Page 44 - The Appollo Story

~----------1 The Apollo Story....-----------

Apollo 11 (AS-506) The Eagle Has Landed
Weighing a mere 60Ib (27kg) in the gentle one-sixth gravity, Armstrong made his tentative steps, learn-
ing how to move in the new conditions, despite the restrictions of his spacesuit. The immediate task was
to collect a small sample of soil and stash it away in a pouch, a contingency sample in case the moonwalk
was aborted. Then came Aldrin's turn to accompany him on the surface, and after a momentary loss of
words he described his new world as 'magnificent desolation.'

Did You Know?
Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing
through the hatch with his Portable Life Support
System (PLSS). According to veteran Moon-walker
John Young, a redesign of the LM to incorporate a
smaller hatch had not been followed by a redesign
of the PLSS backpack, so some of the highest heart
rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred dur-
ing LM egress and ingress.