Thread by @NatGeo

Welcome to our "live feed" of the #Apollo11 mission as it prepares to launch...to the Moon. #Apollo50th

09:32 #Apollo11 has taken off from Launch Pad 39A at Cape Kennedy, Florida #Apollo50th

Each born in 1930 and weighing 165 pounds, the three astronauts inside are Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin, Jr. #Apollo50th

09:35 The spacecraft is 37 nautical miles high and traveling at about 6,340 miles per hour. #Apollo50th

09:44 #Apollo11 has entered a 103 nautical mile-high Earth orbit. #Apollo50th

12:22 After another firing of the third-stage engine, #Apollo11 has been boosted out of orbit midway in its second trip around the Earth and onto its lunar trajectory at a speed of 24,200 miles per hour. #Apollo50th

14:38 The third rocket stage has dumped its leftover fuel, which allowed it to be fired into a long solar orbit so that it's not in Apollo 11's path. #Apollo50th

14:54 The spacecraft is traveling at 12,914 feet per second and is about 22,000 nautical miles from Earth. #Apollo50th

20:52 The crew is now preparing to go to sleep and Mission Control in Houston, Texas has said good night. #Apollo50th

22:59 The spacecraft is now at a distance of 63,880 nautical miles from Earth and its speed has slowed down to 7,279 feet per second. #Apollo50th

08:48 Mission Control gives #Apollo11 crew a brief review of the morning news. #Apollo50th

12:17 The crew has made a midcourse correction, which is sharpening the course of the spacecraft and testing the engine that has to get them in and out of lunar orbit. #Apollo50th

19:33 The astronauts have just telecast a view of the Earth (in color!) from a distance of 128,000 nautical miles. #Apollo50th

21:42 Mission control in Houston has bid the crew goodnight. #Apollo50th

09:41 We are now on the third day of the outward journey. The astronauts have had breakfast and are doing housekeeping chores, including charging batteries and checking on fuel and oxygen reserves. #Apollo50th

14:57 Today's news has been reported to the astronauts. #Apollo50th

16:40 The spacecraft is now 175,000 nautical miles from Earth and 48,000 nautical miles from the Moon. #Apollo50th

22:00 Mission Control has said goodnight to the crew. #Apollo50th

23:12 The spacecraft has entered the Moon's sphere of influence just 33,823 nautical miles away from it. The velocity of the spacecraft slowed down to 2,990 feet per second just before entering. #Apollo50th

08:32 Mission Control has signaled to the crew to wake up, eat breakfast, and start housekeeping chores. #Apollo50th

10:25 The spacecraft is now 184,824 nautical miles away from Earth. #Apollo50th

10:49 ARMSTRONG: The view of the Moon that we've been having recently is really spectacular ... It's a view worth the price of the trip. #Apollo50th

13:02
MISSION CONTROL: 11, this is Houston. You are go for LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion). Over.
ALDRIN: Roger, go for LOI. #Apollo50th

13:13 For the first time, the spacecraft is out of radio contact with the Earth as it passes completely behind the Moon. #Apollo50th

13:28 The main rocket of the spacecraft is being fired for about six minutes to slow down the vehicle. It needs to be captured by lunar gravity. The orbit is now ranging from 61.3 to 168.9 nautical miles. #Apollo50th

13:55 ARMSTRONG: We're getting this first view of the landing approach. This time we are going over the Taruntius crater and the pictures and maps brought back by Apollos 8 and 10 give us a very good preview of what to look at here. #Apollo50th

15:56 A telecast of the Moon's surface has begun. #Apollo50th

17:44 While on the back side of the Moon, the spacecraft's orbit is now being stabilized at about 54 by 66 nautical miles. #Apollo50th

18:57 The spacecraft is now orbiting the Moon every two hours. Armstrong and Aldrin are crawling into the lunar module to check it again. #Apollo50th

9:27 Aldrin is crawling into the lunar module and starting to power up the spacecraft. #Apollo50th

10:30 Armstrong has joined Aldrin in the lunar module. Together, they're continuing to check the systems and deploying the landing legs. #Apollo50th

13:46 The landing craft has separated from the command module, which continues to orbit the Moon with Collins in it. #Apollo50th

14:12 Collins has moved the command module about two miles away. #Apollo50th

15:08 The landing craft's descent engine has been fired for the first time. Armstrong and Aldrin are flying feet first and face down in the craft. #Apollo50th

15:47
COLLINS: Houston, Columbia. Reading you loud and clear. How me?
MISSION CONTROL: Roger. Five by, Mike. How did it go? Over.
COLLINS: Listen, babe. Everything's going just swimmingly. Beautiful. #Apollo50th

16:05 Armstrong and Aldrin are approaching a crater the size of a football field. Armstrong takes manual control and is steering the craft. His heartbeat has gone from a normal 77 to about 150. #Apollo50th

16:18
ARMSTRONG: Houston. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.
MISSION CONTROL: Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot. #Apollo50th

16:28 ALDRIN: We'll get to the details of what's around here, but it looks like a collection of just about every variety of shape, angularity, granularity, about every variety of rock you could find. #Apollo50th

18:11 Armstrong is recommending to Mission Control that they plan to start the Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) earlier than originally scheduled. We'll give another update in the next few hours. #Apollo50th

22:39 Armstrong has opened the lunar module hatch and squeezes through the opening. He has a portable life support and communications system. He begins stepping down the 10-foot, nine step ladder. #Apollo50th

22:54 ARMSTRONG: I'm at the foot of the ladder. #Apollo50th

22:56 ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. #Apollo50th

And history has been made. #Apollo50th

SPECIAL THANKS to @NASA, @USNatArchives, National Geographic Image Collection, and @BenFeist for the footage, images, and resources that made this thread possible! Check out the amazing work Ben Feist has done at apolloinrealtime.org. #Apollo50th

@NASA @USNatArchives @BenFeist Fifty years after Apollo 11's success, the moon is in our sights again. This time, for a generation that will test where science meets profit. nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2019/…

@NASA @USNatArchives @BenFeist "To date, Saturn V is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever operated," writes National Geographic photographer Babak Tafreshi. Earlier this week, he captured this moment in Washington, D.C. when the #Apollo11 spacecraft was projected onto the Washington Monument. #Apollo50th