Monday, July 20, 2009

Apollo+40: Powered Descent

Up to this point, everything Apollo 11 has done was completed by Apollo 10's dress rehearsal in May. At 102:33:05, Eagle's descent engine ignites, sending the spacecraft and Armstrong and Aldrin down towards the lunar surface.

After the first minute of PDI, Aldrin reported that the two LM guidance systems - primary and abort - agreed closely as to the spacecraft's trajectory.

The first indication of trouble wasn't far behind:

At 102:36:11, Armstrong reported that Eagle passed its visual mark for PDI+3:00 early; the landing would be further downrange than expected.

At 102:37:22, CAPCOM Charlie Duke gave the astronauts a status update:

"You are GO to continue powered descent."

So far, so good - but landing on the Moon can't be this easy, can it?

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