Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent

On this page:

1.) Audio of the Lunar Ascent

a.) A recording of the Flight Director’s loop.

b.) A new combined audio file of the Flight Director’s loop and Eagle onboard audio.

2.) The Network Controller’s Ascent Work Schedule

1.) Audio of the Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent

A new combined audio file of the Flight Director’s loop and Eagle onboard audio.

a.) Flight Director’s loop

20 minutes / 7.3MB – mono mp3 file

This recording from the Flight Director’s loop in the MOCR gives a good feel for the ‘tip of the iceberg’ that was the MOCR. There is a great deal of activity from various support teams behind the scenes.

The Black Team is on duty – Glynn Lunney is the Flight Director at this point.

This recording was supplied by JSC media to the Apollo 11 Tape Search Team via John Sarkissian at Parkes. Editing and encoding by Colin Mackellar.

b.) Flight Director’s loop + Eagle onboard audio

7 minutes / 6.4MB – stereo mp3 file

This file combines the Flight Director’s loop and the recording made onboard Eagle using the Data Storage Electronics Assembly (DSEA). The audio was transferred to Earth (played back at high speed in a ‘dump’) before Eagle was jettisoned after re-docking with the CSM.

Of interest in this audio: As Eagle left the lunar surface, lock was momentarily lost, and therefore the crew’s comments were not heard on Earth.

The onboard audio (transferred by JSC for the 40th anniversary in 2009) contains several interesting snippets, including Neil Armstrong announcing that “Eagle has wings”, just as he had earlier said when Eagle undocked from Columbia before the landing attempt.

Onboard recording with thanks to John Stoll at the Johnson Space Center. FD and Onboard files synchronised by Colin Mackellar, June 2011.

1.) Richard Stachurski’s Ascent Work Schedule.

Madrid and its wing at Robledo were the only 85 foot (26 metre) stations tracking for the Apollo 11 lunar ascent.

With no backup for the Lunar Module ascent engine, this manoeuver was critical.

This Ascent Work Schedule, preserved by Richard Stachurski, sets out the priorities for communications during this sequence. Ascension, with its 30 foot (9 metre) USB antenna, was in mutual view with Madrid, and was backup. Bermuda, also in mutual view, was backup to Ascension in case of failure.

This documentation is dated 19 July 1969.

Scans by Richard Stachurski.


Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Page 1.	Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Page 2.


Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Page 3.	Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Page 4.


Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Attachment 1.	Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule. Attachment 2.

Apollo 11 Lunar Ascent Work Schedule.
Attachment 3.

(Larger, Largest.)