, I'm surprised. Uh, uh, it's a distant land,
but, uh, it's a magical place.
It's "college" spelled backwards.
Seriously?
Yep.
You're, uh, backup on Five, huh?
- Yeah. - Well, don't worry.
You'll get your own mission soon.
How's training going on Four?
It's good.
I think we're close on E.V.A.
First man to walk in space.
- That'd be something, huh? - Yeah.
Well, you know the walking's the easy part.
- It's getting back inside that's tough. - Mm.
It'd be a hell of a ride
to come back with my tail hanging out.
Oh, I think McDivitt
will cut the cord before that ever happens.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. You throttle back there, Armstrong.
Ed!
- Yeah? - Phone for you.
- Yeah, who is it? - It's Deke.
Okay, hang on.
I think that's Castor and Pollux.
I was testing you, and you passed.
I thought about letting it fly, but...
Yeah.
Uh, no, uh, let me turn it on right now.
Hey, guys.
...with a Soviet pressure suit,
we're told, that was designed for the lunar surface.
- I'll call you back. - This is, of course,
mankind's first E.V.A.,
or extravehicular activity.
Within the American space program,
E.V.A. is seen as one of the crucial tests
the astronauts must master if they are to successfully
carry out their mission to the Moon.
Astronaut Ed White was scheduled
to perform the first E.V.A.
during Gemini 4.
So this is yet another major victory
for the Soviet Union in the Space Race.
Check valves are clear.
Okay. I'll get on the edge.
- We got it from here. - Thanks.
Thanks, Elliot.
Eight days up there.
To be honest, I'm kind of glad we didn't get this one.
Hope they don't kill each other.
At least it'd be quieter around here.
Neil.
Go ahead.
Neil Armstrong, our backup commander.
Buzz Aldrin.
Roger Chaffee.
Couple of greenhorns from third group.
They'll be at blockhouse for launch.
Listen, can I speak to you for a minute?
Fellas.
We're putting you in command of Gemini 8.
Dave Scott is gonna be your pilot.
We get the Agena back online,
you're probably gonna be the first to dock.
Don't worry about Elliot.
We'll put that brain of his to work.
We've got a big E.V.A. planned for Eight.
Dave's a workhorse.
Yes, sir.
- I'll talk to you later today. - Thank you.
My eye!
Oh, my eye!
My eye!
Mr. Armstrong.
When did you start swimming?
I don't remember exactly.
- I think school. - In high school?
Yeah, and we had a... we, uh...
like, a summer house in northern Wisconsin,
and I just used to go to the lake and, uh, fish.
And I just used to swim for miles and miles.
I've-I've always loved it.
Nothing quite compares
to your terrible life.
Oh...
You got it coming.
It's the longest bridge in the world, but there's no...
It's the second-largest suspension bridge in the world,
but these cables are the longest...
- Hey, Ed. - Oh, hi.
Uh, can I speak with Neil?
Yeah, sure. Why don't you come on in?
You're soaked.
No, I'll-I'll... I'll wait here.
Thanks.
You could fly under there.
That would hurt if you jumped under it.
- What's that? - That would hurt
if you jumped over it.
Yeah.
Uh, here are the sky pieces.
Neil, Ed's outside.
Okay.
Excuse me, son.
Hi.
You want to come in?
Some bad news about Elliot.
No, I know. Deke told me he bumped him, but with...
Neil, Elliot and Charlie were flying
into St. Louis this morning.
Their T-38 crashed on approach.
Oh.
There was a lot of fog.
So, did you really fly under that bridge?
Was it fun?
Were you scared?
Ricky. Honey.
Why don't you go and get your homework so I can check it?
Yes, ma'am.
Who was it?
Shit. How the hell did this happen?
Cernan told me cloud cover was down to 500 feet.
Probably never saw the building.
Clearly, the error was the approach.
He was coming in too slow to reach the runway.
What?
You know Deke had his doubts about him.
That's why he moved Elliot off Eight.
Deke gave Elliot his own command.
Elliot wasn't aggressive enough.
You of all people have to know that.
No, I don't.
I didn't investigate the crash.
I didn't study the flight trajectory.
And I wasn't the one flying the plane.
So I wouldn't pretend to know anything.
We'll never be a hundred percent sure.
Can we go?
Uh... uh, not right now.
I want to help Marilyn clear all this up.
I don't want to have her do it after we're gone.
Neil?
I'm sorry.
I hate to be a bother.
- Oh, Jan, it's no bother. - Oh, Jan.
Yeah, no.
Neil's, uh...
There was a year when we were at Edwards...
Four pilots died.
We got good at funerals that year.
We haven't been to one in a while.
Does he ever talk to you about Karen, Ed?
Not really. No.
Does he talk to you about her?
No.
Never.
Hey, buddy.
You know, you should be with Jan.
Neil, you should be playing with your kids.
You know, putting them into bed.
- Times like these... - Do you think I'm standing
out here in the backyard
'cause I want to talk to somebody, Ed?
