WEBVTT

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[dramatic music]

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- HI, FOLKS.
WELCOME TO "NASA LAUNCHPAD."

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I'M YOUR HOST,
VINCE WHITFIELD.

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THE YEAR WAS 1969.

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THE ANTICIPATION WAS HIGH.

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THE IMPOSSIBLE
HAD BECOME POSSIBLE.

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THE WORLD WAS UNITED WITH
A FOOTSTEP AND A SINGLE PHRASE.

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- THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP
FOR A MAN,

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ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND.

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- ON JULY 16, 1969,

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THE APOLLO 11 MISSION
LIFTED OFF

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FROM KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

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CARRYING ASTRONAUTS
NEIL ARMSTRONG,

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EDWIN "BUZZ" ALDRIN,

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AND MICHAEL COLLINS
ON WHAT WOULD BECOME

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ONE OF THE BIGGEST
ENGINEERING FEATS OF ALL TIME,

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HUMANS SETTING FOOT
ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON.

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ON JULY 20, 1969,
JUST FOUR DAYS LATER,

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THE LUNAR MODULE,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE EAGLE,

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BEGAN ITS DESCENT
ONTO THE MOON.

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ASTRONAUTS ARMSTRONG AND ALDRIN
QUICKLY REALIZED

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THEY WERE PASSING
LUNAR LANDMARKS

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ABOUT FOUR SECONDS EARLY,

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WHICH MEANT THE EAGLE
WOULD LAND

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KILOMETERS WEST
OF ITS TARGETED LANDING POINT.

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THE NEW LANDING SPOT WAS GOING
TO PUT THEM ON THE EDGE

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OF A HUGE CRATER.

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TO COMPLICATE THINGS,

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THE LUNAR MODULE'S
NAVIGATION COMPUTER

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SOUNDED SEVERAL UNUSUAL ALARMS,
DISTRACTING THE CREW.

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AN OVERLOAD HAD OCCURRED

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WHEN TWO RADAR SYSTEMS
WERE POWERED UP,

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CAUSING THE COMPUTER SYSTEM
TO GO HAYWIRE.

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SO NEIL ARMSTRONG TOOK
SEMIAUTOMATIC CONTROL

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OF THE MODULE'S AUTO-DESCENT.

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WITH BUZZ ALDRIN CALLING OUT
VELOCITY DATA AND ALTITUDE,

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THE EAGLE SAFELY LANDED
ON THE MOON'S SURFACE,

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WITH A MERE 25 SECONDS
OF FUEL LEFT.

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THE APOLLO 11 CREW TOUCHED DOWN
IN THE SEA OF TRANQUILLITY,

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A RELATIVELY SMOOTH
AND LEVEL AREA--

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AT LEAST FOR THE MOON--
ON THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.

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I CAN SEE THE PUZZLED LOOKS
ON SOME OF YOUR FACES:

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"SEA" OF TRANQUILITY?

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ACTUALLY, THE NAME IS TRANSLATED
FROM THE LATIN

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"MARE TRANQUILLITATIS."

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THESE LARGE DARK AREAS
OF THE MOON

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HAD MISTAKENLY BEEN NAMED SEAS

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BECAUSE THEY LOOKED LIKE LARGE
BODIES OF WATER FROM EARTH.

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THE NAME STUCK, EVEN AFTER
EARLY PICTURES OF THE MOON

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SHOWED NO WATER
ON THE ROCKY SURFACE.

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A MARE IS KIND OF LIKE
A FLAT PLAIN HERE ON EARTH.

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AND THIS SITE
HAD BEEN CAREFULLY CHOSEN

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OVER A HOST
OF OTHER POSSIBILITIES.

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WITH RELATIVELY FEW CRATERS
AND BOULDERS,

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ALLOWING FOR AN EASY DESCENT,

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AND NO LARGE HILLS,
HIGH CLIFFS, OR DEEP CRATERS

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THAT COULD INTERFERE WITH
THE LUNAR MODULE LANDING RADAR,

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THE SITE SEEMED A GOOD CHOICE.

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AND THE RESULTING IMAGES
WERE BREATHTAKING.

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AFTER THE MOON LANDING
CAME THE MOST EXCITING MOMENT,

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WHEN NEIL ARMSTRONG
AND BUZZ ALDRIN

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BECAME THE FIRST HUMANS TO WALK
ON A PLANETARY BODY

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OTHER THAN EARTH.

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ALTHOUGH THE FIRST MOON WALK
WASN'T SCHEDULED TO OCCUR

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UNTIL JULY 21, 1969,

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A DAY AFTER THE ASTRONAUTS
HAD LANDED ON THE MOON,

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THE EXCITED TEAM,
UNABLE TO SLEEP

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AND FEELING NO ILL EFFECTS
FROM THEIR LANDING,

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TOOK THAT FIRST LEAP OF FAITH
ON JULY 20th

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AT 10:56 P.M.
EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME.

