Next on reel america, prelaunch interviews with the crew members, who described their individual prelaunch responsibilities. Narrator Neil Armstrong, command pilot for the apollo 11 moon landing mission. What is the purpose of the apollo 11 the mission . 11 ismstrong apollo mans first attempt to demonstrate the ability to go to the moon, to land there, and to return to earth. Narrator what are your responsibilities as commander of apollo 11 . Mr. Armstrong in general, the responsibilities are to make the onboard decisions whenever required, because i oversee the performance of, the duties of all the crew, including himself. Case, iparticular participate in procedures on board the spacecraft as well as oversee those of my fellow crewmembers, and the specific tasks that i am charged with the performance of include monitoring the launch, the manual climb of the boosters, should that be required, and taking my turn on watch and monitoring of the spacecraft systems in the command module. In the lunar module, im charged almost equally with the lunar module pilot in the operation of the lunar module systems and control of the vehicle during descent and ascent. Interviewer will you describe what will be happening before the lunar module touches down on the moon . Mr. Armstrong we will continue burning the engine until an altitude of about five feet, at which the probes will ignite a light on our panel. We see it illuminate, we cut the engines, and fall the last several feet to the moon. Interviewer columbus explored one new world. You are about to explore another. How do you feel about such comparisons . Mr. Armstrong well, im impressed to be compared with columbus, and of course we recognize his discovery and have honored it in some respects by the call sign of our command module, columbia. There are favorable comparisons and some that wont hold true. Certainly columbuss venture was one that was very asked in his time, was one that very few countries could afford, and spain could afford only by digging into the very depths of their treasury. It was a voyage with a good bit of risk and some complaint, however, in many ways it was not at all like the voyage of apollo 11. First, he wasnt sure where he was going, at least he thought he was going to china or the indies and ended up in a completely new world. I very much hope that we want terminate at some place that we didnt expect to plan to visit. We know a good bit about the place that we are going. And it is also necessary to note that he did it without an entire nations efforts behind them. Our voyage is a voyage of the nation and a voyage of humanity, while his was a voyage of a very limited few. Narrator this is esther not Michael Collins, command module pilot of the apollo 11 mission. What do you think will result from the apollo 11 flight . Obviously, we have opened up a travel system which has heretofore been impossible. We now will be able to offer to human beings the option of either walking on the surface of the earth, or walking on the surface of the moon, or hopefully on some not too far distant date, the option of walking on the surface of another planet. And i think the possibilities therein are almost unlimited, although i am not equipped to say in great detail what they may be. Historically, we have been to predict the effectiveness of various inventions and various discoveries. Viewviewer how do you your role as apollo 11 pilot . Mr. Collins it is as important than the other two positions. I would be a fool if i said, i have the best seat of the three. On the other hand, i can say with complete candor and complete honesty that i am very happy to have the seat which i have, and to be doing the job which i intend to do. Interviewer will you be kept pretty busy as you fly alone in the command module . Mr. Collins yes and no. I hope i will be very unbusy. I have two roles to play. I as the passive target vehicle, and in the event everything is working perfectly within the lem, then i have many chores to do. And i am prepared to take an active role in bringing the two vehicles together, however, provided the lem works and its radar is working properly and it is capable of making each and every maneuver leading up to the rendezvous and docking, then my job is essentially a pleasant one. On the other hand, if lem,culty arise within the my job is to rescue the lem, and then i find myself being an active partner in charge of a very complex vehicle with a very complex job, and this is when i truly become busy and i am literally racing from one side of the cockpit to the other, Getting Solutions to various problems from my digital computer, making sure that my rendezvous radar transponder and vhf ranging systems are working properly, and doing a host of other small details, all of which are necessary for the successful completion of the rendezvous. Astronautr this is edwin aldrin, lunar module pilot for the apollo 11 moon landing mission. What is the first thing you end you and Neil Armstrong will do after landing . Mr. Aldrin one of the first things we