“Some still consider the Earth to be flat”: the astronaut who visited the moon is talking about the Apollo 11 program and the myths around it

- Now everyone is talking about the Moon, since it is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission - the first landing of astronauts on the Moon. The people who set off on this flight were not completely sure that they would be able to return. You were then the operator of communication with the crew. What is it like to control in a situation that you could not quite control?

- This is the task of the flight control center - this is how to conduct the orchestra. Astronauts do their job, and the crew on the ground gives advice and recommendations in accordance with the rules developed for the mission. During the decline, we had all sorts of problems - with communication, data transfer, computer malfunctions. Because of all this, the situation in the flight control center immediately became very tense. I was a military pilot, test pilot, but I never had to experience such stress.

- Fortunately, everything ended well. But I can imagine your feelings: “God, everything went smoothly there, and now, when they are already landing, problems have begun. We can't let that happen. ”

- Yes, we, of course, hoped that everything would end well. But there were certain rules of flight control. So, if the computer is out of order, then everything, the astronauts cannot land. Be sure to need the main computer. You can, of course, return to orbit using the emergency guidance system, but it will not help to land. Therefore, when I saw a signal about computer malfunctions, everything inside me went cold. Seriously, for a landing (on the moon. - RT ) you definitely need a computer. "Oh, no, this is the end, this is all." I had such thoughts. But Steve Baylor, who was in charge of the space flight, said, he shouted to the whole room: “The flight continues!” And I shouted to the computer: “We continue!” And we continued to decline, but the tension quickly grew.

• Astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission on the moon, 1969
• Reuters

- Many astronauts and cosmonauts say that the most unusual and fun in space is weightlessness. But before you fly into space, you need to train a lot. Can you say that because of this, the excitement of weightlessness is no longer so acutely felt? Or is this a completely new feeling?

- It seems to me that trainings just help to experience this delight, because you have been going to the goal for so long and hard - and by the time you start, you are completely ready: “Come on, I'm ready, let's fly up already.” Finally my turn came. ” That is why you are so happy at the moment of launch. If there were no long preparation, the joy would not have been so complete. You would be much more nervous. But now, after all these long workouts, we are ready. I clearly knew what to do in case of an unexpected situation. We were ready to do everything to ensure that the mission was carried out - and do it correctly, clearly according to the instructions.

- How many days have you been on the moon?

“Seventy-one hour.” Almost three days.

- And all this time you slept there, ate, bathed ... For me, sleeping in weightlessness is something unimaginable. Tell us how it all happened.

- We landed on the moon with a six-hour delay caused by a problem with another spacecraft. According to the plan, we had to immediately put on our backpacks and begin our first exit to the lunar surface in order to look around the terrain. But in this case, we would have worked 35-40 hours without sleep, so the plan was adjusted and we were given time to sleep before going to the surface. This, of course, is great, but you know: we were overwhelmed with impressions, we could not tear ourselves away from the window, we arrived, saw all this incredible magnificence and were ready to leave the ship - and then we were told: "Go to sleep." I could not sleep at all; I had to take sleeping pills in order to somehow calm down, if you like. I rested for about four hours. But after such a long work in the suit very tired. We were overwhelmed with impressions. Every moment of my 71-hour stay on the moon, I spent with enthusiasm and interest.

• Astronaut charles duke
• AFP
• © NASA

“ You were researching the lunar mountains, moving across the surface on a moon car ... In my view, the moon is just a surface covered with gray dust ...”

- And there is.

- Do not you think that the lunar landscape - in terms of not an astronaut, but a traveler - a boring spectacle? For such views you can go somewhere in Iceland and do not necessarily fly into space ...

- Of all that I have seen, Iceland is the most similar to the Moon, its central part, where there is no vegetation, but only a bare surface. At the same time, the Moon is not devoid of beauty, and beauty, able to intrigue the one who is not yet familiar with the landing zone. There is a very difficult landscape, the hills alternate with valleys ...

- A lunomobile managed more like a light machine than a car?

- Yes, basically, like a golf car. Generally, John was driving the wheel (astronaut John Young. - RT ), and I was the navigator. Due to the peculiarities of the suspension, the moonmobile often threw up. The surface of the moon is harsh, but it intrigues you, almost intoxicating. “What is behind the next ridge?” “What will I see there?” “This is a mountain!” The landscape is always fascinating, even though its palette consists of only shades of gray, and it is covered with all of the powder of the smallest particles of rock. Traces of wheels and soles remain everywhere ... All this beauty, as well as delight and awe from staying on the Moon, did not bore me at all.

- Do you often remember your work on the moon car? Maybe some specific episodes of that mission were stamped forever?

- Yes, there are a few. On the second day we went south, to Mount Stone Mountain, about three hundred meters high. Having passed about halfway to the top, we turned around, and a stunning view of the ten-kilometer valley opened up before us, in the region of which we landed. It appeared completely before my eyes, and the only object that stood out against a solid gray background was our tiny lunar module, standing in the middle of this valley. Awesome beauty. In addition, a very strong impression was made by the contrast between the brightly shining gray surface and the black cosmic abyss. You scramble up and see only a black sheet. Where our mission was going on, the Sun was constantly shining, so the stars in the sky were not visible - solid, like velvety blackness, which seemed to be touched.

