So Armstrong climbed down the ladder, followed by his famous "one small step" line. "In all previous missions, if someone, a crew member, was to spacewalk, it was always the junior person, not the space commander who would stay inside," Aldrin wrote.Īt least one team at NASA though the junior person should go out first, Aldrin wrote, "but many people felt the great symbology of the commander.
Typically the junior person - Aldrin in this case - would step outside so that the more senior person - Armstrong - would be left safely behind the controls and in a better position to take action in an emergency. In a Reddit AMA to mark the 45th anniversary of the historic mission, Aldrin described the uniqueness of NASA's decision to have Armstrong walk on the moon first. Michael Collins stayed behind in lunar orbit as command module pilot. Armstrong was commander of Apollo 11 and Aldrin was the lunar module pilot. Most people assume that NASA always planned for Armstrong to be the first person to step out onto the moon because of his rank. Buzz Aldrin followed about 20 minutes later. The hatch opened on the opposite side where Aldrin was seated. But the lunar module posed design challenges that made this order difficult. The agency originally planned for Aldrin to be the first man to step on the moon. Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. July 20, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing when American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person ever to plant boots on the dusty lunar surface. NASAs history website, 'Apollo Expeditions to the Moon,' tells a slightly different version of the story. A Man on the Moon In one of the most famous photographs of the 20th Century, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle. Most people assume mission Commander Neil Armstrong was always NASA's first choice to walk on the moon because of his seniority.Īpollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin revealed in a Reddit AMA that in previous moonwalks, it was typical for the junior crewmember to leave the space capsule while the commander remained inside.Īccording to Aldrin, NASA decided Armstrong should walk on the moon first because it was "symbolic." July 20, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing when American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person ever to walk on the moon.
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