13 Minutes to the Moon: 11. The 13 minutes

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The audio recordings of the conversations between Mission Control and the Apollo 11 astronauts are instantly recognizable whenever you hear them.

Unmistakable as anything else other than a crew hurtling towards the moon, being guided by their mission control team across the void of space.

Those voices and sounds are so familiar and yet nearly impossible to decipher without a lot of help.

But now you know exactly what you're hearing.

Here's a chance to listen again to history as it happened.

I'm Kevin Fong from the BBC World Service.

This is 13 Minutes to the Moon.

There were many communication channels in Mission Control and what you're about to hear is Capcom Charlie Dukes Loop.

This is the final 13 minutes of Descent to the Moon on July the 20th, 1969, exactly as he heard it that day.

Episode 11, the 13 Minutes.

Ten percent C C P Raj, ten percent.

This way going to Trinity.

This way to get to the track.

Turn on, we've got 20-foot-per-second residual that is probably downtrack error.

I'll leave it in blue.

Relay to it.

90 foot residual due to downtrend air.

Eagle, we got you now.

He's looking good over.

Roger, GTC, go.

Flight control, Ricko.

FGP looks good.

Roger.

Eagle, that looks good.

Eagle Houston, everything's looking good here over.

Roger, copy.

Eagle Houston, after y'all around, angles, S-band pitch minus nine Earth yaw plus one eight

flight fighter we have negative miss men rod negative miss men

you got the

fighter what data do you have things and ags end off the flight we go

restarting miss men now right shows it off we're looking looks good flight rights and things agree very closely

Roger dips thrust 9820 Roger thrust 9820.

Copy, flight.

There, just so you look, guidance.

Rog.

No change, is what you're saying.

No change.

That's downtrend.

I know it.

Roger.

Flight photo.

Go fight.

We've reinitialized the filter.

We do have an altitude difference.

Roger.

Light sider, GTC running a little bit.

AD voltage now.

Roger.

50 meter, maybe, huh?

Stand by.

Looking good to us.

You're still looking good at three, coming up three minutes.

Okay, control, let me know when he starts his yacht here.

Roger.

How's your miss been looking now, Fido?

Flies Fido.

Okay, how about you guys?

Almost on 18, but we're gonna make it out of the rig.

Roger, copy.

That's right.

I think we're gonna go.

12-planet controllers, 30 seconds to your next goddamn go.

Outflight controllers, I'm going to horn.

Make your go-to goes based on the data you had for at LOS.

I see we got it back in another few seconds.

Really yarn.

Okay, retro, go.

Fight him.

Go, guys.

Go!

Control.

Go.

Health count.

Go.

Inc.

Go.

Economy.

Search.

Go.

Coming up.

We're going to continue PDI.

Eagles Houston.

You're a goal to continue.

Did you get that right from me?

You're a go to continue power descent.

You're a go to continue power descent.

Okay, everybody on the same thing.

Look for the next radar.

Okay.

Roger, I copy guns.

Okay, we got data back.

Radar flight looks good.

Roger.

2,000 feet.

Roger, 2,000 feet.

Me no one accepts it, guys.

I'll put his lights out.

LH is minus 2,900.

Roger, we copy.

That's the Earth right out our front window.

Houston, you're looking at our delta H.

Now that's primary.

Looks good.

It's looking good to us.

Are you accepting it, guidance?

1202.

Stand by.

1202.

Looks like it's converging.

1202 alarm.

Perfect.

Yeah, same thing we had.

Flight, retro.

Go, retro.

Throttle down.

6 plus 25.

We're going to flight.

We're going that alarm.

Roger, we got you.

We're going that alarm.

We go.

He's taking it at up to H now.

Roger.

Roger.

330.

Did you get 6 plus 25?

Throttle down.

6 plus 25.

Throttle down.

Flight phyto control.

Roger plus 25.

Flight control, we have velocity.

Roger.

Same alarm, and it appears to come up when we have a 1668 up.

Roger, copy.

Okay, we'll monitor his delta H flight.

Roger.

I think that's what it's getting.

Okay.

Eagles Houston, we'll monitor your Delta H and his alarms.

Roger.

Delta H is beautiful.

Delta H is looking.

Roger, Delta H is looking good to us.

Okay, all flight controllers hang to it.

Should be throttling down pretty shortly.

Roger, copy throttle down.

Put him in the simulator.

Roger.

How's it looking, guys?

Acting things look real close.

You want him to stay out of 68?

Negative flights.

I just said we'll monitor the alarms.

Okay.

Okay.

Fly control looking looks good.

Flight, Roger.

Go, guys.

So 968 now, well, may be the problem here, and we can monitor Delta H.

Roger.

Flight fighter, looking real good.

Rog, Fido, good.

At seven minutes, you're looking great to us, Eagle.

Tell Com, how are you looking?

Okay, I'm still on the floor, Roger.

So we may tend to lose as we gradually pitch over.

Let me try auto again now, see what happens.

