RoundupReads Three Apollo 11 moments that all of Houston can relate to

Three Apollo 11 moments that all of Houston can relate to

2018-08-01
Nearly 20,000 hours of previously unreleased audio was revealed through a collaboration between NASA and the University of Texas at Dallas. The audio brings forth the untold story of the back rooms of Apollo 11 and the energy and excitement as America raced toward the moon.
 
The audio also reveals the everyday struggles that astronauts face and shows that even in route to the moon, you’re never really that far from home.

When Buzz Aldrin wanted a little less water ...

View of the Earth as seen by the Apollo 17 crew -- astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, commander; astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot; and scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot -- traveling toward the moon. This translunar coast photograph extends from the Mediterranean Sea area to the Antarctica South polar ice cap. This is the first time the Apollo trajectory made it possible to photograph the South polar ice cap. Note the heavy cloud cover in the Southern Hemisphere. Almost the entire coastline of Africa is clearly visible. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen at the Northeastern edge of Africa. The large island off the coast of Africa is the Malagasy Republic. The Asian mainland is on the horizon toward the Northeast.

Houstonians know a thing or two about getting drenched. Space City receives nearly 50 inches of rain each year, but that doesn’t mean Aldrin was prepared for the water he would see on his way to the moon during Apollo 11. While talking to mission control, Aldrin complains that all he can see of the Earth is water. He asks if the mission controllers can please rotate the Earth to show a little less blue. (Listen)
 

When Gene Kranz made sure no one was distracted ...

Spacecraft communicators are pictured as they keep in contact with the Apollo 11 astronauts during their lunar landing mission on July 20, 1969. From left to right are astronauts Charles M. Duke Jr., James A. Lovell Jr. and Fred W. Haise Jr.
When you work as hard as we do at Johnson Space Center, it can become second nature to be multi-task by scrolling through emails, watching NASA TV or catching up on Roundup Reads. In this Apollo 11 mission control moment, Kranz makes it a point to say that if they put video on in the control rooms, the flight controllers need to stay focused on their data. (Listen)
 

When it got a little too stuffy ...

The surface of the moon is reflected in the command and service module as it prepares to rendezvous with the lunar module in this December 1972 image from the Apollo 17 mission.
If the rain wasn’t enough, Houston also happens to be one of the most humid cities in the United States. We have all stepped outside and suddenly felt as if we were melting. In this moment, the crew said that the room they were working in was a little too stuffy and wanted to turn on a hose to get a little more circulation. I think all of us have wanted to turn up the AC at some point. (Listen)

Learn more about the audio recovery project here, or check out the audio for yourself.
 

Noah Michelsohn
Johnson Space Center
 
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