Apollo 11, Passive Seismic Experiment Data, 1969
Garry Latham (on left), with the Lamont Geological Observatory, studies seismometer tracings in the Mission Control Center's ALSEP control room. The electronic data was coming from the Passive Seismic Experiments Package which the Apollo 11 astronauts had just deployed on the surface of the moon. The Passive Seismic Experiment detected lunar moonquakes and provided information about the internal structure of the Moon. This experiment studied the propagation of seismic waves through the Moon and provided our most detailed look at the Moon's internal structure. The Apollo 11 seismometer returned data for just three weeks but provided a useful first look at lunar seismology. More advanced seismometers were deployed at the Apollo 12, 14, 15, and 16 landing sites and transmitted data to Earth until September 1977. Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that landed the first two people on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969. Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface six hours later on July 21; Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two hours together outside the spacecraft, and collected pounds of lunar material to bring back to Earth. Command module pilot Michael Collins flew the command module Columbia alone in lunar orbit while they were on the Moon's surface. Armstrong and Aldrin spent hours on the lunar surface before rejoining Columbia in lunar orbit.
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