Bob Moler's Ephemeris Blog

Ephemeris for Friday, July 19th. Today the Sun will be up for 15 hours and 7 minutes, setting at 9:22, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:16. The Moon, 3 days past full, will rise at 11:14 this evening.

On this day, 50 years ago the combined Apollo 11 spacecraft Command and Service module with attached Lunar Module dropped into orbit of the Moon. The crew spotted a glow coming from the Aristarchus region, still on the night side of the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin entered the LM to power it up and to get it ready for landing. The next day they undocked from the Command Module and began their 2 hour 33 minute descent to the Moon’s surface. As they neared the surface The astronauts found out they were going to miss the planned landing area and would land in a more boulder strewn area. Armstrong took control and guided the LM to a safe landing with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining. The Eagle had landed.

The times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Left to right Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot; and Buzz Aldrin, Lunar Module Pilot. Credit: NASA.

The Saturn V for the Apollo 11 mission lifts of from Pad 39A. Credit: NASA.

Aldrin with the PSEP instrument looking back at the LM. Credit NASA/Neil Armstrong.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the Apollo 11 landing area. Compare the location od the objects in the picture above with this image.  The flag was blown down by the lift off of the Ascent module when the Astronauts left the Moon. Credit NASA/LRO.