Apollo 11 launch

On this page:

1.) Audio of the launch

a.) A recording of the Network Controller’s loop.

b.) The Network Controller’s and Flight Director’s loops together.

2.) The Network Controller’s Checklist

3.) The Network Controller’s console log – new

Richard Stachurski (arrowed), at the Network console in the MOCR, around the time of Apollo 11 TLI.

(Panorama assembled from 16mm movie footage.)

1.) Audio of the Launch of Apollo 11

a.) Network Controller’s loop

51 minutes / 12.5MB mono mp3 file – as recorded at Richard Stachurski’s Network console in the MOCR.

This particular recording, preserved by Richard Stachurski, has not been been available previously.

It gives a small glimpse into the amazing behind-the-scenes orchestra at work to launch Apollo 11.

Richard and his colleague George Egan shared the callsign “Network” for the launch. Richard is first heard 40 seconds into the recording.

The recording begins at t-20:00 and ends at approx t+31:00.

Courtesy Richard Stachurski. Audio noise-reduction and encoding by Colin Mackellar.

b.) Flight Director’s and Network loops synchronised

20 minutes / 14.5MB stereo mp3 file

This file was created by Colin Mackellar using the recording of the Flight Director’s loop (added to the right channel) and Richard Stachurski’s Network console recording (left channel). Some speed-correction was needed to match the two recordings exactly.

The file only covers the period common to both recordings.

The recording begins at t-5:10, with a ten second countdown to t-5:00. It ends at about t+16:00.

2.) The Network Controller’s Checklist

Richard writes:

“This is the checklist that my partner George Egan and I used for the Apollo 11 launch. The pages actually have my grease pencil annotations of things like launch time and launch azimuth. The first three pages deal with launch and the fourth deals with TLI.”


Apollo 11 Launch – T-2 hours to T-20 min. Page 1.	Apollo 11 Launch – T-20 min to T-12 min. Page 2.


Apollo 11 Launch – T-12 min onwards. Page 3.	Apollo 11 Trans Lunar Injection. Page 4.

3.) The Network Controller’s console log

Apollo 11 Launch

Network Controller Richard Stachurski preserved this page from log at his console in the MOCR (Mission Operations Control Room) in Houston. He writes, “Major John Monkvic supported George Egan and I by keeping the log.”

Click the image for a PDF file. August 2022 scan.