WE CAME IN PEACE

yes nothing in a nation's lifetime would promised outlast the wonder of man's greatest adventure we came in peace narrated by Frank McGee produced by NBC News for the Gulf oil corporation [Music] it was the beginning of a journey that really has no foreseeable end than a unique era when for the first time in human history man is finding at least partial answers to riddles that have always wanted him where did the moon come from and what was the earth like billions of years ago the keys to understanding lie in drab gray porous looking rocks a quarter of a million miles from their home amazingly the journey between man's aspiration to get to the moon and man's actual capacity to do so took only a dozen years until 1957 his Restless imagination had stretched far beyond this technology more than a hundred years ago Jules Verne wrote two remarkable accounts of the new voyages from the earth to the moon and its sequel around the moon and later the three men recognized as the fathers of Space Flight Goddard Joe Kowski and Oberth we're all to say they trace their early interest in aeronautics to these prophetic novels and there is an amazing parallel between them and Apollo's ventures into space a century later incredibly Byrnes fictional launch site was just a hundred 40 miles west of Cape Kennedy Bern thought he could propel his spacecraft from the barrel of a mighty cannon at 900 feet long but his lone ship was shaped somewhat like Apollo and also built to carry the hardy adventurers he called them aeronauts burns basic calculation to escape Earth's gravity seven miles a second was substantially correct and he wrote of weightlessness they saw that there were no longer subject to the ordinary laws of nature they look like drunken men trying to maintain the perpendicular apart from minor details burns description of the lunar surface spans almost unchanged he talked of desert beds immense plains and cavities in the midst of circles 1910 burns cosmic voyage caught the fascination and restless imagination of another Frenchman George made the film remains a classic [Music] two decades later the German director Fritz Lang's girl in the moon for which rocket pioneer Carmen obeah was technical advisor the puree of science and melodrama [Music] Oberth was one of three pioneering scientists closely linked to early drama of manned spaceflight but he was more of a theoretician and an inspiration than an engineer a second was an obscure Russian teacher of mathematics Konstantin Tsiolkovsky who wrote the first technical paper on the idea of an artificial Earth satellite but in terms of experimentation it was an American Robert Goddard whose combined theory and practice marked a major scientific turning point in history as early as 1914 he secured two patents introducing the essential features of every modern liquid-fueled rocket unknown and unsung except in scientific circles Goddard pursued his experiments on New Mexico ranch land the quiet and persistent physics professor made more than 40 successful unpublicized rocket tests [Music] stimulated by both Oberth and Goddard the Germans had already launched a number of small rockets at peenemünde the vast military installation on the Baltic Sea the research task force was headed by a civilian engineer Wernher von Braun there were initial frustrations [Music] but eventually the Germans developed and successfully fired more than 3,700 feet to rocket weapons on targets in England and on the continent at war's end von Braun and his know-how surrendered to the United States partially dismantled vetoes were sent here and reassembled at the Army's newly opened White Sands proving ground in New Mexico only a hundred miles from where Goddard has spent his golden years during a five-year period after World War two sixty-six Rockets were tested Benny carrot plant live and animals and with each success the fledgling American rocket industry was on its way in 1950 white sands became too confining testing moved eastward they came to what a dozen years earlier had been a desolate triangle of sand dunes and swamps palm trees and the dense tangle of underbrush in isolated patches the terrain would begin to sprout gantries and other contours of the new science there would be improbable successes and spectacular failures suddenly there was Sputnik Russia put into orbit the world's first artificial satellite it would decay after three months but its impact would continue well beyond that brief lifetime in the United States there was more soul-searching than at any time since Pearl Harbor and just two months after Sputnik this nation had high hopes for its initial effort to get back into the space race project Vanguard with American embarrassment at its apex these 1957 frustrations focused mainly on the military implications of the Soviet achievement it had been a great blow to American self-confidence for every small success there had been at least one failure the moment then was particularly sweet in early 1958 when we partially redeemed our zones with the first United States satellite in orbit Explorer 1 by mid summer of that year the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA had been assigned the first man satellite program to be called mercury the great push into space science was on the first group of American astronaut candidates began training in 1959 subjected to virtually every extreme of physical and psychological stress among them acceleration up to 15 G's but the astronauts seemed less concerned than the scientists most had been college educated as engineers yet first and foremost they were military test