Robot Scout: Fly Me (Safely) to the Moon
Friday, September 5, 2008 - 10:35
in Astronomy & Space
The first attempt to land humans on the moon -- Apollo 11 -- was a triumph that almost ended in disaster. At just 400 feet from the lunar surface, with only about a minute's worth of fuel remaining, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin saw that their ship's computer was taking them directly into a crater the size of a football field, strewn with SUV-sized boulders. They quickly took control from the computer, flew over the crater and touched down in a smoother area beyond, cutting the engine with just 30 seconds of fuel on the readout.