Beschreibung:

Apollo 11 Flight Plan, p 3-100a, a single sheet printed recto and verso. NASA/MSC, July 1, 1969. 10½ by 8 inches. With a Typed Letter Signed by Aldrin. The flown flight plan sheet listing critical parameters for the TransEarth Injection (TEI) CSM Service Propulsion System engine burn. This burn was the only means for the Apollo 11 crew to escape the lunar gravity field and return home to earth. BUZZ ALDRIN'S letter reads in part: "Enclosed with this letter is a sheet numbered 3-100a from the Apollo 11 Flight Plan, Part No. SKB32100080-350, S/N 1001... This sheet is from the detailed timeline section and was located at the beginning of hour 135 in the timeline. Page 3-100a has a grid of terms and values associated with the TEI or TransEarth Injection engine burn that used Columbia's SPS or Service Propulsion System. The SPS was the large rocket engine at end of our Service Module. This burn was our only means of escaping the lunar gravity field and return home to earth. If our engine did not ignite, we would be stranded in lunar orbit. Neil Armstrong and I were very tired by the TEI time. We had accomplished the first lunar landing a day earlier, then made the first walk by humans on the surface of another world. We really did not get any sound sleep while on the lunar surface due the short sleep period scheduled and the elevated excitement level associated with all the events of the first lunar landing. Neil and I then fired Lunar Module Eagle's Ascent Stage engine and began the rendezvous sequence with Mike Collins still in Columbia." The sheet is INSCRIBED AND SIGNED "Carried to the Moon on Apollo XI, Buzz Aldrin." A copy of the flight plan cover is included.