pilots [Music] out of 36 finalists seven were chosen to be this nation's nominees for the first American voyagers into space three naval officers three from the Air Force one a marine all with natural aptitude Drive and dedication chance circumstance and history had prepared them for this opportunity but only one could be first Navy lieutenant commander Alan Shepard certainly all of us wanted very much to make the flight and I'm sure that had anyone else had the opportunity he would have been equally proud as I was on that day having been selected to go first there was a wide difference of opinion as to how man would react under weightless conditions for a period as long as five minutes at a time this was pretty traumatic concern among some members of the medical community and Glennon and Grissom and myself actually went to Navy facility in Johnsville Pennsylvania where a centrifuge was prepared for our special use to run some more tests to in fact indicate that we could respond very well to weightlessness for ferries as long as five minutes at a time ironically it was not Shepard but a Russian who would remove any lingering medical qualms about weightlessness the Soviet Union firmly established its lead in the international space race when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth for 89 minutes in April 1961 once again as with Sputnik the United States space effort seemed sluggish Shepard meantime intensified his training for America's pioneering mission the actual launching of the first flight of course occurred on May 5th the entire suiting process went very smoothly actually first time I was really aware of any tremendous amount of activity was as the transportation trailer which took us in those days from the hangar to the launching pad approached the area other were of course a number of people at that wished me well as I walked from the transport van to the elevator and then as the elevator went up from the ground to the station where I was going to be put into the spacecraft there was a tremendous round of applause actually before I knew it I was inside the hatch was closed and I was lying there quietly awaiting for the countdown to receive the the ignition and left off correct very smoothly I think perhaps more smoothly than I had expected very gentle the transition from one j2 saw increase in the acceleration but generally speaking beyond there there was a very smooth quite a second suborbital flight was bein with Gus Grissom at the controls it was essentially the same as mine and was so successful the decision to make any further suborbital flights was canceled and we went directly into the band orbital face like John Glenn who had been my backup pilot who was selected to fly the first orbital mission and my particular responsibilities during this flight was to act as communicator in the control center at the Cape 6:03 a.m. February 20th 1962 the operations team at op pad 14 noted in its procedures log the astronaut put a foot into the spacecraft John Glenn would sit there during a series of holes dragging through more than two hours but then he'd waited almost three long years for this moment [Music] good lord ride all the way Godspeed [Applause] first American to orbit the globe and reaction everywhere a mixture of relief cry and exaltation honors and celebrations a quarter of a million persons land their rainy streets of Washington to pour out on spending admiration then on to New York to travel the glory road of other heroes a ticker-tape parade bans and banners chimes and cheers the first American to ever see the coastlines of continents from outer space said he had never seen anything like this [Music] with the Glenn fly to success American industry more firmly hitched its wagon to the infinite and the money flowed project jiminy the two-man spacecraft involved more than 25 thousand persons 50 major contractors and a hundred 50 smaller firms when the late President John Kennedy announced in mid 1961 that this nation would land men on the moon in this decade the goal seemed unrealistic even to many scientists but the momentum of Germany once under way in 1965 was almost irresistible there were high achievements and relatively few disappointments [Music] there were ten manned missions stretching over 20 months with almost clockwork precision a new shot was put up every six to eight weeks astronauts successfully completed rendezvous ten times using seven different techniques the ability to rendezvous and dock two space vehicles in orbit would be fundamental to the success of a moon landing nine different dockings with another space object were made extra vehicular activity successfully tested man's ability to function independently of the protection afforded by a spacecraft Colonel Edward White was the first American to walk in space for others also floated outside their jiminee craft or poke their bodies through an open hatch some things about space can only be learned in space astronauts built on experience the process never stopping the skills of maneuvering a tested worldwide recovery force and tracking Network making precise landings from orbit proving men could live and work in space in weightlessness for as long as two weeks a period far longer than necessary for Apollo's round trip to the moon [Music] and always the happy return to private world's home sixteen astronauts had flown a total of more than 1900 hours around the world six hundred eight times there were air evasions of the apollo challenge ahead and we entered the climatic venture with justifiable confidence pad thirty-four late in january 1967 optimism was high