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IN ORDER TO CAPTURE THE IMAGES

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OF MANKIND'S FIRST STEP
ON THE MOON,

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ARMSTRONG PULLED A SPECIAL RING
THAT AUTOMATICALLY DEPLOYED

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THE TELEVISION CAMERA.

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ARMSTRONG LATER REPORTED THAT
THEY HAD VERY LITTLE TROUBLE,

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IN FACT, MUCH LESS TROUBLE THAN
THEY EXPECTED AFTER LANDING.

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BECAUSE LITTLE WAS KNOWN
ABOUT THE SURFACE OF THE MOON,

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THE ASTRONAUTS DID NOT KNOW
WHAT TO EXPECT

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WHEN THEY MADE THAT FIRST STEP.

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WOULD THEY SINK IN SOFT DIRT
UP TO THEIR KNEES?

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WOULD THEY BE ABLE
TO MOVE EASILY?

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THEY WERE PLEASANTLY SURPRISED

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TO FIND ONLY A FEW CENTIMETERS
OF DUSTY SOIL

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ON TOP OF A HARD SURFACE.

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AND BY LEARNING TO USE WHAT
ALDRIN WOULD LATER CALL

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A "STANDARD LOPING TECHNIQUE OF
ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER"

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AND PLANNING THEIR STEPS
BEFORE ACTUALLY TAKING THEM,

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MOVING ACROSS
THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE

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WASN'T AS HARD
AS THEY HAD ANTICIPATED EITHER.

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BUT IT WASN'T JUST A CASUAL
STROLL THROUGH IN THE PARK--

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OR RATHER, THE MOON.

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THE CREW HAD A TIMELINE

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AND SEVERAL IMPORTANT TASKS
TO COMPLETE.

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ONE OF THEIR
MOON-WALKING MISSIONS

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INCLUDED COLLECTING
LUNAR SAMPLES,

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AND THE CREW COLLECTED
ABOUT 21 KILOGRAMS' WORTH.

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ANOTHER MISSION
FOR THE APOLLO 11 ASTRONAUTS

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WAS TO PERFORM EXPERIMENTS,

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SO THEY DUG THEIR HEELS
INTO THE MOON DUST

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AND GOT STARTED ON SOME SCIENCE.

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THE SOIL MECHANICS INVESTIGATION

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STUDIED THE PROPERTIES
OF LUNAR SOIL INFORMATION,

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WHICH AIDED
IN FUTURE APOLLO MISSIONS.

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THE CREW HAD A LIMITED TIME
TO WORK ON THE LUNAR SURFACE,

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SO SOME EXPERIMENTS
WERE SIMPLY DEPLOYED

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AND THEN LATER MONITORED
FROM EARTH BY RADIO TELEMETRY.

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THE LASER RANGING RETROREFLECTOR
WAS ANOTHER EXPERIMENT

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THAT ENABLED SCIENTISTS
TO ACCURATELY MEASURE

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THE DISTANCE
BETWEEN THE EARTH AND MOON,

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WHICH, BY THE WAY, IS AN AVERAGE
OF 384,403 KILOMETERS

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FROM THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
TO THE CENTER OF THE MOON.

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THE LUNAR DUST DETECTOR
WAS AN EXPERIMENT

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THAT WAS DEPLOYED TO SEE
HOW MUCH LUNAR DUST ACCUMULATED

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ON THE OTHER EXPERIMENTS
OVER TIME

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AND HOW RADIATION AFFECTED THEM.

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THIS WAS CONSIDERED MORE
OF AN ENGINEERING EXPERIMENT

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RATHER THAN A SCIENCE ONE.

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DURING THEIR 21 HOUR, 38 MINUTE,
AND 21 SECOND VISIT TO THE MOON,

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THE TWO MEN SPENT
JUST 2 1/2 HOURS

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WALKING ON THE LUNAR SURFACE,

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AND WHEN THEIR TIME WAS UP,
IT WAS TIME FOR A LUNAR LIFTOFF.

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BEFORE LEAVING
THE LUNAR SURFACE,

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BUZZ ALDRIN TOSSED
INTO THE MOON DUST

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A TINY CLOTH SACK
CONTAINING A GOLD REPLICA

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OF AN OLIVE BRANCH,
AN APOLLO 1 MISSION PATCH,

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AND A SILICON DISC INSIDE
AN ALUMINUM CAPSULE.

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ROUGHLY THE SIZE
OF A HALF DOLLAR,

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THE DISC CONTAINED MESSAGES
OF PEACE AND GOODWILL

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FROM LEADERS AND RESPECTED
PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE GLOBE.

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ALSO LEFT BEHIND,

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AN AMERICAN FLAG
AND THIS PLAQUE.

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IT SAYS, "HERE MEN
FROM THE PLANET EARTH

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"FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A.D.

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WE CAME IN PEACE
FOR ALL MANKIND."

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AND SO HISTORY WAS MADE.

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THANKS FOR WATCHING
"NASA LAUNCHPAD."

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I'M VINCE WHITFIELD.

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UNTIL NEXT TIME,
CHEERS.