> Neil's landing is in my mind just as amazing as the recovery of 13.
You're giving short shrift to Aldrin (and the training they all received) by calling it "Neil's landing". The whole team (Armstrong/Aldrin/Collins) were extraordinary.
What made this clear to me was reading the transcripts of the LEM flight recorder (can't find them right now, just the audio, but they are on the NASA web site). I read Aldrin reading out meter values to Armstrong, who was looking out the window.. then realized that Aldrin couldn't see out the window and wasn't giving out readings in a fixed order! Instead he was scanning all the readings and relaying what he thought he'd want to know if he'd been the one looking out the window (without knowing what Armstrong could see). And Armstrong never asked for a reading; he assumed Aldrin was telling him just what he needed to know and nothing else.
That reflects an extraordinary degree of training trust and teamwork.
All the Apollo astronauts were legendary test pilots (except Dr Harry Schmitt) [0]. Buzz and Neil are the ones everyone remembers, and they earned their place on that mission, however it took a huge team to get them there.
When Apollo 13 had the explosion, other astronauts including Ken Mattingly, and John Young, had a significant role in helping get them back home.
Astronauts were not just great pilots, but they knew how to work with a team. No astronaut would get selected if they were a great test pilot, but couldn't work as a crew. One particular test pilot (Chuck ..) who never became an astronaut is a classic example of that.
You're giving short shrift to Aldrin (and the training they all received) by calling it "Neil's landing". The whole team (Armstrong/Aldrin/Collins) were extraordinary.
What made this clear to me was reading the transcripts of the LEM flight recorder (can't find them right now, just the audio, but they are on the NASA web site). I read Aldrin reading out meter values to Armstrong, who was looking out the window.. then realized that Aldrin couldn't see out the window and wasn't giving out readings in a fixed order! Instead he was scanning all the readings and relaying what he thought he'd want to know if he'd been the one looking out the window (without knowing what Armstrong could see). And Armstrong never asked for a reading; he assumed Aldrin was telling him just what he needed to know and nothing else.
That reflects an extraordinary degree of training trust and teamwork.