I'm sorry?
Do you think I left there
'cause I want to talk to somebody?
T-minus one minute
and counting on the Atlas-Agena launch.
Liftoff.
Agena is go.
Flight dynamics for unmanned
Agena target vehicle looking good.
Stand by for Gemini launch.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
Guaymas, read you loud and clear.
We have S band track. We have just locked up on TM.
All right. Yeah, what's that?
- What's-what's happening? - Uh, did you say
- all systems go on TM? - Yeah, yeah.
Let me see. All right.
All right, hold still. Hold still.
- What is that? - Hold on.
Scoot... Can you scoot down at all?
All right.
- Hey. - What are you doing?
Has anybody got a Swiss Army knife?
- Hold on, hold on a sec. - What'd you say?
- See if this will do the trick. - Yeah. - A Swiss Army knife?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- It's just a little... - Are you kidding me?
- There we go. - You got it. - A little lower.
- Good Lord. - Guaymas, Agena is go.
Roger, Guaymas.
Switching to HF.
One, two, three, four, five.
Five, four, three, two, one. Check out.
Copy. T-minus two minutes.
- Engines to start. - Ground power removal.
Stage two prevalves coming open.
Five seconds.
T-minus 20 seconds. Mark.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven, six,
five, four,
three,
two, one.
Ignition.
Liftoff.
Clock is running. Got a roll program in.
Roger. Roll.
Good liftoff, Eight.
- Pitch program. - Roger. Pitch program.
DCS update received.
Roger. DCS.
Stage two tanks look good.
That's about three and a half g's.
Go from the ground for staging.
Roger.
Fuel cells are solid.
Gemini 8. Mark.
V over Vr is, uh, .08.
Okay. Mode three.
We had SECO.
"...fear that someone will break in
and steal all of my..."
Okay, we're all set.
"...Hank Williams..."
Transmitting maneuver load.
It's a height adjust.
Height adjust. Got DCS.
Roger. And are you ready to copy the update? Over.
Okay. Go with the update, Hawaii.
Roger. G.E.T. B-13437.
Delta-V, two-decimal-nine.
Burn time, zero plus zero-five...
Hey, Mom, can I get you anything?
He's doing good.
"Constant."
"How can you do push-ups
when your nose gets in the way?"
Roger, Hawaii. Got it.
This is Paul Haney
at Gemini Control Houston.
Our display chart shows Gemini 8 in orbit.
The crew will now attempt
to find the unmanned Agena spacecraft
and dock with it.
- Burn end. - Good burn.
Shouldn't we have a visual on the Agena by now?
Houston, I think we overdid it a little.
We should have stopped early.
Uh, roger.
Uh, Eight, stand by for a correction.
So we're getting the difference.
I'm on that.
FIDO, Flight. How we doing?
Okay, we got a solid track on both vehicles.
Calculating for the burn.
FIDO, Agena. Do you have what you need from us?
FIDO, did you copy that?
Roger, Flight. I copy.
- You guys getting this? - We just have some
ratty data with the Gemini computer.
Need the correction, gentlemen. Let's go.
- Sending it up now. - Okay, CAPCOM,
let's get it up to them.
This is Houston CAPCOM.
Uh, we're gonna need you to do another burn here
very shortly, so stand by to copy.
Uh, G.E.T. B-030341.
Uh, Delta-V is two seconds posigrade.
Two feet...
Uh, Delta-V is two feet posigrade.
Uh, Eight, do you copy?
Mark.
Two feet posigrade...
Give that back, Mark. Give that back.
Put it back on the table. Give me it.
Honey, give me it.
It's really important.
Give that back to Mom right now.
Do you copy?
Mark Armstrong, if you don't give me that back...
Eight, do you copy?
I'm not joking, Mark.
I'm getting a horrendous
20 to 25 feet per second down, Neil.
I can't see any possible reason for that.
- Where are we on the plot? - We're above it.
Right, but what does it look like if...
I can't. I'm sorry. I have to...
- I have to look at this. - Okay.
Eight, can you give us a status?
No. I got too much to do.
Copy. Standing by.
Okay, we're gonna go with a closed loop.
25 forward, eight left, three up,
and I'm going to rate command.
Three, two, one.
Burn.
Could be a planet.
Could be.
This is Houston.
We have your ground TPI backup when you're ready to copy.
Uh, stand by.
We have a visual on the Agena.
At least something we think looks like the Agena.
Understand. Possible visual on the Agena.
- We're getting a little out of plane now. - Uh, yeah.
Uh, we gotta get three aft and two and a half up.
I'm going to start braking.
Give me a digital range and rate.
I better back off a bit.
6,000 feet, 31 feet per second.
Put in a little to the left.
1,680 feet.
That's unbelievable.
Would you look at that?
You tell 'em.
Houston, we're station-keeping on the Agena
about 150 feet.
Okay, stay focused, gentlemen.
- We're only halfway there. - Nice job, guys.
