Apollo 11 People
Astronauts were just the tip of the pyramid:
An introduction to other
key figures
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The success of the Apollo 11 mission in July 1969 relied on more than just the three astronauts who journeyed to space
Sending humans to the Moon drew on the contributions of hundreds of thousands of people on Earth
At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and was supported by more than 20,000 industrial firms and universities
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Each mission relied on a team of flight directors, an entire backup crew of astronauts, and fully trained astronauts who would provide extra eyes and ears on the ground, many of them working at Mission Control in Houston, Texas
Gene Kranz was flight director during the Apollo 11 lunar landing
Kranz oversaw the planning and approval of all procedures used during the landing, and managed the team in Mission Control
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As the astronauts landed on the Moon in 1969, Kranz was sitting with astronaut Charles Duke in Mission Control. “I don’t think any of us breathed for that last 60 seconds,” Kranz later said.
Four astronauts served as the capsule communicator, or CapCom. Each took his turn being the constant point of contact between the astronauts and Mission Control (clockwise from top left): Charles Duke, Bruce McCandless, Ron Evans, and Owen Garriott.
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It was vital that CapComs had been through the same training as the astronauts on the mission and knew each step of the operations inside out
Personally requested by Armstrong for the momentous lunar landing
While the astronauts walked on the Moon and Collins orbited alone
For the launch of the lunar module back into orbit
During critical docking maneuvers
The mission included a backup crew, ready to step in if Armstrong, Collins, or Aldrin had been unable to participate in the mission: Commander James A. Lovell, Command Module Pilot William A. Anders, and Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise