Flight-team's 11 minute audio of descent and landing
A dramatic recording of the first manned landing on the Moon has been rediscovered at Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Texas.
The tape covers the crucial few minutes as the Apollo 11 lander touches down on the surface of the Earth's satellite in July 1969.
The recording is of the flight director, Gene Kranz, and his "white team" of mission controllers. Each member of the team was responsible for one aspect of the landing, such as fuel, altitude, orientation, crew health, etc.
The rescued recording of the perilous descent combines the flight director/controller loop with the astronaut loop. It also covers the decision about whether the astronauts should remain on the Moon following the landing - or immediately lift off.
You can listen to it with streaming Real player here
or download it as stereo mp3 from Kipp Teague's site - 3.5 Meg