- Thanks for the extra hands. - Let's do this, huh?
Stay focused, gentlemen.
Man, it flies easy.
Does it really?
The station-keeping, it's just...
it's like nothing.
Uh, RKV, this is Eight.
We're sitting about two feet out.
Uh, roger.
Uh, stand by for a couple of minutes here.
Roger.
Okay, Gemini 8,
uh, we have TM solid.
You're looking good on the ground.
Go ahead and dock.
Okay. We're gonna cycle our Rigid-Stop switch now.
Flight, we are docked.
Someone call Cronkite!
Have him tell the Soviets that they can go screw!
Get him on the phone, man.
Hey, Pete! Hey, call those idiots
at Congress while you're at it.
- Yeah, I'll start with Rhode Island. - Huh?
Oh, damn.
Well done. Let's go ahead and get
a state vector on the combined spacecraft.
Gemini 8, this is Houston CAPCOM.
Please stand by to copy.
Check out my room like this.
- But I don't think... - Look at all these papers.
I know.
I spent days trying to work on that,
and now it's crumpled up.
- Look at my drawer! - I know.
I had all my crayons in that,
and now look at all the crayons.
But, Ricky, are you telling me the full story?
'Cause I'm not sure your brother would do that unless...
Yes, I am telling you! Look at this!
Now, don't you get angry with me.
Don't get upset.
Uh, Eight, this is Houston.
Uh, I've got a nodal update for you. Stand by.
Anybody try calling about the appointment?
Okay, go ahead.
- Rick! - Roger.
Node 070447...
Okay. Out here now.
Out here now.
Against 51552 right ascension.
Gemini 8, we're about to have a loss of signal.
- Where have you gone? - We'll pick you up
over the hill for Dave's E.V.A.
Well, that's peculiar.
Oh, good.
I'm hoping that's just excess hydrogen.
I think I'm gonna save mine for later.
Little treat.
Uh, Neil, we're in a bank.
We're not doing it. It's-it's not us. It must be...
Shut off the Agena's control systems.
Code 400, Agena control system shutdown.
Cycle the Agena.
Turning it on.
Turning it off.
I'm gonna cycle the ACME
and the propellant motor valves.
Switching ADL to pitch.
RL to pitch.
Roll meter 200 and rising.
Separate from the Agena.
Setting Agena to allow remote command.
Switching on the DAC.
Make sure you give it extra thrust
so we don't smash into the Agena.
On my mark, undock.
Two. One.
OAMS propellant, 13%.
It's not the Agena. It's us.
Gemini 8, coming back into range in three, two, one.
This is CSQ, checking our comm link.
How do you read?
Gemini 8, how do you read?
We have serious problems.
We're tumbling end over end up here.
We're disengaged from the Agena.
Okay, we got your spacecraft
free indication here.
What seems to be the problem?
We're rolling up, and we can't turn anything off.
We're continuously increasing in a left roll.
CSQ, Flight.
Go ahead, Flight.
Did he say he cannot turn the Agena off?
Uh, no, he says he's separated from the Agena
and he's in a roll and he can't stop it.
Flight, their roll meter reads 270 and rising.
At that rate, they'll be passing out
in about 40 seconds.
Paul.
Trying to stop the rates.
We certainly have...
We can't...
Close the RCS breakers.
- Dave! - Gemini 8, did you say
you are closing RCS breakers?
Are you initiating RCS?
Gemini 8, again, did you say you are closing RCS breakers?
You will not be able to control your attitude.
Okay.
We're regaining control of the spacecraft.
Slowly in RCS direct.
Roger.
Roger. Copy.
We're pulsing the RCS slowly.
It's all roll right.
We're trying to kill our roll rate here.
Move us back to one ring.
Copy.
I want emergency landing options.
Wait until you find out how much fuel they have left.
Bob, what do you think?
I think they'd better land now.
Deke, Jan's outside.
Jan, the ship is stable. They're gonna be all right.
He's okay, Jan.
I need you to go home.
Fine. Turn the box back on.
- I'll see what I can do... - Now.
Turn the box back on now.
Well, there's security protocol in place.
Well, I don't give a damn.
I've got a dozen cameras on my front lawn, Deke.
Do you want me telling them what's going on?
Jan, you have to trust us.
We've got this under control.
- No, you don't. - We've...
All these protocols and procedures
to make it seem like you have it under control.
But you're a bunch of boys
making models out of balsa wood.
You don't have anything under control.
Naha Rescue One will be
on station at splashdown with a flotation collar.
Did you get the call signs?
Uh, yeah.
It's Naha Rescue One, Naha Search One.
Well, I'd like to argue with them
about the going home, but I'm...
not sure how we can.
Yeah.
I just keep thinking, is there anything else that we forgot?
We did everything, as far as I know.
Gemini 8 saw two complex vehicles
launched on the same day on time.
We saw flawless rendezvous and docking.