will be engaged in is making immediate decisions as to how long we will be staying on the surface. There are several favored abort points that we will be checking various systems to get a stay or no stay beyond these points. The first one occurs some four or five minutes after touchdown, the next one about 10 minutes, and the final stay occurs one revolution afterwards. What we will be doing during that first revolution is very intensely preparing the vehicle for a simulated countdown to launch, which we will carry up to the last five or 10 minutes before the ascent. To the ascent one revolution later, as the command module comes over. Following this we will go through a powerdown of the systems in the lunar module, preparing it for an extended stay on the surface. We will have an eating period followed by a fourhour rest period. When we awake hopefully from muchneeded sleep after four hours, we will have another eat period and go through a twohour plus eva preparation period. Interviewer about exploring the moons surface, asked her not aldrin had this to say. Mr. Aldrin following the eva , we will goperiod through planned, two men exploration of the surface with neil going down the ladder first. As he goes down the ladder, i will be taking pictures of him with a 16mm camera through the window. A Television Camera will also be recording his activities. Initially he will collect a contingency sample. As i descend onto the surface, he will then be collecting a bulk sample, a larger sample of lunar material. While he is doing this, i will be participating in an extended eva evaluation, just what are the capabilities of man to perform tasks on the lunar surface. We will then join together following the deployment of television and that then television and then the deployment of the flag on the surface. Perform jointly an inspection Walking Around the , lunar module, looking at the various systems, landing gear, making a very thorough inspection of everything we can observe on it. In the process of doing this, we well be taking a series of panorama photographs at three different locations as we move around. When we get about three quarters of the way around the lem, we will begin to deploy several experiments. One is a laser reflector, and we will offload these from the scientific equipment bay. The other experiment is a passive seismometer. The deployment of these experiments will take five to 10 minutes, and they are to be deployed 50 to 60 feet away from the lunar module. When we return from this excursion around the lunar module, we will then pick up the equipment for a documented sample in detail, and a predetermined location some 40, 50, 60 feet away from the lunar module. Following this, we will package up these samples, conduct a few briefamples and other experiments, the solar wind experiment, and then prepare these packages to be transported up into the lunar module. I will enter the lem first and then neil will convey these two sample return containers up on this tether assembly. Once they are inside, he will reenter the lunar module, we will pressurize, and that will be the end of our eva. Trying to get a rock in here. Now you are watching American History tv. Every weekend beginning saturday at 8 00 a. M. Eastern, we bring you 48 hours of unique programming exploring our nations best. American history tv is only on cspan3. That looks beautiful. The 50theekend marks anniversary of apollo 11, when astronauts buzz aldrin and neil moonsng walked on the surface surface, while Michael Collins orbited the moon alone. Heres a preview with nasa administrator jean krantz. Antz. Ne kr there were only three options that day, land, abort or crash. And those options are pretty awesome when you think about it. Only in thisot particular mode of operation now, we are doing it in front of the entire world. It is now to the point where you look at each other for this confidence you need to work through any times when you might just have the slightest tinge of doubt. And generally, the light the slightest tinge of doubt comes when youre tired. So you have to continue and help each otherup help out. That is the magic of the Flood Control team we have here. , you so selfsupporting know emission control when a person needs a little bit of help, little more time to make a decision, and this team has so totally focused, it is marvelous, a marvelous experience. Watched the entire interview with apollo 11 flight director 8 00 p. M. Z sunday at eastern. You are watching American History tv, only on cspan3. Lookingeekend, we are back 50 years to the apollo 11 moon landing. Theext, cbs coverage of july 16, 1969 launch from Kennedy Space center in florida. This is American History tv. All weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. This is a scene beyond our press site, the press site at this channel basin where the spacecraft was brought from the manufacturer in huntsville, alabama. Here is an interesting site the our press site, i the Vehicle Assembly building. There are scores of workers, permitted for the