One Small Step…One Giant Leap…
America has been awash with commemorations of what sort or another for the Apollo 11 mission to the moon – now 50 years old.
But on July 20, 1969 it wasn’t just the people of the United States that was glued to television screens, watching what seemed incredible then – and today seems even more incredible.
The technology that landed man on the moon looks decidedly primitive by today’s standards. There is the oft repeated fact that there is more hi-tech in the average cell phone today than there was aboard Apollo 11 in 1969.
Nevertheless, the three astronauts worked with what they had – or rather what NASA had given them. Still there were some hair-raising moments.
Four minutes into its landing sequence Neil Armstrong was heard to tell Mission Control at Houston:
“Program alarm!”
In short the onboard computer was showing an “error code”. I know when you read that you scratch your head. I mean an “error code” comes up when you are trying to reset your wi-fi router – annoying, but hardly life threatening. Yet, being just minutes from landing on the moon the world’s most intrepid spacemen were having just such computer problems!
Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong, descending in the Eagle Lunar Module, stared at the frozen computer screen that read “1202” – meaning error message. The really disconcerting thing was that they didn’t know what the error message meant. So they called Mission Control. Those guys in Texas didn’t know either. So they started scrambling through paper notes to find out.
To say the least – this was urgent.
The Lunar module was 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) from Earth. It was a small, fragile machine descending rapidly onto the alien surface of the moon. It looked great, romantic even, mankind’s last great frontier conquered. However, most watching at home or even in Houston did not realize just how much danger the two astronauts were now in.
At this point Houston was considering three options. Solving the computer problem and then landing on the moon safely; to crash land on the moon anyway, problem solved or not; or aborting the mission. For the astronauts on board the last two options could spell death.
The problems had begun immediately upon separation from the Apollo 11 Command Module in which Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins had blasted off headed for the moon. Collins never made it to the moon. He would remain in the Command Module as Armstrong and Aldrin landed and then be there when the module arrived back before the journey home. That was the idea. But just as the two men were descending to the moon with an ominous computer error Mission Control was having major trouble with the radio link to the Lunar Module.
Aldrin had adjusted the antenna, but the radio connection kept on fading in and out. Still they heard it when the message came. Over a crackling line, Houston ordered the men to make the landing. Mission Control knew that this was a risk but officially all stayed calm. Even if, after the order was communicated, Houston staff struggled with radar data that appeared as vague as the moon looked that Texas night.
Suddenly, the master alarm sounded in the module’s cabin. The on-board computer was signaling: overload. The “1202” computer error was now telling the astronauts that it was closing down and going to reboot. . Simply put: the computer was receiving more data than it could handle. On discovering this Houston moved to abort the mission – things were getting out of hand
By now Aldrin was becoming increasingly alarmed. He did not know what the code still showing meant. He said later: “We couldn’t look it up in the book to see what the problem was ’cause we were watching where we were going!” The two men waited for a bit, what must have seemed an eternity, and then asked Houston for further clarification as to what to do next.
Houston made the call. Go ahead and land.
What the astronauts did not know was that Mission Control had decided it was as dangerous to abort the landing as to go ahead with it. Both Houston and the astronauts knew what the procedures for landing entailed and that there was a chance – a slim chance – they would survive.
So the men continued to focus on landing the module. Aldrin concentrating on the instrument displays, calling off the numbers for altitude, speed and other critical data as Armstrong took manual control of the module.
But there was another problem.
They were about to land on a part of the moon different from that agreed.
In short, they didn’t know where they were going, or what surface they were going to land on. In all the confusion they had overshot the predicted landing zone. Where the orbital maps indicated a smooth plain, the lunar module was heading instead for a vast crater field with huge boulders.
Armstrong desperately tried to find a smooth spot on which to land the module.
To make matters worse – they were running out of fuel. They had one minute, 6o seconds and counting, to land otherwise … Not even Houston had the answer to that one. The astronauts were too close to the moon surface to abort now.
Over the radio Mission Control called out the 60-second fuel warning. As many at Houston now held their breath, for they knew the module was supposed to land with about two minutes of fuel left. And there it was: still a hundred feet [30 m] above the surface, with 60 seconds worth in the tank.
Just then Armstrong saw a smooth spot on the lunar surface. He focused on it. Aldrin continued calling out the speed and range as they hurtled to the moon’s surface.
Finally the descent engine was kicking up moon dust. Then a long metal rod extended from the landing legs touching the lunar plain. They had landed. A blue light on the console came on: “CONTACT LIGHT”.
And then Armstrong voice came back across to Mission Control via the radio link: “Houston, Tranquility Base here … The Eagle has landed.
Why have I concentrated on this piece of the moon landing?
Because what you have just read is about human skill and determination in an unknown situation, in their case a hostile environment.
Well, welcome to my world. And the world of all the entrepreneurs across the globe who face the unknown each day of their business lives. And, especially, more so for those European entrepreneurs who take the challenge of crossing not so much the Sea of Tranquility as the Atlantic ocean and landing their “ lunar module” on the alien business surface of the United States.
That takes just as much guts as Aldrin and Armstrong showed. But even those guys needed back-up from a team of 4000 people at Houston.
So who are going to be your own “Mission Control”?
The people there are called Mount Bonnell Advisors. Right state, Texas, but it’s not Houston rather Austin. Out of there we are happy to make your life goal of reaching the new world of America a reality.
Don’t try and reach for the stars alone. Instead, pick up the phone today; book a consultation; and let’s land that “ lunar module” regardless of what “error signals” pop up.