All of which is tended to be overshadowed
by the malfunction, but, uh,
I think we should focus on the progress
resulting from the mission.
The board would like to focus
on the malfunction.
Neil, walk us through the decision
to separate from the Agena.
You mentioned that the rate of revolution
was more than once a second.
How near were you to being unconscious?
Did you think to use the Agena
to stabilize the combined craft?
We did.
This was, uh, not successful.
As I said, we initially assumed
that the anomaly was with the Agena control system.
'Cause there was no way to know that a thruster
was causing the...
If we could have, uh, isolated each of Gemini's thrusters,
if we'd had that capability in the moment...
Agence France. Did you have any feeling of anxiety
after the failure of the thrusters?
In the midst of the spinning, did you seem to realize
or feel the presence of God closer than other times?
With this so hot on the heels of the loss
of Charlie Bassett and Elliot See,
do you question whether the program's worth the cost?
In money and in lives?
All right, thanks, guys.
We've got a lot to discuss, and we'll be
back in touch with you soon.
Thank you.
Mm-mm.
No, so we're using our thumb now, honey.
- Oh. - Okay.
"Our Wild Ride in Space"?
It's marketing, Mr. Armstrong.
NASA approval numbers are dropping.
- We need to... - Well, that's not my concern.
Almost. Okay, I'm gonna finish, uh,
wrapping your brother's present. I'll be back.
- You practice that one. - I'll try.
I'm not interested in how
other magazines are framing the story.
Okay. Keep going.
If it's any consolation,
Ed was a zombie for weeks after Gemini 4.
- Yeah? - Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
I guess it must be, uh, disorienting for them.
Certainly.
Yeah.
God, Pat.
I married Neil 'cause I wanted a normal life.
I know. I know.
He was just so different from all the other boys on campus.
Mmm.
He'd been through the war. You know.
He knew what he wanted to do.
He just seemed so stable.
I guess all I wanted was stability.
I've got a sorority sister with a normal life.
- Yeah? - She married a dentist.
Dentist.
Sounds good.
He's home by 6:00 every night, and every few months,
she calls to say she wishes he weren't.
Yeah.
Still working, I see.
Yeah.
Well, I was, uh,
gonna go grab a beer at Dave's.
Yeah, all right. Fine.
I could use a beer.
♪ Sure, so sure, so sure...
You know, I will say one thing.
It's all I can think about, is getting back up there.
Just caught a rough break.
Well, you boys did everything right.
Everything. You know, I was talking about it with Gus,
and we both agreed.
I did hear a little rumor
that you and Gus have been hanging out.
You did?
Mm-hmm.
Hey.
Is it true?
Is what true?
Deke pulled me aside and told me
that him and Gus want me on the crew.
Of the first Apollo?
Yeah.
Yeah. Holy shit.
That's huge.
Congratulations.
I gotta shake your hand.
- Thanks, man. - Wow.
That Saturn's a monster.
You're in for one heck of a ride.
- It is. - Oh, hey, uh, uh,
you know Deke wants Gus to be
the first one on the Moon, so...
Hey, that puts you in the LEM with him for the landing.
- Oh, no, no, no, let's not... - Ed.
- Let's not get carried away. - All right.
Get out of my house. I gotta go to bed.
I'm not kidding. Get out of my house.
Neil.
Hey, Neil. Don't bother sitting.
It's going to be a short meeting.
We've talked it through. We think it's pretty clear.
If you hadn't kept cool, you wouldn't be here,
and we'd still be asking what the hell happened.
So would Congress. It's a showstopper.
This mission was a success.
We're full steam ahead for Apollo.
You good with that?
- Yes, sir. - I trust you won't mind
representing us at the White House.
- No, sir. - Good.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Thank you.
"Interface problems and develop
operational techniques for the most efficient use of,"
uh, "onboard capabilities."
What?
No, it's not...
I got one.
- I got one. - No! No!
I got one.
I don't know why you're laughing.
He's gonna do that to you in a minute.
This time, I'm gonna put this one in the freezer.
- You need a hand? - Yeah.
- Okay, in you go. - Can you open the freezer?
Let's keep him for longer,
and then he won't let... In you go. In you go.
I got one. I got one.
Because I want to.
Who did... who did what?
- Me. - Have you seen his room?
Son, go stand in the corner.
It's not funny.
Thanks a lot, Mark!
- Stop laughing. - You're lying!
Just, you stop it.
You're the reason he's upset.
- Your mother's not laughing. - I'm not laughing.
- I'm... crying. - She's crying.
It's not yours!
I gotta tell you,
Eddie's started asking questions
- about the new command module. - Is that right?
Yeah, he wants to... wants to know if it's gonna
fly any different to Gemini.
If the little buttons are gonna be in the same place.
- Oh, boy. - Yeah.
You got yourself a little engineer there.
I tell you, though, I love that he's interested.
Came in the other morning, he did.
Comes running up, and he says, "Daddy,
"if you go to the Moon, are you gonna be lonely out there?
So far away from the Earth."