Gonna try sterbo again, Don.

Copy flight.

Okay, looks like it's holding.

Roger, we got good data.

We on stirboard, Don?

That's a 30 flight, and it's holding in there pretty good.

Roger.

Okay, everybody, hang tight.

Seven and a half minutes.

Flight guns, just landing radars.

Fixed the velocity is beautiful.

Roger.

Flight control, descent.

Two fuel.

Descent to fuel.

Correct.

Decent to fuel only.

Too critical.

He didn't want to say critical.

Roger.

Descent to fuel.

Eagle Houston is descent to fuel to monitor over.

Flight Fido, looking real good.

Roger.

Give us an estimated switchover time, please.

Roger, stand by.

You're looking great at eight minutes.

You got an estimated.

What's our T go, guys?

30 seconds to P64.

Roger,

so you got 30 seconds to P64.

Okay, we've still got landing radar guidance.

Okay.

Is it converged?

It looks beautiful.

Has it converged?

Yes.

Okay.

Flight fighter, we're going to look real good.

Roger, Fido.

Eagle Houston coming up 830, you're looking great.

364.

Okay, they got 64.

Tigo's good.

Rog, Tigo's go.

We have position two on the LR.

Rog, position two.

All flight controllers, 20 seconds to go.

No go for landing.

Eagle, you're looking great.

Coming up nine minutes.

Okay, all flight controllers gonna go for landing.

Retro, go,

go, guidance, go control, telecom, go, GMC, go.

Roger, Kyle, surgeon, go, Capcom, we're go for landing.

Eagle Houston, you're a go for landing over.

Roger, understand, go for landing, 3,000 feet.

Copy alarm.

1201.

1201.

Roger, 1201 alarm.

1201 alarm.

Same Same type or go, Flight.

We're go.

Same type.

We're go.

Flight set of right.

Roger.

2,000 feet.

Into the egg, 47 degrees.

Roger.

47 degrees.

How's our margin looking, Bob?

He looks okay.

We've got four and a half.

Roger.

Eagle looking great.

You're go.

Altitude updating the eggs.

Looks good.

Roger.

Roger 1202, we copy it.

How you doing?

35 degrees.

We look good here, five.

700 feet, 21 down, 33 degrees.

100 feet down at 19.

540 feet down at 30 and at 15.

Attitude home.

Okay, I'd hold.

I think we'd better be quiet.

They're 400 feet down at 9.

Okay, the only call outs from now on will be.

350 feet down at 4.

33 and a half down.

They're uh taked on

horizontal velocity.

300 feet down, 3 and a half.

47 forward.

Hold up.

Down one and in it.

One and a half down.

70.

Got the shadow out there.

50 down and 2.5.

19 forward.

Okay, Bob.

Altitude.

3.5 down.

220 feet.

13 forward.

12 and forward.

Coming down nicely.

200 feet.

4.5 down.

5.5 down.

160, 6.5 down.

5.5 down.

9 forward.

Low level?

Good.

120 feet.

100 feet, 3 and a half down.

9 forward.

5%.

100.

875 feet.

That is looking good.

Down and a half.

6 forward.

60.

60 seconds.

60 seconds.

Lights on.

Down 2.5.

Forward.

Forward.

Yep.

40 feet down two and a half.

Picking up some dust.

30 feet, 2 and a half down.

Take shadow.

Damn that.

Four forward.

Four forward.

Drifting to the right a little.

30 seconds.

30 seconds.

Contact light.

Okay, engine stop.

APA at a descent.

Out of descent.

Host control both auto descent.

Engine command override off.

Engine arm off.

413 is in

we've had shutdown we copy you down eagle

everybody key one stand by key one

tranquility base here the eagle has landed

Thank you to NASA for the recording of Space Exploration's most extraordinary 13 minutes.

Apollo 11's landing was the goal set by President John F.

Kennedy eight years before.

His celebrated We Choose to Go to the Moon speech in 1962 was given at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

And that's where we've recorded the live season finale of 13 Minutes to the Moon.

With an audience at the University's Baker Institute, I'll be joined by three Apollo veterans you've already met in the series.

Flight controller, John Aaron, Flight Director Jerry Griffin, and Apollo 7 astronaut Walt Cunningham.

And alongside them will be an astronaut from this generation, Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station who has spent more time in space than any other American astronaut.

And we'll be releasing that 12th episode on the 20th of July 2019, 50 years to the day since since it happened, the anniversary of the first moon landing.

13 Minutes to the Moon is an original podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Kevin Fong.

Thank you for listening.

This is history's heroes: people with purpose, brave ideas, and the courage to stand alone, including a pioneering surgeon who rebuilt the shattered faces of soldiers in the First World War.

You know, he would look at these men and he would say, don't worry, sonny, you'll have as good a face as any of us when I'm done with you.

Join me, Alex von Tunselmann, for History's Heroes.

Subscribe to History's Heroes wherever you get your podcasts.