From the Earth to the Moon

James Webb:
Surely the President realizes that the moment a man steps foot on the moon will be a definitive one in the history of the world.

[after Kennedy vows to land a man on the moon by the end of the 60's]

James Webb:
Bob, can we do this?

Bob Gilruth:
Yes. Absolutely! We have to.

[During a NASA briefing]

Chris Kraft:
Rendezvous: two spacecraft meeting up in orbit. Want to have fun? Come over to my house. You stand in the back yard, I'll stand in the front, you throw a tennis ball over my roof and I'll try to hit it with a rock as it comes sailing over. That's what we're going to have to do.

Frank Borman:
Hey Neil, think John Glenn will be satisfied with just President?

Neil Armstrong:
Glenn for President, huh? Well, that'd depend. Who'd be running for King?

[Shortly before Apollo 7 lifts off]

Walt Cunningham:
It's so quiet.

Donn Eisele:
Yeah. I wonder where Guenter Wendt.

Guenter Wendt:
We drill! We drill the hell out of everything. We drill and we drill until we know every step in our sleep - and then we drill some more.

[about the Lunar Module]

Astronaut James McDivitt:
It's a beautiful machine, Tom!

Tom Kelly:
It is, isn't it?

Rusty Schweikart:
You really think that thing is beautiful?

Astronaut James McDivitt:
God no, it looks like a toaster oven with legs, but I'm not gonna tell him that.

Neil Armstrong:
Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.

Neil Armstrong:
That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

[after Apollo 12 lands on the moon]

Astronaut Pete Conrad:
Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but it's a long one for me!

[Voiceover, describing the Apollo 12 mission]

Al Bean:
Flying with Pete and Dick was the best thing about the entire mission - we were a true team. Those men were, and are, my best friends.

Deke Slayton:
[Addressing the Apollo astronauts, who are wondering what the lineup will be] What I do know is the first man to walk on the moon walked into this room today - and is looking at me right now.

[after Apollo 11 lands]

Buzz Aldrin:
Houston, this is the LEM pilot... I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in - whoever and wherever they may be - to pause a moment and contemplate the events of the past few days. And to give thanks, in his or her own way.

[Quoting the Bible, after Apollo 11's landing]

Buzz Aldrin:
I am the vine and you are the branches... Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For you can do nothing without me.

Gus Grissom:
The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.

[during the Apollo 1 hearings]

Clinton Anderson:
Now, before we all go home, is there any statement you personally would like to make?

Frank Borman:
I think I'm safe in speaking for all the astronauts when I say that we're confident in our management, we're confident in our training, in our engineering, and in ourselves. The real question is, are you confident in us?

Clinton Anderson:
What do you think we should do, Colonel?

Frank Borman:
I think you should stop this witch hunt and let us go to the Moon.

Gus Grissom:
Our God-given curiosity will force us to go there ourselves, because in the final analysis, only Man can evaluate the Moon in terms understandable to other men.

[During a spacewalk]

Ed White:
I feel very thankful to have the experience to be doing this.

[During Buzz Aldrin's spacewalk in the Gemini 12 mission]

Buzz Aldrin:
Jim, I'm gonna clean your windshield.

Jim Lovell:
Hey Buzz, check the oil too, would ya?

John Young:
What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

Jim Lovell:
Oh, hell, what did I say, Jim Lovell? I meant Max Peck.

[During Apollo 8's liftoff]

Frank Borman:
First stage was smooth, this one's smoother.

Jim Lovell:
Smooth and smoother? Who are you kidding?

Bill Anders:
Yeah, that one felt like we'd been in a train wreck.

Frank Borman:
Kick in the pants, huh?

President John F. Kennedy:
I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this time period will be more impressive to Mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

[after Kennedy is assassinated]

President Lyndon Johnson:
A great leader is dead. A great nation must move on. And as we bow our heads in submission to divine providence, let us thank God for the years that He gave us inspiration, through His servant, John F. Kennedy.

[about being the last man to set foot on the Moon]

Jack Schmitt:
It's not like I get stopped at restaurants.

Emmett Seaborn:
More than anything else, we went to the Moon to see if we could make the journey.

[Briefing the simulator room technicians during Apollo 11 training]

Honeycutt:
For the next three months you and I will do everything in our power to see that these men are able to land safely, which means that for the next three months we must do everything in our power to kill them.

[Reading telegrams to the Apollo 8 crew during their mission]

Michael Collins:
And we've got a telegram here from a Mrs. Valerie Pringle. I'm sure it's not a name that any of you recognize, it's just something that one of the Public Affairs people picked up 'cause he liked it. Mrs. Pringle writes, very simply, "You saved 1968."