"All of us back here at home."
This-this whole thing is expanding his horizons.
It, uh, gives me faith.
It make sense?
Walkers got a new swing set.
Yeah, I noticed that.
We had a swing like that back up in Juniper Hills.
Karen really loved it.
That's your daughter?
Guess I ought to be getting home.
Closing hatches now.
Okay, that's all of 'em.
Thanks, Ed.
Ablative hatch closed.
Closing the boost protective cover.
And plugs out.
- Confirm boost hatch sealed. - Okay.
Ready for oxygen purge.
Okay, we're going to pick up,
but we'll stay in this configuration
that we're involved for the rest of the run.
Roger that.
Okay, tell everybody to be aware that, uh...
Uh, you want to hold down the chatter?
We're on open mic.
Uh, let's hold the countdown.
Sorry, guys. We'll get this squared.
Shit, we're gonna be here all night.
Gus, we didn't get that.
Course you didn't.
Glad you think this is funny.
We finished strong with Gemini,
and we're very, very bullish on Apollo, Senator.
I should hope so, given the time we've spent developing it.
Half the country doesn't think it's worth it anymore.
Uh, well...
we... we learned to fly only 60 years ago,
so if you consider the technological developments
in the context of history, it's really not...
I'm considering it in the context of taxpayer dollars.
And so are we, Senator.
Between us, we're doing some final tests
on the new command module today.
I'm sure Mr. Gilruth will be happy to tell you about it.
Let me introduce you to Bob. Come on.
Okay.
I'd like a photo, sir.
How about you boys?
Well, I haven't talked yet. How's this?
One, two, three, four, five,
four, three, two, one?
Uh, we need another minute
to get it sorted.
How are we gonna get to the Moon
if we can't talk between three buildings?
They can't hear a thing you're saying.
Jesus Christ.
Say again?
I said, how are we gonna get to the Moon
if we can't talk between two or three buildings?
You tell 'em, Gus. You tell 'em.
Mickey Mouse shit.
I got a surge in the AC bus two voltage.
Try resetting the meter.
You getting this, Gus?
Rog.
You picking anything up on the dials?
Hey, we got a fire in the cockpit.
Hey, we got a bad fire!
We're burning up in here!
Mr. Armstrong?
I have Deke Slayton on the phone for you.
Oh.
Right this way.
Thank you.
Well, I'm glad you called.
I'm not sure if I'm helping or hurting over here.
Neil, we had a problem with the plugs-out test.
Well, that's why we have tests, right?
We'll figure it out.
There was a fire.
God, there's no easy way to say this.
Ed, Gus and Roger...
they're gone.
We think it was a wiring issue.
A spark in all that oxygen.
It happened very quickly.
Now, listen, we need you guys to head back to the hotel.
The press is gonna be all over this.
Congress is gonna be calling for investigations. We...
We just don't want you guys in the middle of all that.
Do you understand?
Yeah.
All right, then.
Okay.
A lot of people forget about
the influence that the lunar program has
on the raising of our young people in the country.
I think that if a civilization doesn't look out,
if it doesn't try to expand its horizons,
then we're not going to progress as a nation.
At 10:30 tonight Eastern Time,
rescue teams began to remove the bodies
of the three astronauts from the charred spacecraft.
A NASA spokesman said the dead astronauts
were left in the ship for four hours
to aid the investigation into the tragedy.
And according to the latest information from NASA
at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston,
the first Apollo flight,
which was scheduled for February the 21st, is now...
Winds are pretty rough today.
Keep an eye on your yaw.
Copy. Correcting.
1,000 feet. Switching to lunar mode.
Final landing approach.
You're too low. Climb.
Control is degrading.
Slow your rates.
Do you read?
Neil?
The vehicle's not safe.
Well, unfortunately, it's the best simulation we have.
And you and the others are too valuable.
It's a fly-by-wire system that's got no backup.
The ejection seat is the backup.
Political fallout from another accident
- will compromise our... - With all due respect, sir,
it's not my job to worry about the political fallout.
The damn thing could have killed you.
- Well, it didn't. - A split second more,
- and you would not be... - Well, we need to fail.
We need to fail down here so we don't fail up there.
Okay, Neil, Neil.
At what cost, huh?
"At what cost?"
Well, it's a little bit late
for that question, isn't it, sir?
They raise their voices, their placards,
and they march against the government.
But some go farther, burning Selective Service cards
and obstructing the draft.
Most dissenters confine themselves
to this kind of protest activity.
Hey, hey! LBJ!
How many kids did you kill today?
Hey, hey! LBJ!
How many kids did you kill today?
Pat?
Pat.
You okay?
Yes.
Why don't we go inside?
Hi.
Are you okay? Jesus.
Oh, I'm fine.
- Look at your face. - Excuse me.
Dad, want to come play?
- Ricky. - Uh...
Boys, go on. Go on.
I know, I know, I know. Dad's fine.
Go on. Go back out.
