Apollo 11 Moon Landing – “One Small Step…” – (July 20, 1969) – EP 4

It was the finale to a decade of turbulence and upheaval, but this time it was an event through which a nation could put aside its differences and stand together to marvel at the achievement. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy had pledged that before the sixties were over, an American would walk on the moon.

The enormity of the mission aside, one question remained, how to get a television signal 240,000 miles from the lunar surface onto televisions in living rooms around the globe. Robert Wussler, Walter Cronkite’s producer, called it “the world’s greatest single broadcast” in television history.

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The Nixon White House prepared this letter in the event that American astronauts did not survive the Apollo 11 mission.

 

Apollo 11 lunar landing mission (PDF)

Technical Crew Debriefing (PDF)

Video

At roughly the same moment CBS put Eagle on the Moon, ABC’s model touched down on its lunar surface and the DPS flame went out, and ABC cut to a mock-up instrument panel with a flashing LUNAR CONTACT light. Eagle, of course, was still flying. There were a few awkward cuts between the interior mock-up and the model until, just in time for the “engine stop” call, the videotape of the model’s “landing” was racked and the little LM landed as Aldrin made the touchdown call.

Here’s how ABC handled it, starting a minute and a half before the flight plan called for touchdown:

Walter Cronkite anchors the first Moon Walk:

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EPISODE 4

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EPISODE 4

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EPISODE 1 - APOLLO 11

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EPISODE 2 - APOLLO 11

The start of ABC’s launch day coverage, with Frank Reynolds:

EPISODE 3 - APOLLO 11

Audience in the street

EPISODE 4 - APOLLO 11