table of contents The Race into Space To the Moon One Giant Leap for Mankind Going Home More About Armstrong and Apollo 11 Glossary To Learn More Index 4 6 12 18 22 23 24 24 Red text identifies historical quotes
the race into space Since the 1950s space exploration has been a competition between countries A successful moon landing would put the United States in the lead July 16 1969 After years of preparation NASA is set to launch Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida It is expected to be the first mission to land on the moon Three astronauts will complete the trip Neil Armstrong is the mission commander and Edwin Buzz Aldrin is the lunar module pilot Michael Collins serves as the command module pilot In Houston Texas the team at Johnson Space Center also prepares for the launch Capsule communicators including Deke Slayton and Charles Duke will be in contact with the astronauts throughout the mission 4
Months of training have prepared the astronauts for their mission They will carry out experiments take photographs and send video broadcasts back to Earth The astronauts will fly up in Columbia For much of the trip they will live in Columbia’s command module The service module holds most of their fuel oxygen and water COMMAND MODULE SERVICE MODULE LUNAR MODULE We’re checking switch settings for the final time Houston Roger We’re ready to start engines Apollo Roger that Houston Here we go boys We’re going to fly In space the lunar module Eagle will separate from Columbia While Columbia orbits the moon Eagle will land on the moon’s surface 5
