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The Apollo 11 Sounds Page
At 8:32 AM on Wednesday July 16 1969, Apollo 11, tipped with its command ship Columbia, exploded off Launch Pad 39A for the deep blue skies east of Cape Kennedy. By evening Sunday July 20th, Columbia's companion ship Eagle took what we now know was a hair-raising plummet to the surface of the moon for a smooth & in-the-nick-of-time touchdown. Just before midnight "Sun-Day", Apollo Astronaut Neil Armstrong lumbered down the nine steps of the Eagle LEM's ladder to take his historic "...one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" onto the surface of the Moon. Joined some 20 minutes later by Buzz Aldrin, the first two "Planenauts" wobbled about the surface of the moon, collected rock samples, set up experiments, and sent back pictures of all of this via a grainy TV signal to the Earth. About an hour and a half later, on "Moon-Day" the 21st, the two Astronauts returned in reverse order to the Eagle.
In November of 1995, I went looking for sound files of this historic mission at the NASA website, and found they only had five. I decided to rectify the lack by creating this wav file collection, since become not only NASA's official sound files of this event -- they've become (thanks to CICA/Winsite) the most archived & mirrored soundfiles on the entire internet, with so many hundreds of websites archiving them in nearly every country in the world that I gave up trying to count them after 300. These wavs are intended as an audio record of that mission; from Lift Off to Splash Down, these 132 files document not only the highlights of the mission -- they cover practically everything the Astronauts did of any importance during their nearly 90 minutes on the Lunar Surface. For ease of access, I chronologically named all those wavs which record an event on the Lunar Surface, so that they may be played in the order they occured in.
Apollo11Liftoff.rm
Streaming RealVideo G2 file of the liftoff of Apollo 11, from T-08:00 to T+15:00
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These files include the "beep" sound used to end voice transmissions during the Apollo Program, and the first, second and third parts of the launch of Apollo 11, from T-30 seconds to 2 1/2 minutes after Lift Off.
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Apollo11Landing.rm
Streaming RealVideo G2 file of the lunar landing of Apollo 11.
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Apollo11MoonWalk.rm
The moon walk, in its entirety, in streaming RealVideo G2 format.
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Included is the approach & landing of a critically low-on-fuel & computer-overloaded Eagle safely onto the Lunar surface; the Splashdown return to Earth; the famous First Step upon the Moon; Mission Control in Houston calls Columbia in Lunar-orbit; Neil first stands on the LEM Porch; and Mission Control Houston informs Columbia of LOS approach (Loss of Signal).
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A time announcement for Armstrong's arrival on the LEM Porch; Astronaut Aldrin helps Armstrong through door; a radio check for Armstrong; a radio check for Aldrin; the establishment of TV picture transmission, Houston watches Armstrong descends the Ladder of the LEM; Armstrong reaches the foot of the Ladder immediately before taking his first step onto the Moon; Armstrong describes the Lunar soil immediately after his first step; Armstrong describes walking on the Moon; and Armstrong describes the surface underneath the LEM's descent engine.
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Armstrong asks Aldrin to bring down a Camera; Armstrong describes difficulty seeing through Lunar shadows; Armstrong looks up at Aldrin inside the Eagle; Mission Control gives Surgeon's report & Neil inspects LEM's secondary struts; Armstrong & Aldrin discuss difficulty in digging through the Moon's crust; Armstrong & Aldrin discuss Lunar landscape's beauty; a quick "Roger, Out" from Houston; Aldrin jokes about Armstrong's far-throwing abilities upon the Moon; Armstrong gives status report on his activities & environmentals; Armstrong double-checks Houston's TV reception; Mission Control describes what it sees to Neil; Aldrin asks Armstrong if he should descend the Ladder of the LEM; and Neil gives an "OK".
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Aldrin asks Armstrong again if he should descend the Ladder; Armstrong verbally assists Aldrin onto the Porch of the LEM; Mission Control asks Armstrong for his assessment of SRC Camera transfer capabilities; Armstrong gives a "negative"; Aldrin descends the Ladder; Armstrong verbally assists Aldrin down the ladder; Armstrong continues his assistance of Aldrin; Houston asks Aldrin to repeat himself due to his malfunctioning microphone; Mission Control announces Neil's preparations to move the TV Camera to its panorama position; Armstrong announces a lens change on the TV Camera; and Mission Control responds "Roger, Neil".
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Neil checks on picture with Mission Control; Aldrin announces Armstrong's
unveiling of the plaque attached to one Eagle's four legs;
Armstrong reads the plaque; Both
Astronauts prepare to move the TV camera; Mission Control informs them that the
picture is out of focus;
Aldrin asks Houston if the camera can pick up the Lunar mesa;
Houston & the Astronauts work out a good camera angle; Armstrong prepares to make a
panorama sweep; Houston complains the
sweep is moving too fast;
Armstrong again checks on picture;
Armstrong again decides to move the camera; Neil describes two craters visible in the background of the camera's field of view; Neil gives an "OK"; Armstrong and Houston continue work on a good camera angle; and Neil gives another "OK".