Go back, go back.
Mark, not here.
What happened?
Um...
- I, uh... - Jesus.
I just remembered I left something at the office.
You've lately taken
a couple of swipes at the space program.
I think it would be interesting to, uh, talk more
about whether this is the proper thing
to do with public treasury.
Is the sort of dreams I would have,
would be a habitable New York City, for instance.
It would seem to me that that would be
a reasonable thing to do.
Wh-What has been the reaction
of your friends in this?
Well, they mostly think that it's ridiculous
that we're spending so much money
to go somewhere where we don't know anything about.
And that the money could be used
for a lot more helpful things.
Power!
- Yeah! - Power to the people!
♪ A rat done bit my sister Nell ♪
♪ With Whitey on the Moon
♪ Her face and arms begin to swell ♪
- ♪ And Whitey's on the Moon - All right!
- Whoo! - ♪ I can't pay no doctor bills, but ♪
- ♪ Whitey's on the Moon - Speak!
♪ Ten years from now I'll be paying still, while ♪
♪ Whitey's on the Moon
♪ You know, the man just upped my rent last night ♪
- ♪ Whitey's on the Moon - Right on!
♪ No hot water, no toilets, no lights ♪
- ♪ But Whitey's on the Moon - Uh-huh!
- ♪ I wonder why he's uppin' me ♪ - Come on, now!
- ♪ 'Cause Whitey's on the Moon? ♪ - Yeah!
♪ Well, I was already giving him, like, 50 a week and, uh ♪
♪ Whitey's on the Moon...
- Jesus, that's a big mother. - It's a political rush job.
Congress wouldn't fund us to come in second.
Why else would NASA be sending a rocket
that's had one issue after another to the Moon?
Thanks for the insight, Buzz.
Always a pleasure with you.
Oh, it doesn't matter. He's not in the lunar lottery.
And you are?
Well, the only guys they let on the LLTV
since Neil's accident are ones that might land.
So you think you're going to the Moon?
Well, it's been up for grabs since Gus died.
I'm just saying what you're thinking.
Well, maybe you shouldn't.
Apollo 8 clearing the VAB
- and headed for the launchpad. - Yeah!
Hell of a rocket.
Yeah.
Everything stays on track, 11's gonna be the landing.
I talked to Bob. Everyone's in agreement.
We'd like you to command.
Okay.
I can see a helicopter
vectoring that way.
It looks like a red dot
with a long, long tail, a long plume.
That's got to be the spacecraft.
That has to be Apollo 10 reentering.
And so the flight of Apollo 10
has performed the major function of its mission.
It has proved, through these daring three astronauts,
that, uh, all of the systems work properly
and that there should be no reason why man cannot,
perhaps as early as July,
land on that picked spot on the Moon's equator.
These are sailors of the sky,
and what, uh, we've seen and heard today
make the great ocean voyages of the earthbound
seem... well, earthbound indeed.
For as the poet wrote, the crew of Apollo 10
has "slipped the surly bonds of Earth"
and carried us over into tomorrow.
In the past few hours,
man has come closer to the Moon than ever in his history.
There were those terrifying moments when...
Mom, what's wrong?
- Hmm? - What's wrong?
Nothing, honey.
Your dad's going to the Moon.
Okay.
Can I go outside?
Sure.
Uh, we're here today
to talk about the forthcoming flight.
But we're able to talk about it because of, uh...
previous flights.
Every flight took on new objectives
and left us with very few additions to be completed.
We're very grateful to those people who made it possible
for us to be here today.
All right, we'll take some questions now.
Jim.
Neil, when you learned you were going to command this flight,
were you surprised? Overjoyed?
- I was pleased. - Okay, but how would you compare
this feeling to winning an automobile
or being selected as an astronaut?
I was pleased.
- Brian. - Neil, if it does turn out,
you'll go down in history.
What kind of thoughts do you have about that
when the thought hits you, uh,
"Gosh, suppose that flight's successful..."
We're planning on that flight being successful.
Uh, I-I just meant,
how you feel about... being a part of history.
I think I can shed some light here.
It's a responsibility...
but it's exciting to be the first.
Even my wife is excited.
She keeps slipping.... jewelry into my PPK.
You're planning on taking some of her jewelry
- to the Moon, Buzz? - Sure.
Wh-What fella wouldn't want
to give his wife bragging rights?
Neil, will you take anything?
Uh, if I had a choice, I'd take more fuel.
All right, next question.
I thought you were gonna talk to the boys.
What did you want me to say?
What do you want to say?
You're the one that's going away.
Well, it's too late now. They're asleep.
No, they're not, Neil.
You know they're not.
Why can't you talk to them?
What are you doing?
Uh... I'm packing.
No.
You're just killing time until you can get in the car.
- Okay. - Okay.
Neil, I need you to talk to the boys.
Can you hear me?
I need you to talk to the boys. What are you doing?
Stop.
- I'm going to work. - Well, just stop it.
Just stop... just stop packing!
