Apollo 11 Trivia Questions

Collins orbited the moon solo in the command module while Armstrong and Aldrin were on the surface, making him the most isolated human in history.

Apollo 8 was the first crewed mission to leave low Earth orbit, orbiting the moon in December 1968. Apollo 11 followed with the first landing.

They had about 30 seconds of fuel left at touchdown, which was within normal margins—not a near-disaster as often exaggerated.

The transmission from the Moon famously had the 'a' inaudible, making the quote sound like 'one small step for man.' Armstrong always maintained he said 'for a man,' but the broadcast version is what most people heard.

The flag was knocked over by the lunar module's exhaust during liftoff. Later Apollo missions saw flags fall due to radiation damage. No flag remains upright on the moon.

The Apollo Guidance Computer had about 4 KB of RAM and a 2.048 MHz clock, equivalent to far less computing power than even a simple modern pocket calculator, which typically runs on a microcontroller with higher specs.

Armstrong maintained that he thought of the phrase 'That's one small step...' after the lunar module landed and before his moonwalk, meaning it was improvised. No evidence contradicts this; he never claimed to have planned it earlier.

The flag was knocked over by the exhaust from the lunar module's ascent engine when Armstrong and Aldrin left the moon.

Astronauts could not obtain life insurance due to the extreme risks. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins instead signed hundreds of autographs as a financial safety net for their families.

The lunar module's touchdown was not televised; only audio was broadcast live. The first live TV from the moon began during the moonwalk over six hours later.

Aldrin relieved himself inside his spacesuit shortly after stepping onto the lunar surface, making him the first to pee on another world.

After splashdown, the astronauts filled out customs forms declaring 'moon rocks and lunar dust' as cargo—a quirky bureaucratic requirement.

After splashdown, the astronauts filled out customs forms listing their cargo as 'moon rock samples' and 'lunar dust.' It was a lighthearted but real requirement.

Aldrin urinated into a collection bag inside his suit during the first moments on the moon. He later joked it was a historic first for bodily functions on another world.

The original high-quality slow-scan tapes were erased and reused for satellite data. The surviving broadcast footage is lower quality, later restored by NASA and Hollywood.