# Who was the first man to go to the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741 "2013-11-25T08:11:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/21 "2013-11-27T21:14:33Z")
It was the first person who jumped in the air or climbed a small hill when the moon was overhead. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/22 "2013-11-27T22:58:24Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Apollo 10: Tom Stafford and Eugene Cernan. Flew the lander very close to the surface. Stafford was commander and Cernan the pilot. Con: how much different was it from Apollo 8? I never got why Aldrin\* didn’t do the practice run on Apollo 10 as well as the landing on Apollo 11. ISTM it would have been hugely helpful for him to have had the experience of almost landing before actually landing. Is there a reason why they didn’t have him do the dress rehearsal, as it were? \*OK, I’m confused. I always thought it was Armstrong who landed the module, then I just looked up to confirm, and it says that Aldrin was the pilot, but Armstrong took manual control at the last minute. So if Aldrin was the pilot, why didn’t he do the override of the automatic system? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/23 "2013-11-28T00:11:18Z")
> [@D18](#): > > I never got why Aldrin\* didn’t do the practice run on Apollo 10 as well as the landing on Apollo 11. ISTM it would have been hugely helpful for him to have had the experience of almost landing before actually landing. Is there a reason why they didn’t have him do the dress rehearsal, as it were? > > \*OK, I’m confused. I always thought it was Armstrong who landed the module, then I just looked up to confirm, and it says that Aldrin was the pilot, but Armstrong took manual control at the last minute. So if Aldrin was the pilot, why didn’t he do the override of the automatic system? The title “lunar module pilot” was a misnomer. Under normal circumstances, the commander did the actual hands-on piloting (and there wasn’t much of that). The LMP was more of a systems manager, and called out information to the commander. That’s the way it happened on each of the landings. In an emergency, the roles could have reversed since both crew members had a full set of controls. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/24 "2013-11-28T00:13:51Z")
> [@D18](#): > > \*OK, I’m confused. I always thought it was Armstrong who landed the module, then I just looked up to confirm, and it says that Aldrin was the pilot, but Armstrong took manual control at the last minute. So if Aldrin was the pilot, why didn’t he do the override of the automatic system? Jim Lovell answered this in an interview I saw a few years ago. He said that the most logical term for 2 man missions is pilot and co-pilot. But with the oversized egos of the astronaut corps at the time, nobody was going to allow themselves to be called a co-pilot. So NASA came up with new terms, Commander and Pilot. Armstrong was the Commander so was Pilot in Command. On Lunar Missions the order of command was Commander, Command Module Pilot, then Lunar Module Pilot. So Aldrin was actually 3rd in command on that mission. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/25 "2013-11-28T00:20:24Z")
As for why Armstrong didn’t do the practice run on 10 (or the landing given to Stafford) - the missions were highly prized and everybody was very well trained. What was learned on each mission was used to better program the simulators back on Earth. The approach itself that was performed on 10 was relatively easy compared to the last few minutes of an actual landing. ---
**Author:** ![jonesj2205](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@jonesj2205](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jonesj2205)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/26 "2013-11-28T02:15:05Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > The title “lunar module pilot” was a misnomer. Under normal circumstances, the commander did the actual hands-on piloting (and there wasn’t much of that). The LMP was more of a systems manager, and called out information to the commander. That’s the way it happened on each of the landings. In an emergency, the roles could have reversed since both crew members had a full set of controls. Alan Bean was the only LMP who actually piloted the LM on a mission. Thanks to Pete Conrad. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/27 "2013-11-28T03:19:25Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Jim Lovell answered this in an interview I saw a few years ago. He said that the most logical term for 2 man missions is pilot and co-pilot. But with the oversized egos of the astronaut corps at the time, nobody was going to allow themselves to be called a co-pilot. So NASA came up with new terms, Commander and Pilot. Armstrong was the Commander so was Pilot in Command. > > On Lunar Missions the order of command was Commander, Command Module Pilot, then Lunar Module Pilot. So Aldrin was actually 3rd in command on that mission. It got ridiculous during Skylab when one member of each crew was designated “Science Pilot”. Look at me - I’m flying science!!! ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/28 "2013-11-28T03:46:56Z")
Incidentally, were the brass not worried that the 10 crew might attempt a landing and thus reduced the fuel sent up? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/29 "2013-11-28T10:18:38Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > …The approach itself that was performed on 10 was relatively easy compared to the last few minutes of an actual landing. _Very_ true. In “First Man”, Armstrong is quoted responding to a question about how difficult on a scale of 1-10 it was to go out and walk on the moon, and to land the Lunar Module. Not a man given to hyperbole, he gave the walk a 3, and the landing a 20. An aircraft pilot flies in an atmosphere, an astronaut in space. Armstrong was, for the first time in human history, landing his craft without an atmosphere, but with gravity (and a different one than Earth’s). I hope they gave him some time off. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/30 "2013-11-28T10:33:34Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > _Very_ true. In “First Man”, Armstrong is quoted responding to a question about how difficult on a scale of 1-10 it was to go out and walk on the moon, and to land the Lunar Module. Not a man given to hyperbole, he gave the walk a 3, and the landing a 20. > > An aircraft pilot flies in an atmosphere, an astronaut in space. Armstrong was, for the first time in human history, landing his craft without an atmosphere, but with gravity (and a different one than Earth’s). I hope they gave him some time off. And he crashed one during practice on Earth _(thruster failure apparently)_, that sort of thing would always be in the back of your mind and there is no place to eject to on the moon. