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On Wikipedia page on Moon landing, Neil Armstrong is shown stepping down on the surface of the Moon using the spaceship's ladder:

      One small step for Man

Still frame from a video transmission, taken moments before Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the surface of the Moon, at 02:56 UTC on 21 July 1969. An estimated 500 million people worldwide watched this event, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time. (Photograph and caption source: Wikipedia on Moon landing)

The camera is installed outside the spaceship, on the Moon's surface. Who put the camera there?

Val
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1 Answers1

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The Neil Armstrong's "First step on the Moon" was filmed by a camera installed on the MESA (Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly) at the side of the Apollo Lunar Module (LM) descent stage that Neil Armstrong had to pull a lanyard to unlock the pallet and make it drop open. A switch inside the LM, operated by Buzz Aldrin, then activated the TV camera which was installed there:

   enter image description here

   Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly installed and deployed open on the Apollo Lunar Module Descent Stage (Photo: NASA)

More information and photo galleries on Apollo TV are available on:

and of course in answers to the question on How did NASA achieve their live TV broadcast in 1969, here in our Space Exploration Q&A.

TildalWave
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