On Wednesday,
July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 stands on the launchpad, ready for
liftoff.
A few weeks earlier, an American spy satellite had spotted a huge
rocket awaiting launch in the Soviet Union. But a few days later,
the satellite picked up a black pit of smoking ruins. The rocket
had blown up. If Apollo 11 avoids a similar fate, America
will win the race to the moon.
The astronauts are ready. Armstrong has mastered flying the Lunar
Module (LM, pronounced lem) using a trainer. The LM is the
part of the spacecraft that will separate from the "mother ship"
— the Command Module piloted by Collins — and take Armstrong
and Aldrin to the moon.
Mike Collins has perfected 18 different rendezvous for the Command
Module. If the LM makes it off the surface, but not all the way
to orbit, the Command Module will swoop down and grab it.
Aldrin has moonwalking down to a fine art. He and Armstrong will
have less than three hours on the surface — not a minute to
waste. All three men spend weeks practicing in simulators.
Before going into quarantine
for 21 days, the astronauts spend a last weekend with their families.
They all know they might not come home again.
