An Incredible Real Time Recreation of the Iconic 1969 Apollo 11 Moon Mission Using Historical Flight Data

Apollo 11 in Real Time

In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first moon landing, a dedicated team at NASA that includes software engineer and historian Ben Feist spent the better part of the last two years recreating the iconic Apollo 11 mission as it happened in real time in 1969. The incredible result, aptly entitled Apollo 11 in Real Time, uses historical flight data such as Mission Control audio and video footage, television reports, photographs, communication to ground, the onboard recorder along with other timely material, to create an incredible trip to the moon for anyone who wants to go at any time they want.

The website lets the viewer join a mission already playing or start one minute before launch. From there, the viewer can customize an experience for themselves.

Upon starting the application, select whether to begin one minute before launch or click “Now” to drop in exactly 50 years ago, to-the-second during the anniversary. Navigate to any moment of the mission using the time navigator at the top of the screen. The top bar is the entire mission with two bars below it providing magnification. Selecting transcript items, photos, commentary items, or guided tour moments, also jumps the mission time to the moment they occurred.

Callouts Apollo 11

Apollo 11 in Real Time

Apollo 11 Real Time

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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