- What did you feel when you returned to Earth after more than three days in space? What is the first thing that strikes you when you step on Earth again? Do thoughts appear in the head in the spirit: “Lord, what is all that is familiar! Here it is, the real world. Or there are some other sensations?

- When you splash down, returning to Earth, the last adventure is the opening of parachutes. Without them, not to survive, not to land. So we saw that the parachutes opened, I looked out the window and noticed a helicopter flying past. This meant that the worst was over. When we splashed down, I realized that I was back, that everything was over. How I was glad to return!

- On the moon, you left a photo of your family, after Neil Armstrong there was a camera left ... It is believed that the moon is covered with more than 180 thousand kg of garbage. Is there any particular reason why people leave behind them all sorts of things?

- Yes. We lived in Houston, Texas, and the training center was located in Florida. For two years on Sunday evening or on Monday morning, I flew to Florida, trained all week and returned either late on Friday, or from Saturday morning. So at home I spent only two or three days (a week. - RT ). And so for two years! Family life goes on as usual, dad appears only from time to time ... The sons were then still very children: one is seven years old, the second is almost five. I tried to somehow get them involved.

At the family meeting I asked: “Guys, would you like to go to the moon with your dad?” They replied: “Wow! Dad, it would be great! ”But, of course, I couldn’t take them with me and suggested instead:“ Let's take a photo of the whole family, I will take a photo with me to the Moon and leave our image there ”. They were very happy. On the back of that photo, I wrote: "This is the family of astronaut Charlie Duke from planet Earth, who landed on the moon in April 1972." There, each of us four signed.

And I got permission to take a photo with me and leave it on the moon. So, completing my business on the moon, I took this picture out of my pocket, put it on the surface and photographed it. For me and for my family, this was a very exciting event. We recently completed work on the film Lunar Tribute, which is dedicated to including that photo and our experiences. In a sense, this is a documentary. For our family, photographing and then delivering a picture to the surface of the moon is of particular importance.

• Photo of astronaut Charles Duke's family, left by him on the moon
• NASA

- In those days in America and in the USSR, all flights to the moon were considered part of the race in the framework of the Cold War. Did you think so too then?

- Not really. We understood that we were racing, but we never thought about it. I thought this way: we win - we win, we lose - we lose. Of course I wanted us to win. And we worked tirelessly to speed up the implementation of the tasks. And when Neil Armstrong first landed on the moon, everyone congratulated us, including members of the Russian space program. It seems to me that I was more proud not of the fact that we were ahead of someone there, but of the very fact that we landed on the Moon, having fulfilled the goal set by President Kennedy. I never considered it a competition. For me, it was about implementing the goal set by President Kennedy, who promised that we would land a man on the moon before the end of 1969.

- You said that the Russian cosmonauts congratulated you when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. Unfortunately, many still believe that the landing on the moon is a production shot, for example, by Stanley Kubrick in Hollywood. Such suspicions are gaining momentum to this day. Why are they still alive, after fifty years of progress in space exploration?

- I do not even know. Some still believe that the Earth is flat. It is clear that it is not flat, we took pictures in which its spherical shape is clearly visible. As for the landing on the moon - those who do not believe in it lead arguments in the spirit: “Look at the pictures, the sky is black there, but there are no stars on it!” - while not thinking that the sun is shining there. They also claim that after the modules landed on the lunar surface, craters from the engines did not form a flame. These are the arguments ... Oh, yes, and more: "They have a flag flying!"

- Yes. This is perhaps the most popular argument.

- In fact, it does not flutter, it is fixed on a horizontal aluminum crossbar. He strongly hesitated, because for six months he was in a very tight sealed package and was stored in the lunar module. Having got it, I tried to smooth out the folds, but it did not work out - it remained crumpled. It seems that it flies, although in reality it is not. The picture, which I took immediately after setting the flag, shows a pattern of folds. After seventy-two hours, I took another shot, and the pattern on it remained the same. So he there is clearly not in the wind sways.

- The last landing on the moon took place in 1972, and since then there has not been a single manned mission. Why?

- It was decided to switch to the use of space shuttles, which served as a transport system for moving into orbit and back. Thus, it was intended to reduce the cost of delivering satellites, telescopes, space laboratories and other things ... However, the cost of the program turned out to be very high, and instead of ten to fifteen years it lasted as much as thirty. We spent a lot of money, the technical part of this program hit hard on the NASA budget. And then President Bush Jr. announced plans to resume missions to the moon, after which we again looked to the natural satellite of the Earth. At the same time, everyone was very disappointed, because I expected that by today we would be on our way to Mars ...

- And the last question: you were the youngest among the astronauts who visited the moon. Now they talk a lot about space tourism. How long does it take for a young man of about the same age to set foot on the surface of the moon?

- Hope this happens pretty soon. I sometimes joke: when I visited the moon, I was the youngest. Now I am 83, and I am still the youngest of all who have been on the moon. And I was only four months younger than Jack Schmitt, so the difference is not that big. But I look forward to the day when some young guy sets foot again on the surface of the moon. If I'm still alive by that moment, I'll be the first to shake his hand and congratulate him.