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Mission Control briefs Mike Collins in Columbia on Moon Walk developments; Radio check for Neil; Same Radio Check w/Buzz as well; Aldrin rates success of different walking techniques upon the Moon; Buzz asks "say again" to Houston; and President Nixon makes first Interplanetary Phone Call to Armstrong & Aldrin.
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Houston "Roger Out"; Houston "Break Break"; Houston first informs Buzz of his microphone cutting out the end of his transmissions; Houston asks Aldrin to speak close to his microphone; Houston hails Columbia; Mike Collins answers Mission Control; Mission Control asks Collins to transmit; Collins explains inability to locate Eagle from space at given coordinates; Mission Control "OK"; Armstrong inspects LEM; Houston "Roger Out"; Houston "Roger"; Mission Control instructs Collins to use High-Gain Antenna on Columbia; Houston corrects antenna position given Collins; Collins announces antenna postion set; Mission Control announces Surgeon finds all is well; Armstrong announces Panorama Shoot complete; Aldrin announces Container Door closed & locked on Lazer Experiment; Armstrong & Aldrin confer over experiment placement location; the Astronauts negotiate a small crater; Aldrin expresses difficulty in finding a level place for the Lazer Experiment; Neil and Buzz continue to carry experiment; Mission Control explains the Astronaut's absence from view of the TV camera; Armstrong describes mineral content of boulders & reassesses his description of lunar soil; Aldrin informed again of microphone trouble by Mission Control; Aldrin expresses difficulty in leveling the Lazer Experiment; Mission Control "Roger Out" for Neil; and Houston hails Neil.
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Neil "Go ahead, Houston"; Neil replies to Houston their plans sound good; Neil "Ohhh, Shoot!"; Houston instructs Astronauts to stop charging battery; Buzz instructs Houston to view his difficulties in penetrating the Lunar soil; Buzz "Wait a minute"; Mission Control instructs Armstrong that he and Buzz get core tubes & setup the Solar Wind Experiment; Aldrin "Roger, Understand"; Mike Collins in Columbia answers Houston; Mission Control announces Buzz Aldrin retrieving the Solar Wind Experiment; Houston instructs Aldrin to prepare to return to Eagle; Aldrin acknowledges same; Mission Control request that Aldrin remember the closeup camera magazine; Aldrin acknowledges same; Aldrin asks Armstrong to help him get ready to go up Eagle's ladder; Buzz "Adios, Amigo"; Buzz asks if Houston requires he do anything before ascent of the ladder; Mission Control explains a phosphorus spot from the Park Station TV converter; Aldrin announces readiness for ascent of ladder; Neil "How you doing, Buzz"; Buzz "I'm OK"; Mission control announces sample containers being transferred into the LEM; Neil "Uh-Oh"; Neil describes camera trouble; Armstrong requests Houston to stand by; Houston requests Neil check his environmentals; Mission Control announces Lick Observatory successful in bouncing a lazer off of the Lazer Experiment; Houston informs Armstrong & Aldrin the consumables of their space suits are OK; Buzz "How's it coming, Neil"?; Aldrin thinks his watch stopped; Neil "OK"? - Buzz "OK"!; Houston checks on magazine & a Jocular Neil explains his mining successes; Neil "Thankya"; Aldrin announces Eagle hatch securely closed; Houston gives go ahead to astronauts to speak; Houston complains Neil's transmissions cutting out; Houston gives up on contacting Neil and trys to Contact Buzz; Mission Control tells both Armstrong and Aldrin that neither can be heard from, but Mission Control standing by; and the takeoff of Eagle from the Lunar surface.
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Apollo11Splashdown.rm
The Splashdown & recovery of Apollo11 to the USS Hornet in Streaming RealVideo G2 format.
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Apollo11PostMissionPressConference.ram
The press conference held between President Nixon & the quarantined astronauts aboard the USS Hornet.
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Click on the Splashdown Picture above to launch your journey through the rest of NASA's Apollo 11 Historical Archive.
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I hope you've enjoyed this audial journey through the Apollo 11 Space Mission. It was a labor of love to make these sound files, and I hope they pleased you as much as it pleased me to make them.
My deepest thanks to Jim Dumoulin, for archiving these sounds at NASA's Kennedy Space Center WWW Home Server.
*Note: This page is my testimonial to all the dedicated men and women who have contributed their time and effort to the manned space program effort, from the early days of the Civilian Space Agency right up to the latest NASA Shuttle Missions. Space is indeed man's destiny, and we all owe a great deal to all those who have worked, and are continuing to work, towards meeting that destiny. This page is for them, that their achievements may not be forgotten, and to do them the honor they so richly deserve.
Once again, thank you for coming. I'd be pleased to hear your comments about your trip - drop me a line.
J. C. Kaelin, Jr.
Webmaster & Digitizer
© 1996-2014, J. C. Kaelin, Jr.. All Rights Reserved.
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