Shoot for the Moon summary

It’s quite likely that the Apollo 11 moon landing would never have happened if it weren’t for one idea – that of the Lunar Orbit Rendezvous.

This is the breakthrough that made it possible for the astronauts to safely reach the surface by first having their main spacecraft orbit the moon closely. Once the main spacecraft was in orbit, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would use a small landing unit, named Eagle, to take them the final distance to the moon’s surface.

Most of the people on the Apollo 11 team didn’t come from privileged or well-to-do backgrounds. In fact, you could safely say that most of them had to overcome some form of adversity to reach their position on the team.

This triumph over hardship had a beneficial effect since it instilled a belief that it is possible to achieve even the most ambitious of goals – such as blasting some astronauts into outer space and getting two of them to walk on the moon. A positive mind-set was a must among those on the Apollo 11 mission, as there was no shortage of challenges to overcome.

If you had a bad math teacher early on, you may have struggled to learn and ended up with the idea that you’re no good at the subject. And if you were told that someone is a librarian, maybe you thought to yourself that they’re probably irrevocably introverted, right?

Assumptions like these are common, but they’re also limiting and prejudicial. It’s better to have a mind-set that’s the opposite of limiting – the next quality of someone who shoots for the moon: a growth mind-set.

One of the flight controllers on the Apollo 11 mission was Jerry Bostick, and he had some well-known words of wisdom: just because you can’t do everything you want to do, doesn’t mean you should give up and do nothing.

Of course, Bostick’s words apply to everyone and not just rocket scientists, since he was essentially reminding people not to procrastinate by waiting for the perfect scenario that might never arrive.

Gerry Griffin was the lead flight director for the Apollo 12 mission, which was a notable mission for many reasons, not least that the rocket was struck by lightning moments after it took off on the afternoon of November 14, 1969.

This unexpected development put Griffin in a tough spot because he was in charge of deciding whether the mission should proceed as planned or whether he should pull the plug before things got worse.

While Apollo 11 is famous for its successful outcome, that doesn’t mean there weren’t any hiccups along the way.

One memorable issue arose on July 20, 1969, as Eagle, the lunar module carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, was approaching the moon’s surface. It was, of course, a major moment in the mission. And it was just as the approach was underway that the control room received the first of many alerts, with the code number 1202 popping up. What was happening? Were Neil and Buzz in danger?

The computer overload alert wasn’t the only problem to arise when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were about to touch down in their Eagle lunar module. As the Eagle was landing, one of the astronauts accidentally broke the button they would need to ignite the ascent engine of the lunar module and get them back to the orbiting spacecraft that would take them back home.

Obviously, this was no small issue. Fortunately, Aldrin was quite adaptable and pretty good at thinking on his feet to find clever solutions. In this case, he thought of using the trusty felt-tip pen he kept in his pocket for jotting down notes. He knew the plastic pen wouldn’t conduct electricity, and it was just the right size to fit the opening where the button had broken off and activate the ignition.