What are the chances you're not coming back?
Hmm? What are the chances
this is the last time the boys are gonna see you?
Well, I can't give you an exact number.
I don't want a fucking number, Neil!
It's not zero, is it?
Is it?
No.
No. It's not.
Pat doesn't have a husband.
Those kids, they don't have a father anymore.
Do you understand what that means?
What are the chances that's gonna be Ricky and Mark?
And I... I can't tell them
that their dad spent the last few minutes
packing his briefcase!
You're gonna sit 'em down, both of them,
and you're gonna prepare them for the fact
that you might not ever come home.
You're doing that.
You.
Not me.
I'm done.
So you better start thinking about what you're gonna say.
Jimmy asked what you're gonna say
when you get onto the Moon.
Well, we're not sure we're gonna get onto the Moon.
Uh... a lot of things have to go right
before that happens.
How long will you be gone?
Um... well, we launch in ten days,
we'll be up for eight, and then about a month in quarantine.
What's quarantine?
We'll... be in isolation.
Uh, to protect in case we, uh...
carry any diseases from the lunar surface
or... something of that nature.
It's not likely, but it's a precaution.
So you won't be here for my swim meet?
No.
Sorry.
Does anyone have any other questions?
Do you think you're coming back?
We have real confidence in the mission.
And, uh, there are some risks,
but we have every intention of coming back.
But you might not.
That's right.
Okay.
Okay. Time for bed.
"Fate has ordained
"that the men who went to the Moon to explore in peace
"will stay on the Moon to rest in peace.
"These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin,
"know there is no hope for their recovery.
"They will be mourned by their families.
"They will be mourned by a Mother Earth
that dared send two of her sons into the unknown."
"For every human being
"who looks up at the Moon in the nights to come
"will know that there is some corner
"of another world
that is forever mankind."
Prior to the statement, the president will telephone
each of the widows-to-be.
A clergyman will adopt the same procedure
as a burial at sea,
commending their souls to the deepest of the deep.
Any thoughts?
Sounds fine.
T-minus two minutes and counting.
20 seconds and counting.
T-minus 15 seconds.
Guidance is internal.
12, 11,
ten, nine...
Ignition sequence start.
Tower cleared.
Mark. Mode One Charlie.
Houston, you are a go for staging.
This is Apollo Control.
We're a minute from ignition on translunar injection maneuver.
Okay, we're operate 59:59.
Apollo 11, we track your speed
increasing to 36,000 feet per second.
You are now leaving Earth orbit.
Apollo 11. Roger.
We have cutoff.
Uh, roger, 11.
Well, it certainly looks like you're well on your way now.
Okay, Houston, we're about to SEP.
Mike, you got it?
It's your ship now.
And you can start PTC at your convenience.
All right, thank you, Houston.
That smells funny.
Like, uh, charred electrical insulation.
Might just be rocket fumes.
- Did you bring any music? - No.
Here, Buzz.
Hey, Houston, are you hearing this?
Apollo 11, now entering lunar orbit.
Your roll should give you a good view
in about two minutes. Over.
When you have a free minute, could you give us
your onboard readout of N2 tank Bravo, please?
Nitrogen tank Bravo are showing
19-60, something like that.
Roger.
Would you look at that.
This is a damn three-ring circus.
I got a fuel cell purge in progress,
I'm watching an auto maneuver and...
Jesus Christ.
Normal, normal.
Houston, stand by for auto alarm.
Neil, the, uh... the voice tape recorder,
- you know where that is? - I don't know.
All this food and stuff up here,
- you want any of that? - No.
All right. What about this chewing gum?
You want any of that?
Mike.
Come back, will you?
Apollo 11, Houston.
Let us know when you've entered the LEM,
closed up the hatch. Over.
Eagle, this is, uh, Houston.
We see the optics zero switch on.
Uh, before you take some marks, uh, don't forget
to cycle it back off and on, and then on. Over.
Eagle, Houston, could you give us a hack
on, uh, the time that you switched to LEM power
and also verify that we're on Glycol Pump One. Over.
This is Eagle. We're on Pump One.
- Roger. - Eagle, Columbia.
All 12 docking latches are cocked.
- I'm ready to button up the hatch. - Roger.
I'm gonna start a maneuver now
to our undocking attitude.
Okay.
How about using as an undocking time
a hundred hours and 12 minutes?
- What have you got for AOS? - I have a hundred hours
and 16 minutes.
Eagle,
keep an eye on your descent engine fuel.
Continuous burn time is limited to 910 seconds.
Over.
Apollo 11, Houston. We are go for undocking. Over.
15 seconds.
Okay, there you go.
Eagle, Houston. We see you on the steerable.
- Over. - The Eagle is undocked.
Roger. How does it look?
The Eagle has wings.
It just won't stay.
Eagle, report status. Over.
We'll have to tell them about that.
Let's prep for descent.
Eagle, Houston.
You're a go for powered descent.
Roger. Read you.