as the crew of the first apollo mission edward white Virgil Gus Grissom and Roger Chaffee just three weeks away from their scheduled flight took part in a full-scale simulation of the launching they would crawl into their spacecraft one of the most complex pieces of machinery yet devised by man [Music] knowledge of risk is basic to any pioneering venture but not one man had ever been lost or even hurt it was taking too much for granted for when it came it came suddenly and we're least expected on the launching pad Ricimer white and Chaffey died in flames a flash fire that broke out in the copy astronauts had worked in pure oxygen atmospheres before hundreds of thousands of times without incident the probability of accident was small Apollo engineers were willing to take the gamble but in manned spaceflight errors are unforgivable maybe ed white provided the best epitaph for himself and for those who might inevitably follow he once said we're in a risky business the conquest of any frontier always extracts a human toll [Music] [Music] [Music] afterwards a special board of review uncovered many deficiencies in design engineering and manufacturing noting particularly the lack of absolute control over all flammable materials the lack of attention to vital questions of crew safety the way back would not be easy emotions were on edge and there would be constant reminders that the program had paid dearly for one period of overconfidence the company which built the spacecraft would go through one of the most agonizing periods of firm can experience [Music] but in a gram way the tragedy would contribute to later successes it would be a year before a redesigned spacecraft left the plant modified at a cost of four hundred million dollars and more than 20 months for the program to regain momentum there would be two tests of the giant Saturn 5 rocket and an unmanned flight of the lunar module yet confidence would not be completely restored until Apollo 7 late in 1968 the first of the last bold steps to the moon [Music] the urge to explore to stretch the soul goes deep but Apollo would not be a lonely journey by dreamers in search of an unknown Shore like frontiersman of the past our spacefarers had picked the nearest big landmark the moon it was large it was handy it was available anything else would have been too difficult a first step for millennia man has gazed at the moon a century ago he first captured it on film with modern telescopes he studied it in more detail [Music] he's conjured up ways to signal it sunlight off a gigantic mirror a field of electric lights in this 1920 film by which he could flash Morse code hello is anybody out there [Music] but until July 1964 our knowledge of the moon changed very little both the United States and Russia had launched unmanned lunar probes in the late 1950s with very little success [Music] the United States in fact was not able to hit the moon until after years of delay and seven failures Russia's Luna finally passed within 40,000 miles of the lunar surface Luna 3 in 1959 made the first crewed pictures of the far side of the Moon later American spacecraft were sent aloft as reconnaissance vehicles 17,000 pictures were relayed back to earth by three Rangers which hard landed on the surface these were the first close-ups 2,000 times better than anything ever taken through earthbound telescopes the next epical stage in lunar photography was surveyor with soft landings on the surface like Ranger to gather information essential to ever land astronauts safely surveyor scanned the pounded and scraped the surface and dissipated fears that the lunar scape might be unable to support the weight of a manned spacecraft the results of these shots including pictures taken by lunar orbiting spacecraft were five potential touchdown sites for the Apollo 11 astronauts smooth enough and strong enough to make that landing safe by 1968 it was dramatically evident how far space technology had progressed the Kennedy Space Center was complete and the puny pads from which Vanguard and Explorer had been launched were now dwarfed by enormous rockets huge crawlers and vast sums of money the new launch philosophy was to build a rocket one place to send it up from another [Music] for manned Apollo missions were executed with precision two flights went to the moon as scouting parties for those that would later Apollo 10 surveyed and photographed the target area for 11 the landing point designated as site number two was near the lunar equator in the Sea of Tranquility in the East Zone flat stable and with only small craters nearby extending emptily to the horizon it harbored no insurmountable hazards to a manned landing with Apollo to enter orbit the 11 rocket had already been moved into position on the launch pad [Music] [Music] mid July 1969 the moment was closed the mighty Armada was gathered billions of dollars millions of man-hours of research thousands of persons mobilized all the complex systems and devices flight tested the launch team have been working through five and ten months of assembly in check and double check centuries of dreaming a decade of planning near to climax and a special breed of twentieth-century explorer the men of Apollo 11 would soon be on their way michael collins 38 his motto stay casual edwin aldrin jr 39 part engineer part scientist spacecraft commander Neil Armstrong 39 not a man for small moments all three supremely self-confident pilots who liked action highly disciplined minds of extraordinary stability the cool the quick the cerebral the day was bright and sunny Engineers in the firing room read off data flashing across