Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Were Supposed to Nap After Landing on the Moon, But They Couldn ’t Wait to Walk

Five decades ago, as astronauts traveled to the moon for the first time, TIME watched closely, along with the rest of the world. The magazine documented not only the moon landing but also the hopes and fears in the lead-up to the journey. This week, TIME looks back to that era and ahead to the new space race. To mark the anniversary, all readers — not just subscribers, who always have access — can get a free look inside the original issues that ran shortly before and after Apollo 11. The July 18, 1969, issue of TIME, with its special supplement on the moon, provides a detailed account of the original plans for the journey. The July 25, 1969, issue (for which the editors delayed the magazine’s usual print time in order to get the Sunday event into its pages) reports what actually happened — and how reality deviated from the plans, even if in small ways. Or really small ways — as in, milliseconds. All eyes were on the astronauts as they prepared to take flight. “Lift-off was nearly perfect,” the magazine reported. “Rising Phoenix-like above its own exhaust flames, a scant 724 milliseconds behind schedule, the giant rocket shook loose some 1,300 lbs. of ice that had frozen on its white sides. Although it was the heaviest space vehicle ever fired aloft — 6,484,289 lbs. at ignition — it cleared the launch tower in twelve seconds.” Lift-off was not the only thing that didn’t exactly go according to plan, thoug...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized apollo 11 apollo1150 Media onetime Space Source Type: news