50th Anniversary of Apollo 11
50th Anniversary of Apollo 11
Visit the National Archives to see exclusive, featured documents from the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. From transcripts to flight plans, the museum will highlight some of the most important pieces of the monumental occasion. Documents will be on display through August 7, 2019 in the Rotunda Galleries.
Apollo 11 Flight Profile: Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on July 16, 1969. For the next eight days the world closely tracked the mission’s progress as the crew flew to the Moon and back to Earth. This flight profile details the flight plan for the entire mission.
Apollo 11 Flight Plan: This flight plan for hour 102 of the Apollo 11 mission gives a timeline of tasks to be performed by the crew—Mike Collins (CMP), Neil Armstrong (CDR), and Buzz Aldrin (LMP)—and Mission Control in Houston (MCC-H). While Collins orbited the Moon in the Command Service Module (CSM) Columbia, Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the Moon’s surface in the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle. According to the plan, touchdown was expected at 102:47:11, but Armstrong’s voice crackled over the radio “the Eagle has landed” a minute and a half ahead of schedule.
Apollo 11 Flight Radio Transcript: Astronaut Neil Armstrong uttered the historic phrase “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind” as he took his first steps onto the Moon’s surface on July 20, 1969. This transcript of the Apollo 11 radio transmission to Mission Control documents the astronaut’s first impressions of the lunar surface but failed to capture Armstrong’s exact words. Whether the “a” before “man” in Armstrong’s statement was dropped due to an interruption in the transmission or because he misspoke remains a matter of debate.
Data Card for the Lunar Module: This “DATA CARD KIT” is a checklist of the EVA (extra vehicular activities) to be conducted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during their moon walk, including taking photographs, inspecting equipment, and collecting samples from the lunar surface. The Velcro squares on the card enabled the astronauts to attach the checklist to Velcro patches on their spacesuits and inside the Lunar Module.
Past Featured Records
-
Courting Confrontation: The Arrest of Susan B. Anthony
Thursday, November 3, 2022 – Thursday, January 12, 2023East Rotunda GalleryOn November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women attempted to vote in Rochester, New York, challenging section... Read more
Featured Document Display: Remembering the Hollywood 10: Screenwriter Ring Lardner, Jr.
Thursday, September 8, 2022 – Wednesday, November 2, 2022
East Rotunda GalleryEarly in the Cold War, the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigated allegations of Communist activity in the film industry. The committee’s mandate was... Read more
Black Wall Street: 100 Years Since the Tulsa Race Massacre
Thursday, April 1, 2021 – Thursday, June 17, 2021
Online“— were dead. Figures are omitted [because] NO ONE KNOWS.” —Red Cross Report
On Memorial Day 1921, a Black shoe shiner named Dick Rowland rode in an elevator with white operator Sarah Page. The next day,... Read more
Victory in Japan: 75th Anniversary of the End of WWII
Japan Surrenders
World War II, the bloodiest conflict in history, came to an end in a 27-minute ceremony on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, six years and one day after the war erupted in Europe. On that September morning in 1945, Japanese officials signed a... Read more
National Inventors’ Day
To celebrate National Inventors’ Day, learn about Marjorie S. Joyner and her groundbreaking permanent wave machine, an innovation that revolutionized the time-intensive task of curling or straightening women’s hair. Over her 50-year career, Joyner trained thousands of students and helped write the first cosmetology laws in... Read more
