Eagle touch-down in 'football pitch'
Topic: History
On the 20th July 1969, history was made when the Apollo ll mission became the first manned lunar mission to land on the moon. This is part of the leading article in The Daily Telegraph, a London newspaper, for Monday, July 21, 1969.
Two Americans became the first men in the moon last night when Apollo ll's lunar module Eagle touched down on the moons surface at 9.18 p.m. B.S.T. Aboard were Neil Armstrong, 38, mission commander, and Col. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, 39, Eagle's pilot.As the lunar module settle gently on the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong reported: "The Eagle has landed. We are breathing again. Thanks a lot".
Almost immediately, Mission Control began referring to Eagle with a new radio call-sign of "Tranquility Base". Armstrong radioed that the earth was "big, bright and beautiful."
He said: "We are in football pitch-sized crater." Houston congratulated Eagle with: "Beautiful job, you guys." A voice from Eagle replied: "Don't forget the one in the module."
Overhead at a height of less than 70 miles, Col. Michael Collins, 38, orbited the moon in the command module Columbia, to which Armstrong and Aldrin are due to return tonight.
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