On the evening of July 20th, 1969 a small lander called Eagle slowed itself as it descended toward the surface of the moon. The two men inside stood like the Wright brothers, not knowing the impact of their feats. Suddenly they spotted their incoming target. Instead of the level landing area in the Apollo 11 flight plan, they were aimed for an enormous crater, surrounded by large boulders.
The problem was not completely unexpected. Shortly after Armstrong and his companion had begun their dive for the surface, they checked against landmarks and realized that they were going to land some distance past their planned target. There were also other complications. Communications with earth had been breaking up. This unprecedented landing was the most dangerous part of the flight.
Armstrong said nothing to ground control about the incoming crater. Now the men in the control room in Houston realized something was wrong. Only 5% of Eagle's fuel remained. One minute to go and every man in the control center was holding his breath. Failure would be devastating now. Next came some famous words from Neil Armstrong, "Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Inside the spacecraft, Armstrong and Aldrin made sure they could get home again. Once set and ready, the two men stepped out of the Eagle, and set the American flag. Finally they exclaimed exactly what they had achieved, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Bryan Pitstick
Section 014