“Got the Earth straight out our front window.” As the lunar module Eagle yawed into a windows up orientation, Buzz Aldrin looked away from the computer to see the Earth nearly a quarter of a million miles away.
“Sure do,” agreed Neil Armstrong, adding, “Houston, [I hope] you’re looking at our Delta-H.” The Earth wasn’t his main concern for the moment. The mission’s commander was laser focused on getting the spacecraft down onto the Moon’s surface for the first time in history. He had just 30,000 feet to go …
“That’s affirmative,” replied Capcom Charlie Duke. The room full of flight controllers listened to the exchange while keeping a close eye on the numbers filling their screens, looking for any little anomaly that could force an abort.
Then came Armstrong’s voice over the radio again, this time marked a slight note of urgency. “It’s a 1202 … What is that? ...