[to the Apollo 8 astronauts as they prepare to leave orbit]

Michael Collins:
You are 'go' for T.L.I., gentlemen. You are 'go' for the Moon.

Frank Borman:
Roger, Houston, Apollo 8 is 'go.'

[after hearing that Frank Borman has become sick during Apollo 8's flight]

Chris Kraft:
Man, it's gonna smell bad up there!

President John F. Kennedy:
We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.

[after Apollo 12 lifts off]

Astronaut Pete Conrad:
Al Bean, you are going to the moon!

Al Bean:
Yeah! Ya'll can come along if you like!

Capcom:
and "Pravda" is calling Neil Armstrong the "czar" of the ship.

Michael Collins:
Well, right now the "czar" is brushing his teeth.

Astronaut Alan Shepard:
I'm the best pilot they've got.

[discussing what Neil Armstrong will say when he steps onto the surface of the moon]

Frank Borman:
What are you guys gonna say?

Michael Collins:
If you had any balls, you'd say "Oh, my God, what is that thing?" then scream and cut your mike.

Scientist:
NASA stands for "Never Absolutely Sure of Anything."

[seconds before the Apollo 1 capsule caught fire]

Gus Grissom:
How are we going to get to the moon if we can't talk between two or three buildings?

Astronaut Eugene Cernan:
That last footprint on the moon? Check it out. It's my boot size.

Ed White:
[having been ordered to return to the Gemini capsule to conclude the first American spacewalk] I'm coming back in... and it's the saddest moment of my life.

Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist:
[during a last field geology trip before the Apollo 15 astronauts go to the moon] Now, we don't really know what we're going to find on the surface of the Moon...

Astronaut James Irwin:
[slightly drunk] Pete Conrad's car... keys?

Astronaut David Scott:
Ever since I was five years old, all I ever wanted to be was a pilot. And flying to the moon seemed to be the ultimate adventure. Nothing seemed more important. Do you understand?

Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist:
I think so.

Astronaut David Scott:
But finding this little fella - understanding what it represents, what it could tell us - will probably be the most satisfying thing I'll ever do.

Dr. Lee Silver, Geologist:
Well, I suspect there more to come from Dave Scott. But, in the meantime, "Brought back original crust from the Moon" should weigh pretty impressively on your resume, you know?

Ed White:
[during his Gemini spacewalk] I could stay out here all day.

Astronaut James McDivitt:
Well, let's see what the Flight Director says.

Chris Kraft:
Flight Director says get back in!

Clinton Anderson:
[at the senate inquiry following the Apollo 1 fire] Colonel, what caused the fire? I'm not talking about wires and oxygen. It seems that some people think that NASA pressured North American to meet unrealistic and arbitrary deadlines and that in turn North American allowed safety to be compromised.

Frank Borman:
I won't deny there's been pressure to meet deadlines, but safety has never been intentionally compromised.

Clinton Anderson:
Then what caused the fire?

Frank Borman:
A failure of imagination. We've always known there was the possibility of fire in a spacecraft. But the fear was that it would happen in space, when you're 180 miles from terra firma and the nearest fire station. That was the worry. No one ever imagined it could happen on the ground. If anyone had thought of it, the test would've been classified as hazardous. But it wasn't. We just didn't think of it. Now who's fault is that? Well, it's North American's fault. It's NASA's fault. It's the fault of every person who ever worked on Apollo. It's my fault. I didn't think the test was hazardous. No one did. I wish to God we had.

Ed White:
[spacewalking] I could stay out here all day.

James McDivitt:
Well, let's see what the Flight Director says.

Chris Kraft:
The Flight Director says "Get back in!"

Gus Grissom:
Gemini Four, get back in!

[Gemini 8 has docked with the Agena Target Vehicle]

Neil Armstrong:
Flight, we are docked. It's... really a smoothie.

[the Gemini, docked to the Agena, is starting to tumble]

Dave Scott:
Neal, we're in a bank...

Dave Scott:
We have serious problems here... we're tumbling end over end up here. We're disengaged from the Agena.

[Gemini 8 has just made an emergency landing in rough seas]

Neil Armstrong:
Na-Ha Rescue 1, Gemini 8... Na-Ha Rescue 1, Gemini 8... [silence on radio] They ain't out there.

Dave Scott:
Three to five foot waves, sure. They didn't say anything about these swells. The fumes from the heat shield really helped... ugh...

Dave Scott:
[grabs bag and vomits]

Dave Scott:
[recovering] Do you even think they know we're here, Neil?

Neil Armstrong:
Not to worry Dave. If nothing else, we'll just float along to China. -Oh god, give me that bag! [retches]

Rocco Petrone:
Gentlemen, It's getting late. And we still have the decision to make - Marius Hills or Hadley Rille. Help us out here, Dave. You're the commander and you haven't said a word all day.

