![]() Status The plaque left at Tranquility Base on the Lunar Module Descent Stage which commemorates the first crewed lunar landing (photographed by Neil Armstrong)Ībout 100 artificial objects, as well as footprints left by Armstrong and Aldrin, remain at Tranquility Base, and Armstrong commented that during the launch of Eagle's ascent stage he could see " Kapton and other parts on the LM staging scattering all around the area for great distances." The descent stage of the Lunar Module remains at the original point of landing. It is listed on lunar maps as Statio Tranquillitatis, conforming to the standard use of Latin for lunar place names. Although the name was designated by the Apollo astronauts, the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes the designation "Tranquility Base". The name has become a permanent designation for the site. Armstrong and Aldrin decided on using "Tranquility Base" just before the flight, telling only Capsule Communicator Charles Duke before the mission, so Duke would not be taken by surprise. ĭuring training, Armstrong and Aldrin had exclusively used the callsign "Eagle" in simulated ground conversations, both before and after landing. Name Armstrong pilots the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle and lands on the Moon, July 20, 1969, creating Tranquility BaseĪrmstrong named the site at 20:17:58 UTC, approximately 18 seconds after his and Aldrin's successful landing, as he announced: The landing was still within the target ellipse. #Lunar landing july 20 1969 manualThe automated targeting system was taking Eagle toward what Armstrong described as a " football-field sized crater, with a large number of big boulders and rocks for about one or two crater diameters around it", which he avoided by assuming manual control and flying a bit farther downrange. On the landing, a combination of thrust from residual pressure in the docking tunnel that connected the Lunar Module with the command module Columbia in orbit, and an imperfect understanding of the Moon's uneven gravitational field, resulted in navigation errors which pushed the powered descent initiation point about 3 miles (4.8 km), and thus the computer-targeted landing spot about 4 miles (6.4 km), downrange (west) of the planned target. Since a precision landing was not expected on the first mission, the target area was an ellipse measuring 11.5 miles (18.5 km) east and west by 3.0 miles (4.8 km) north and south. They were numbered 1 to 5, going from east to west. They ranged between 45 degrees east and west, and 5 degrees north and south of the center of the Moon's facing side. Based on high-resolution photographs taken by the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft, and photos and data taken by the uncrewed Surveyor landers, this list was narrowed down to five sites located near the lunar equator. ![]() ![]() National Park Service, and UNESCO have declined to do so, due to the technicality that it is not located within their borders.įor more than two years, NASA planners considered a collection of 30 potential sites for the first crewed landing. states of California and New Mexico have registered Tranquility Base as a heritage site associated with them, but Texas, the U.S. It is located in the south-western corner of the dark lunar plain Mare Tranquillitatis ("Sea of Tranquility"). Tranquility Base was named by Aldrin and Armstrong, and first announced by Armstrong when the Lunar Module Eagle landed. They lifted off the surface on July 21 at 17:54 UTC. ![]() The astronauts spent two hours and 31 minutes examining and photographing the lunar surface, setting up several scientific experiment packages, and collecting 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of dirt and rock samples for return to Earth. Armstrong exited the spacecraft six hours and 39 minutes after touchdown, followed 19 minutes later by Aldrin. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 crewmembers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their Apollo Lunar Module Eagle at approximately 20:17:40 UTC. Tranquility Base ( Latin: Statio Tranquillitatis) is the site on the Moon where, in July 1969, humans landed and walked on a celestial body other than Earth for the first time. ![]()
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