their consoles showing that all was going well with the countdown the moment of truth with the same punctuality as previous flights the mighty Rockets first stage engines roared to flaming life it was precisely 932 a.m. Eastern Time July 16th the Rockets more than 15 million parts worked flawlessly thousands of bird watchers stood near the beaches at Cape Kennedy millions of others watched on television there were not just three men aboard Apollo 11 but something of mankind for the astronauts 271 and one half hour journey to the vicinity of the moon and insertion into lunar orbit was almost looted and the spacecraft's course was so accurate that only one small navigation correction was necessary with the command module called Columbia and the lunar module in Christina eagled connected they circled the moon for a day then on that historic Sunday Armstrong and Aldrin wriggled through the tunnel into eco unlocking from Columbia ego stayed close by for more than 20 minutes most of the trip down would be flown automatically or semi automatically and when Eagle reached 50 thousand feet Armstrong and Aldrin would blast their rocket to slow themselves down and for 12 minutes the engine would roar continuously as Eagle fell along a steadily sharpening path to the moon [Applause] altitude 4200 thing you're go for landing over I'd rent it then go for landing 3,000 feet long 12:01 clover one rocket 1201 alarm we're go think I'd we're go icon down two and a half forward forward putting feet down to a nap I got from God pretty please two and a half down thanks Daddo fall forward more forward drifting to the right little [Applause] tranquility we copy on the ground you got a bunch of guys about to turn blue we're breathing again thanks a lot not until later would we learned that an overworked computer had been guiding eagle toward a boulder filled crater Armstrong grabbing manual control to steer over the rocks to a smooth safe spot for land once ready Armstrong opened the hatch and slowly gently moved down the ladder Aldrin remained inside just a few feet below was the curious lunar soil but first Armstrong would pause on the disk like footpad at the end of the ladder moon watches one-fifth of the world's population 600 million eyewitnesses shared one of mankind's greatest moments through live television transmission momentarily centuries of speculation about the lunar surface and man's ability to survive there would be over it was ten fifty six p.m. Eastern Time he'll now step off the LEM now it's one small step for man one giant leap all Rin the second man on the moon followed Armstrong within 20 minutes the two astronauts uncovered a small stainless on the forward landing gear overhead Collins in the command ship Columbia could hear but not watch the unfolding drama Columbia this is Houston reading you loud and clear the EPA is progressing beautifully believe they're setting up the flag now [Applause] I guess you're about the only person around that doesn't have TV coverage of the season [Applause] they've got the flag up now you do have to be careful to keep track of where your asses I have to think about to the tree or maybe for easy faces continued deli food like a football player you just have to [Applause] so call kangaroo hop does work but it seems are you forward ability is not quite as good [Applause] Neil and Buzz the President of the United States is in his office now and would like to say a few words to you over in honor so Neil and Buzz I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval room at the White House and this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made from the White House I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you have done and as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to earth for one priceless moment and the whole history of math on this earth are truly one thank you all together inside and outside there moonship armstrong and aldrin spent nearly a day in this strange literally unearthly place they did what they came to do then in the 21st hour came the last real moment of high tension if the rocket engine failed on liftoff they would be condemned to death a quarter of a million miles away from home [Applause] the fragile eagle rocketed away from tranquility base firing on time boosting the moon craft into a long elliptical path toward the command ship cruising in orbit overhead worldwide there were signs of relief prayers of thanks from Kobe taquito came words of congratulation even Moscow noted the flight with the widest Soviet news coverage ever given an American space venture the rendezvous chase in which Eagle would catch up with Columbia would take more than three hours [Applause] the chase would end 60 nautical miles above the front of the Moon in an orbit where Collins remained in lonely vigil not since Adam perhaps that one man ever known such solitude Eagle and Columbia would rejoin armstrong and aldrin would crawl through a connecting tunnel and rejoin Collins half a day later Apollo 11 would break out of lunar gravity and head for home [Music] 57 hours later it would thread the needle of entry into Earth environment and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean the moment would be part history part holiday claim of Apollo 11 in the record of man secured left behind visible mute evidence of their visit footprints in magnificent desolation now that he'd taken the first deaths there would be no turning back first the moon and later voyaging among the stars and planets will surely profound alter our lives in many ways HG Wells once wrote there is no rest and no it [Music]