Although they managed to plant the pole about 18cm deep, Aldrin stated that the flag was later knocked over by engine exhaust as Apollo 11 lifted off. They also erected an American flag, a task that proved more difficult than expected as they struggled to jam the pole into the Moons hard surface.

Of the 21 hours and 36 minutes spent on the Moons surface, Armstrong and Aldrin spent 2.5 hours outside the module collecting data, setting up experiments and taking pictures. The module remained on the Moon’s surface for 21 hours and 36 minutesĪrmstrong was the first man to step onto the Moon, followed 20 minutes later by Aldrin. To meet the demands of such a mission as Apollo 11, this pre-existing technology was further developed in just 11 days - creating the familiar communications headsets in the 'Snoopy caps'.Aldrin salutes the United States flag on the lunar surface. The famous words 'That's one small step for a man, but one giant leap for mankind' were transmitted via a Poly (previously Plantronics and Polycom) headset.Poly’s first aerospace product, the MS50, was launched in 1962 and was used by pilots and others for critical communications from the cockpit.Every smartphone today has tens of times more computing power than the on-board computer of Apollo 11?.A speech was already written for President Richard Nixon in case the moon landing should fail? It begins with the words: “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.”.The astronauts had to spend 21 days in quarantine after landing for fear of possible moon germs?.Armstrong, Aldrin and the third astronaut Michael Collins had to officially re-enter the United States after landing in Hawaii? Passport, flight number (Apollo 11), itinerary (moon / Honolulu, Hawaii) - everything had to be specified, even the luggage: 21.5 kilograms of moon dust and rocks.The astronauts couldn't get a life insurance for the moon mission? As an alternative, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin signed hundreds of postcards - should they not return, their families can sell them for a good price.

Man on the moon history