Altitude light's on. We don't have radar data.
Let's proceed.
Proceed.
One.
Zero.
Ignition.
Program alarm.
- What's a 1202 alarm? - I don't know.
Houston, give us a reading on the 1202 program alarm.
Roger, we got you. We're a go on that alarm.
Same alarm.
Roger. We're a go on that alarm.
- Okay, 3,000 at 70. - Roger. Understand.
Program alarm. 1201.
Roger. 1201 alarm.
Same type. We're a go.
Pretty rocky area.
Those boulders are as big as cars.
We can't land there.
Go into manual.
540 feet down to 30.
Watch your fuel.
330.
300 feet, down three and a half.
Fuel's at eight percent.
Radar's lost track of the surface again.
160 feet, six and a half down.
Five and a half down, nine forward.
Low level. Low level.
120 feet.
Five percent fuel remaining.
Quantity light.
94 seconds to bingo.
114's a mandatory abort.
Down a half. Six forward.
Stand by for 60. Roger.
60 seconds.
40 feet, down two and a half.
Stand by for 30.
- 30 seconds. - Forward.
20 feet, down a half.
Faint shadow. Drifting forward,
just a little bit.
Contact light.
Shutdown.
We copy you down, Eagle.
Houston...
Tranquility Base here.
The Eagle has landed.
Roger, Tranq... Tranquility.
We copy you on the ground.
You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue.
We're breathing again. Thanks a lot.
Thank you.
Very smooth touchdown.
Okay, Neil,
we can see you coming down the ladder now.
Okay, I just checked.
Uh, coming back up to that first step, Buzz, it's, uh...
The strut hasn't collapsed too far,
but, uh, it's adequate to get back up.
Roger. We copy.
Takes a pretty good little jump.
Uh, Buzz, this is Houston.
F-two, one 160th second for shadow photography
on the sequence camera.
Okay.
I'm, uh, at the foot of the ladder.
The LEM footpads are only, uh...
uh, depressed in the surface
about, uh, one or two inches.
Although the surface appears to be, uh,
very, very fine-grained as you get close to it.
It's almost like a powder down there.
Uh, very fine.
I'm gonna step off the LEM now.
That's one small step for man...
...one giant leap for mankind.
Okay, you ready for me to come out?
Five, four, three,
two, one.
Ignition.
...I suppose they can
never really, uh, describe to us.
So we'll never know.
And it may not be a beauty that one can pass on
to future beholders, either.
These first men on the Moon have seen something
that men who follow will have missed.
They've peered into another life
that, uh, we can't follow.
Bob Simon at Trafalgar Square,
where he joined the thousands
who watched an immense television screen
as the Apollo touched down on the Moon.
The average Romanian thinks of Apollo 11
a little bit as his own personal adventure.
It's been estimated that the audience
was up in the hundreds of millions.
Perhaps 400 million persons or so watching this broadcast.
Countless millions more
listened on the radio to the voices from the Moon.
Never before had so many people
been attuned to one event at one time.
...is on the Moon. Of course...
...feats of all time.
Does it amaze you that it's taken place?
It not only amazes me, but I'm certain
that it amazes everybody in this country.
What do you think of it?
Well, the Moon, I hope...
that sometime everybody will go there.
- Want to go yourself? - Oh, yeah.
I wish I can go right now.
I think this is a very important day.
It's a historical day for... and the whole universe
is concerned about this, the landing on the Moon.
And as a French woman,
- how do you think about it? - Oh, I think it's wonderful.
I always trusted America, and I knew they couldn't fail.
And in Washington,
an anonymous citizen placed a small bouquet
on the grave of John F. Kennedy with a note:
"Mr. President, the Eagle has landed."
And indeed on this day, as we mark the astronauts' return,
it's hard not to think back upon that speech
our 35th president gave just seven short years ago.
If this capsule history of our progress
teaches us anything, it is that man,
in his quest for knowledge and progress,
is determined and cannot be deterred.
But why, some say, the Moon?
Why choose this as our goal?
And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain?
Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?
Why does Rice play Texas?
We choose to go to the Moon.
We choose to go to the Moon...
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade
and do the other things,
not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
How do you feel?
How happy are you?
Have you spoken with your husband?
Would your sons like to be astronauts like him?
Mrs. Armstrong.
Ha-Have all your prayers been answered?
Yes, yes, they have.
How would you describe the flight?
Well, uh, I can only say it was, uh, out of this world.
Thank you.
They will be quarantined the full three weeks,
but there is no sign of infection or disease.
Congratulations, Jan.
Go ahead.
Roger. Node.
Zero-seven.
Zero-four.
Four-six.
Rogue five.
Six-seven-point-five east.
One-five.
Five-two right ascension.
Uh, roger. Understand.
Node: 070446...
rogue five, 67.5 east,
one-five plus five-two right ascension.
Roger. That's correct.
And we do verify that the L-band radar is off link.
No, that's the spacecraft L-band radar.
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