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OlJGQ92IgFk/maxresdefault.jpg "NEIL ARMSTRONG'S LUNAR LANDER TRAINER ACCIDENT") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlJGQ92IgFk) I do recall reading that the powers that be were worried that if given the order to abort a landing Armstrong might go ahead and land anyway. But then I also recall reading that they promised him the landing on a later mission even if he did have to abort so who knows? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/31 "2013-11-28T14:44:48Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Apollo 8 is considered the first time we sent men to the moon. It was the first mission to leave Earth orbit and enter lunar orbit. I don’t think it makes sense to limit the names to just one since they all arrived at exactly the same time Well not exactly. Which guy was sat closest to the front of the space craft as it entered the moon’s gravity well? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/32 "2013-11-28T23:52:03Z")
I would have said a cow with no name but it asked for a man. As a biped who relies much on his legs, first to set foot on a place is the only qualification that counts for a man. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/33 "2013-11-29T00:01:00Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Cyrano de Bergerac. The Cow beat him to it, as witnessed by the cat & the fiddle. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/34 "2013-11-29T13:39:33Z")
Neil Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![Reginald\_Hobbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reginald\_Hobbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reginald_Hobbes)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/35 "2013-11-29T15:53:21Z")
> [@D18](#): > > I never got why Aldrin\* didn’t do the practice run on Apollo 10 as well as the landing on Apollo 11. ISTM it would have been hugely helpful for him to have had the experience of almost landing before actually landing. Is there a reason why they didn’t have him do the dress rehearsal, as it were? > [@Frazzled](#): > > As for why Armstrong didn’t do the practice run on 10 (or the landing given to Stafford) - the missions were highly prized and everybody was very well trained. What was learned on each mission was used to better program the simulators back on Earth. The approach itself that was performed on 10 was relatively easy compared to the last few minutes of an actual landing. The training schedules for the missions were so extensive that they overlapped, so putting Armstrong and Aldrin on consecutive flights would’ve pushed the landing attempt back, possibly missing Kennedy’s goal. Also, it was fairly exhausting, so asking them to train/fly/train/fly might have been too much. > [@AK84](#): > > Incidentally, were the brass not worried that the 10 crew might attempt a landing and thus reduced the fuel sent up? The Apollo 10 LM was too heavy to land. Grumman had made some weight saving modifications, but not in time for that particular spacecraft. > [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > The title “lunar module pilot” was a misnomer. Under normal circumstances, the commander did the actual hands-on piloting (and there wasn’t much of that). The LMP was more of a systems manager, and called out information to the commander. That’s the way it happened on each of the landings. In an emergency, the roles could have reversed since both crew members had a full set of controls. Apollo 17 had Gene Cernan as the commander, and Jack Schmitt as the LMP. Schmitt was the only one of the scientists/non-career-pilots to fly an Apollo mission. During one of the simulator runs, they failed Cernan’s controls. He moved over to Schmitt’s controls and finished the run. Afterword, he said something to the effect of “you want me to let Jack land this thing, that’s not gonna happen”. > [@AK84](#): > > There were 6 human beings who had, prior to Neil Armstrong, been in a situation that the moons gravity was greater than the earths. They travelled in three different craft. All orbited and 2 of them actually deorbited and entered, though they did not land. > > My question is of these 6 who can be said to be first. Easy trivia question: Name the 3 astronauts who travelled to the Moon’s sphere of influence _twice_? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/36 "2013-11-29T16:02:17Z")
Lovell, Young and Cernan. How many of the Apollo astronaut who flew to the moon went up again, on non lunar missions? ---
**Author:** ![Reginald\_Hobbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reginald\_Hobbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reginald_Hobbes)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/37 "2013-11-29T16:21:01Z")
[A Man on the Moon](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Moon-Voyages-Apollo-Astronauts/dp/014311235X/ref=la_B001HPRC7Q_1_1/189-6716158-7000029?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1385741810&sr=1-1) has that info in one of the appendices, but I’m too lazy to go find my copy. 🙂 Off the top of my head, Bean commanded a Skylab mission, and Young commanded STS-1. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/38 "2013-11-29T17:01:33Z")
> [@Reginald\_Hobbes](#): > > Apollo 17 had Gene Cernan as the commander, and Jack Schmitt as the LMP. Schmitt was the only one of the scientists/non-career-pilots to fly an Apollo mission. > > During one of the simulator runs, they failed Cernan’s controls. He moved over to Schmitt’s controls and finished the run. Fairly sure that was Dick Gordon, not Cernan. He was going to command 18, and Schmitt was on his crew. Later they bumped Joe Engle from 17 for Schmitt and 18 was cancelled. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/39 "2013-11-29T17:03:55Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Lovell, Young and Cernan. > > How many of the Apollo astronaut who flew to the moon went up again, on non lunar missions? John Young flew the shuttle twice. Conrad and Bean flew on Skylab. ---
**Author:** ![Reginald\_Hobbes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@Reginald\_Hobbes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reginald_Hobbes)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741/40 "2013-11-29T17:16:24Z")
Ken Mattingly flew two shuttle missions. Tom Stafford was on the Apollo-Soyuz flight [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-man-to-go-to-the-moon/674741.md?page=3)