[Stylist] Penultimate Revision of Apollo 11 Narrative

[Myrna Badgerow]

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 12, 2019, at 5:59 PM, Tina Hansen via Stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> My team and I are just about ready to finalize our Apollo 11 narrative and
> get it off to the actors. However, we still need to figure out something. We
> want to build in NFB philosophy, but do it subtly. We know that there will
> be other times during the program where NFB philosophy will be discussed up
> front. But here, we want to weave it in more subtly. We want them to sense
> it's there, but we don't want to make direct reference to the NFB. How can
> we do that?
> 
> With that, here it is.
> 
> 
> 
> (Launch sounds with count down and music) (Ed) Fifty years ago, three brave
> explorers left the earth and went all the way to the moon and back. How did
> it happen? Why did we go to the Moon?
> 
> 
> 
> The United States is a proud country, and we always dream of being the best.
> So does Russia. Before any human beings had ever been to space, we were in a
> race with Russia to see who could get there first. And Russia beat us.
> Fortunately for the United States, that would soon change. The day would
> come sooner than we thought.
> 
> 
> 
> Back in 1961, President John F. Kennedy had a daring idea. Let's put a man
> on the Moon and get him safely back to Earth. And let's do it before the end
> of 1969.
> 
> 
> 
> (Kenedy) "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the
> goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning
> him safely to the earth."
> 
> 
> 
> (James) That time was only 8 years away. As you can guess, there wasn't much
> time. Going to the moon was a huge challenge. The Moon is really far away.
> How could we send a man to the Moon and get him back safely? How could we
> make this dream come true? (music break)
> 
> 
> 
> )James) We started  the  big challenge by taking small steps to prepare.
> NASA is the space program and they began making rockets to launch astronauts
> into space.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) They used a small rocket for a program called Mercury. With this
> program, engineers learned how to build rockets that could take astronauts
> into Earth's orbit.
> 
> 
> 
> (James) Orbit means to circle one thing around another. Have you ever
> noticed a bee circle around your head? If you have, that's an orbit.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) The astronauts got to see how it felt to fly in space. They ate space
> foods that were in tubes, kind of like toothpaste tubes! Would you like to
> eat food from a toothpaste tube? I know I wouldn't. Yuck!!!
> 
> 
> 
> (James) After we practiced sending one astronaut into orbit at a time, NASA
> wanted to send two astronauts into space at a time.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) They called this new program Gemini. It used a larger rocket. With the
> Gemini program, astronauts learned how to "walk in space" by floating
> outside the spacecraft with a space suit tethered to the rocket by a strong
> rope. They floated like you might float in a swimming pool.
> 
> 
> 
> They learned what it was like to live and work in space for up to two weeks.
> 
> 
> 
> They also learned how to get two spacecraft to find each other while in
> orbit.
> 
> 
> 
> Finally, they learned how to connect (or dock) two spacecraft in orbit. They
> wouldn't have done all of this work without team work. 
> 
> 
> 
> (James) During the Mercury and Gemini programs, astronauts got really good
> at traveling in rockets and working in their spacecraft while orbiting the
> Earth. And remember, they learned how to find and connect two different
> spacecraft together in space. They needed to know how to do these things in
> order to land on the moon.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) The next phase in the space program was going to be a big one.
> Astronauts needed to leave Earth's orbit and actually travel a quarter of a
> million miles to get to the Moon. That's almost 10 laps around the entire
> planet Earth. It would take the astronauts three days to get to the moon
> from the earth. The moon program was called Apollo. This time, three
> astronauts would travel together in an even larger rocket. The astronauts
> had to figure out how to work as a team. 
> 
> 
> 
> Up to this point, astronauts had never left Earth's orbit before. Could we
> get astronauts safely to the Moon? Could we get that dream to come true?
> Let's find out together! (Music break)
> 
> 
> 
> Apollo 8 was the first mission where astronauts traveled all the way to the
> Moon. They didn't land on the Moon, but they orbited the Moon and came home
> safely back to Earth. This mission proved that we could get astronauts
> safely to the Moon and back. It was a critical step before the Apollo 11
> moon landing.
> 
> 
> 
> (James) Remember that back in 1961, President Kennedy wanted the United
> States to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. Now, the
> time had finally come! The dream was finally about to come true. Three brave
> explorers were going to the Moon. Two of them were going to land on the
> Moon.
> 
> 
> 
> Apollo 11 was an eight-day mission.  The astronauts on Apollo 11 were Neil
> Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. They launched from Earth on July
> 16, 1969. They called their command ship Columbia, and the Lunar landing
> craft Eagle.
> 
> 
> 
> Eagle was a lot smaller than Columbia. She had special feet so she could
> land safely on the moon.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) On July 20, the two spacecraft separated while orbiting the moon.
> 
> 
> 
> Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin traveled in Eagle so they could land on the
> moon. Mike Collins stayed in Columbia and orbited around the Moon.
> 
> 
> 
> After months of practicing, Neil and Buzz headed toward the moon's surface.
> This was very exciting! People all over the world were watching on TV! The
> big dream was finally coming true!!!
> 
> 
> 
> *I want to transition here, because to me, it sounds rather abrupt.
> 
> 
> 
> (James) But things could still go wrong.
> 
> 
> 
> *Is that a good enough transition? We want the audience to know that even
> though the mission was going well, problems could still happen.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) Imagine you're in the spacecraft, headed to the Moon, when suddenly
> your computer's alarm goes off. What would you do? That happened to Neil and
> Buzz.