Dave Scott:
Well, Lets See. Chet! No offense, be we feel we can land at either site. Dr. Pemberton. I'm one who respects hedging bets, but from what I've learned out in the field; Hadley Apennine, with it's complex variety of features, both impact and volcanic, is the best choice for putting together a picture of how the moon came to be. Maybe a little riskier...

Chester Lee:
Not a little...

Dave Scott:
...but, also... also the Apennines have something else... Grandeur. And I believe there's something to be said for... exploring beautiful places... It's good for the spirit.

Rocco Petrone:
Then it's Hadley, Gentlemen!

Emmett Seaborn:
What we learned about the moon you see is not nearly as important as our going there. Apollo 8, witnesses to the first earthrise in the conciousness of man. Apollo 17, Gene Cernan takes that remarkable photo of Jack Schmitt standing on the moon with the Earth over his shoulder. See that's why we went to the moon. To take those pictures. We didn't go there to conquer it or claim it or simply beat the Russians to it. Sure, we wanted to find out what the moon was made of to satisfy questions of science that have plagued us since the dawn of man. But more than anything else we went to the moon to see if we could make the journey, because if we can do that, if we can voyage from the Earth to the moon then there's hope for all us because we can do anything.

Bob Carbee:
[the Grumman engineering team is waiting to see if they've been awarded the contract to produce the Lunar Module] Whoever is tapping the pencil, if you value your life, please stop.

[On Intrepid's return from the lunar surface]

Dick Gordon:
[opening CM hatch] Howdy fellas!

Al Bean:
Hey Dick!

Dick Gordon:
Jesus! Did you have to bring back half the moon with you? [eyeing their dusty moon suits] Uh-uh! You ain't gonna mess up my nice clean spacecraft. You strip down, and wipe yourselves off before you come in here. [pause] I mean it. Go!

Pete Conrad:
[to Al] He's right. You're filthy!

[Strapped into their couches ready to jettison the LEM. Pete and Al are nude after stripping off their dusty moon suits]

Pete Conrad:
You know... if uh, we were to lose the hatch when we blow the LEM... and one day, someone were to find us floatin' around up here like this, uh... They might be pretty confused!

[they all break into laughter]

Pete Conrad:
Well at least we'll go out of this world the same way we came in, huh?

[More laughter]

Dick Gordon:
[still in his suit] Well... *you* two!

Pete Conrad:
You didn't come into the world in that suit?

Dick Gordon:
[still laughing] Oh... Oh man... I *hope* not!

Emmett Seaborn:
[to the television audience] Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. Only the third human being to set foot on the moon. Who can forget Neil Armstrong's immortal words? Let's watch and listen to the words Conrad has chosen to mark this moment in history...

Pete Conrad:
Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but it's a long one for me.

[after the White Room is closed out and the pad crew has left]

Walt Cunningham:
It's so quiet.

Donn Eisele:
Yeah, I wonder where Guenter Wendt?

[they all laugh uproariously]

Wally Schirra:
Ha! I'm gonna steal that.

[after completing an emergency egress slide-wire drill]

Wally Schirra:
I'm gettin' too old for this sh*t!

Wally Schirra:
STC? CDR. Hope you guys are keeping an eye on the winds. They looked pretty strong coming up here

Skip Chauvin:
Uh, roger that, Apollo 7. We're still in the window for launch.

Wally Schirra:
[cynically] Go fever.

Wally Schirra:
STC? Apollo 7. Either our rate needles are way outta whack, or we're getting some substantial winds up here

Skip Chauvin:
Uh roger, Apollo 7. It's not your rate needles. You've got wind.

Wally Schirra:
Okay then... I'm recommending a hold in the count... these winds appear to be way out of the mission rule parameters. [long pause] You copy that Skip? We're not happy about the wind situation here!

Skip Chauvin:
Uh roger that, Wally. Do you mean a... possible scrub situation here?

Wally Schirra:
I hope not! I just don't like the situation.

Deke Slayton:
Wally, Deke here. We have been assured by Meteorological, that we have an acceptable launch condition. But if you want to hold, we'll hold. It's up to you.

[very long pause. Skip moves to contact Wally, but Deke waves him off]

Wally Schirra:
Uh... Deke? If you say... we're in the ballpark... then, I guess we're a go.

Deke Slayton:
[relieved] Roger that, Wally!

Walt Cunningham:
[to Wally] Go fever, huh?

John Young:
[Hooking up Wally's comline] Test. Test. You hear me Wally?

Wally Schirra:
Five squared, John.

John Young:
How do you think Navy's gonna do this weekend?

Wally Schirra:
Figure them to beat Air Force's ass!