Word: lm
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...grave concern," said Director of Flight Operations Chris Kraft. Mission Control quickly spotted the cause and ordered the rendezvous radar turned off to remedy the situation. And then, unhappy with the terrain of the landing site, Armstrong took over the manual controls. Had he not done so, the LM would have set down in an area strewn with boulders...
...takeoff." Replied Aldrin: "Roger, understand. We're No. 1 on the runway." Seconds later, tension dissolved; Eagle was airborne, headed into a lunar orbit. Within four hours, the module had rendezvoused and docked with Columbia on the far side of the moon. Then Armstrong and Aldrin left the LM so quickly that ground controllers, caught by surprise, sounded a bit put out. "You beat us to the punch," groused Mission Control. And why not? The two moon walkers were as anxious to return to the mother ship as Columbia's Pilot Collins was anxious to see them...
...moon." A New York supermarket chain ran a picture of the moon-"238,000 miles from Waldbaum's"-and beneath it advertised extra-large cantaloupes at three for 89?. A Long Island harness-racing track accompanied a picture of an astronaut stepping off the base of an LM mockup with the advice: "Hey, finish it later-Roosevelt Raceway opens tomorrow night." TWA and Pan Am eagerly accepted a spurt of new applications for the first commercial flights to the moon; one recent booking was made by California's Governor Ronald Reagan. Medals, pennants and assorted trinkets suddenly developed...
Later, after reopening the hatch, the astronauts tossed out LM equipment unnecessary for the return trip, their backpacks, boots and other items that had been exposed to lunar soil and dust. Then, their lunar excursion successfully completed, they settled down to a relaxed meal and a rest. It was strange to think that while much of the U.S. slept, two Americans were also sleeping in their cramped quarters on the distant and silent moon. Some 21 hours after landing on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin were ready to blast off in the five-ton upper stage of the lunar module...
...most nerve-racking part of the mission. If the ascent engine had failed to start, Eagle would have been stranded on the lunar surface. Too short a burn would have tossed the module into a trajectory that would send it smashing back onto the lunar surface. Had the LM achieved an orbit with an apocynthion (high point) much less than 50,000 ft., Columbia would have been unable to reach it. As it turned out, departure from the moon was triumphantly smooth. Of course, even after lift-off and redocking, there were still the dangers of the homeward trip. Control...