> 
> 
> 
> As Eagle came nearer to the moon, alarms were sounding in the cabin! (James)
> Uh-oh!!!! (Alarm sound) (Ed) The astronauts asked Mission Control in Houston
> what to do.
> 
> 
> 
> Mission control told Neil and Buzz that it was OK to keep going.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Mission control) "We're go on that alarm"
> 
> 
> 
> (James) This is why alarms were going off. The computer on Eagle was trying
> to do too many things at once. Because the astronauts didn't have a guide on
> how to fix the problem, they had to work together in order to find their way
> through  while still staying safe. 
> 
> 
> 
> Computers were really huge, slow and clunky back then! Some were even as big
> as this room! In fact, your parents' smart phone today is more powerful than
> the computers the astronauts used during the Apollo 11 mission.
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) But Neil and Buzz soon realized that their computer was taking them to
> a dangerous rocky area. If they landed on rocks, their spacecraft might tip
> over. If that happened, they'd be stuck on the Moon. They would not be able
> to get home. They needed to land in a smooth area, so Neil started flying
> Eagle by himself, without the computer's help. Luckily, Neil had already
> practiced his flying back on Earth!!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Can you imagine how scary this must have been?
> 
> 
> 
> Mission Control in Houston warned the astronauts that they were getting very
> low on fuel. They started counting down the seconds before they would run
> out of gas.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Mission Control) 60 seconds
> 
> 
> 
> (Improv)
> 
> (James) There were no gas stations in space. They had only one shot to land.
> If they ran out of fuel, they'd never see their families again. They had to
> land fast! Could their dream become a nightmare?
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Mission Control) "30 seconds"
> 
> (Improv)
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) With only seconds of fuel left, Neil safely landed Eagle.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Mission Control): "We copy you down, Eagle."
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Neil Armstrong): Houston .  Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has
> landed." (Applaus and music)
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Mission control): Roger, Tranquility, we copy you on the ground.
> You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks
> a lot.
> 
> 
> 
> (James) But this was only the beginning! (Music break)
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) Six hours later, the astronauts got ready to explore the moon's
> surface. Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the Eagle and looked down at the
> ground.  He didn't know if the ground would be soft, hard or slippery. He
> didn't know if he would sink, but he climbed down the stairs and bravely
> stepped onto the surface of the Moon. He didn't sink. The ground was hard.
> Then he said these famous words.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Neil Armstrong) "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap
> for mankind."
> 
> 
> 
> Ed) Twenty minutes later, Buzz came out of Eagle, climbed down the stairs
> and also stepped foot on the Moon. Neil and Buzz set up a special camera so
> everyone on Earth could see them walking on the Moon.  People all over the
> world stopped what they were doing and watched the astronauts on TV. It was
> an incredible moment. The dream of landing on the moon was coming true. 
> 
> 
> 
> (James) While both astronauts were on the Moon, they observed that the
> ground was very dusty, like powder. Neil Armstrong said it this way.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Neil Armstrong) The surface is fine and powdery . I can kick it up
> loosely with my toe . It does adhere in fine layers . like powdered charcoal
> to the . soul and sides of my boots.
> 
> 
> 
> (James) In other words, the powder stuck to his boots.
> 
> 
> 
> The astronauts discovered that there were small rocks on the ground. They
> also found both large and small holes (called craters). The astronauts saw
> that the sky was black because the Moon has no air like there is on Earth.
> In the sky, they also saw the stars, and the earth. The earth was mostly
> blue because it was covered by more ocean than land. 
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) We all have different ideas of what beauty is. Some people see it in a
> rainbow. Some people hear it in a beautiful piece of music. Some people feel
> it in the falling snow.
> 
> 
> 
> Here's how the astronauts felt as they explored the moon.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Neil Armstrong) "It has a stark beauty all its own . it's like
> much of the high desert of the United States . it's . different but it's
> very pretty out here.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Buzz Aldrin) Beautiful view.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Neil Armstrong) Isn't that something? Magnificent site out here.
> 
> 
> 
> (Voice of Buzz Aldrin) Magnificent desolation.
> 
> 
> 
> Their surface exploration lasted for two and a half hours, but then it was
> time to get back inside Eagle. They needed to rest before leaving the Moon.
> (Music break)
> 
> 
> 
> (Ed) Remember how the Gemini astronauts practiced docking two spacecraft
> together while orbiting Earth? Well, the next day, Neil and Buzz lifted off
> the Moon in Eagle and docked with Columbia, where astronaut Michael Collins
> was waiting for them. Remember, Michael Collins was orbiting the Moon all by
> himself the entire time Neil and Buzz were on the surface of the moon.  Once
> all three astronauts were back together, they started their trip back home.
> Three days later, the three astronauts returned safely to Earth, and the
> first Moon landing came to a successful end.
> 
> It was an amazing mission and we did land astronauts on the Moon before the
> end of 1969, just as President Kennedy wanted. The dream for the United
> States had finally come true!!! The United States had succeeded.
> 
> 
> 
> I wonder if we need a bigger ending, some way to rap it up. You suggested
> something, but when I showed the material to an expert at my local
> children's museum, she felt it was too contrived. Do you have a suggestion
> on how we can end it?
> 
> 
> 
> Also, to ensure we don't rush, we're extending the narrative to 20 minutes.
> 
> 
> 
> That's it. If at all possible, please e-mail me with any suggestions off the
> list, if possible within 48 hours. My e-mail is
> 
> 
> 
> Th404 at comcast.net <mailto:Th404 at comcast.net>
> 
> 
> 
> Once we have this round of revision, I want to get it off to the actors.
> Thanks.
> 
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