Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. Can you pull the door open a little more?

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Did you get the MESA out?

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

I'm going to pull it now.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Houston, the MESA came down all right.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

This is Houston, Roger. We copy. And we're standing by for your TV.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Houston, this is Neil. Radio check.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, this is Houston. Loud and clear. Break. Break. Buzz, this is Houston. Radio check, and verify TV circuit breaker in.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Roger, TV circuit breaker's in, and read you five square.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Roger. We're getting a picture on the TV.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

You got a good picture, huh?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

There's a great deal of contrast in it, and currently it's upside down on our monitor, but we can make out a fair amount of detail.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Will you verify the position—the opening I ought to have on the camera?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Okay. Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. I just checked getting back up to that first step, Buzz. It's—not even collapsed too far, but it's adequate to get back up.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

It takes a pretty good little jump.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Buzz, this is Houston. F/2—1/160th second for shadow photography on the sequence camera.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Key moment One small step…: I'm at the foot of the ladder. The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. Down there, it's very fine.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

I'm going to step off the LM now.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

And the—the surface is fine and powdery. I can—I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, this is Houston. We're copying.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

There seems to be no difficulty in moving around as we suspected. It's even perhaps easier than the simulations at one sixth g that we performed in the various simulations on the ground. It's actually no trouble to walk around. Okay. The descent engine did not leave a crater of any size. It has about 1 foot clearance on the ground. We're essentially on a very level place here. I can see some evidence of rays emanating from the descent engine, but a very insignificant amount.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay, Buzz, we ready to bring down the camera?

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

I'm all ready. I think it's been all squared away and in good shape.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. You'll have to pay out all the LEC. It looks like it's coming out nice and evenly.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. It's quite dark here in the shadow and a little hard for me to see that I have good footing. I'll work my way over into the sunlight here without looking directly into the Sun.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. I think you're pulling the wrong one.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

I'm just—Okay. I'm ready to pull it down now. There was still a little bit left in the -

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Don't hold it quite so tight.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Looking up at the LM, I'm standing directly in the shadow now looking up at Buzz in the window. And I can see everything quite clearly. The light is sufficiently bright, backlighted into the front of the LM, that everything is very clearly visible,

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. I'm going to be changing the ***

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

The camera is installed on the RCU bracket, and I'm storing the LEC on the secondary strut.

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Neil Armstrong (CDR)

I'll step out and take some of my first pictures here.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Roger. Neil, we're reading you loud and clear. We see you getting some pictures and the contingency sample.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, this is Houston. Did you copy about the contingency sample? Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Roger. I'm going to get to that just as soon as I finish these picture series.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Going to get the contingency sample there, Neil.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. The contingency sample is down and it's ***. Looks like it's a little difficult to dig through the initial crust.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

This is very interesting. It's a very soft surface, but here and there where I plug with the contingency sample collector, I run into a very hard surface, but it appears to be very cohesive material of the same sort. I'll try to get a rock in here. Just a couple.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

That looks beautiful from here, Neil.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

It has a stark beauty all its own. It's like much of the high desert of the United States. It's different but it's very pretty out here. Be advised that a lot of the rock samples out here, the hard rock samples, have what appear to be vesicles in the surface. Also, I am looking at one now that appears to have some sort of phenocryst.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. The handle is off the *** in about 6 or 8 inches into the surface. I could *** easy ***.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Yes, it is. it's—I'm sure I could push it in farther, but it's hard for me to bend down further than that.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Now, you can throw so far.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

You can really throw things a long way up here.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Yes, it is. It's not up against your suit though. Hit it back once more. More toward the inside. Okay. That's good.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

No. It's not all the way in. Push it. There you go.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Contingency sample is in the pocket. My oxygen is 81 percent. I have no flags, and I'm in minimum flow.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

This is Houston. Roger, Neil.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. I have got the cameras on at one frame a second.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

And I've got the 80 percent, no flags.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Are you getting a TV picture now, Houston?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, yes we are getting a TV picture.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, this is Houston. We're getting a picture. You're not in it at the present time. We can see the bag on the LEC being moved by Buzz, though. Here you come into our field of view.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Hold it a second. First let me move that over the edge for you.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Are you ready for me to come out?

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Yes. Just stand by a second. I'll move this over the handrail.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

All right. That's got it. Are you ready?

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

All set. Okay. You saw what difficulties I was having. I'll try to watch your PLSS from underneath here.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

All right. The backup camera's positioned.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. Your PLSS is—Looks like it is clearing okay. Your toes are about to come over the sill. Okay. Now drop your PLSS down. There you go; you're clear. And laterally you're good. You've got an inch clearance on top of your PLSS.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. You need a little bit of arching of the back to come down. … How are are my feet from the edge?

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. You're right at the edge of the porch.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Back in *** little of foot movement *** porch. Little arching of the back. Helmet comes up and clears the bulkhead without any trouble at all.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Neil, this is Houston. Based on your camera transfer with the LEC, do you foresee any difficulties in SRC transfer? Over.

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Spoken on July 21, 1969, 3:02 a.m. UTC (54 years, 8 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Now I want to back up and partially close the hatch.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Making sure not to lock it on my way out.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

(Laughter) A pretty good thought.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

That's our home for the next couple of hours and we want to take good care of it. Okay. I'm on the top step and I can look down over the RCU, landing gear pads. It's a very simple matter to hop down from one step to the next.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Yes. I found I could be very comfortable, and walking is also very comfortable.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

You've got three more steps and then a long one.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. I'm going to leave that one foot up there and both hands down to about the fourth rung up.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. Now I think I'll do the same ***

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

A little more. About another inch.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

That's a good step. About a 3-footer.