APOLLO 11: Life Magazine. Special Edition. To the Moon and Back

New York: Life Magazine [&] Look Magazine, 1969. Inscribed to Two-Time Oscar Winner Leslie Bricusse
by all Six Crew Members of Apollo 11 and Apollo 12

[SPACE EXPLORATION]. APOLLO 11: Life Magazine. Special Edition. To the Moon and Back. Time Inc. [1969]. August 11, 1969, special edition of LIFE magazine. 96 pp.

[and]

[SPACE EXPLORATION]. APOLLO 11: Look Magazine. On The Moon. Text by The New York Times. Photographs by The Astronauts. Commemorative painting by Norman Rockwell. Produced by Look Magazine. New York: The New York Times, 1969. 6 page folding color pictorial wrapper, 70 pp.

The two magazines (truncated) bound into one folio volume (13 x 10 1/4 inches; 330 x 260 mm.).

Specially bound by the California Bookbinding Co., late 1970s/1980s in full brown calf, front cover ruled and titled in gilt "Man on the Moon / July 20, 1969 / Leslie Bricusse", maroon gloss endpapers.

Inscribed on front blank leaf: "To Leslie / With Best Wishes / From Apollo 11 / Neil Armstrong / Buzz Aldrin / Michael Collins [and] To / Leslie /With best wishes / from Apollo XII / Charles Conrad / Dick Gordon / Alan L. Bean".

Pasted onto the leaf is Buzz Aldrin's Starcraft Enterprises Sharespace Starbooster & Starcycler visiting card. From what I can remember that Leslie told me, this book was signed by the astronauts in the late 70s or the 80s.

Additionally, pasted onto the front free endpaper is a folded color pictorial card:
"Wishing your / 2000 best wishes / come true! / The Buzz Wish / For all Mankind / to experience / the wonder of space. / Lois & Buzz Aldrin".

For millions who witnessed the Apollo 11 mission, the event might not have felt entirely real until LIFE magazine published its definitive account more than two weeks later. Watching on television or following it on the radio, the world saw humanity improbably walk on the moon. The delay was the price paid for accuracy, and the resulting special issue was both comprehensive and poetic, as LIFE captured "history's greatest exploration" in a way that television could not.

The Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins—reached out for destiny while 500 million people around the world watched the grainy black-and-white footage beamed back to Earth. For America, it was a moment of awe and possibility. LIFE magazine, having meticulously reported on the space program's triumphs and tragedies since before President John F. Kennedy's 1961 challenge to reach the moon, shared in this triumph.

Less than a decade after JFK's bold proclamation, America achieved the goal. LIFE's account allows us to see and feel what it was like for the astronauts and for the countless others on Earth who watched, marveled, and willed them safely back home.

APOLLO 11 was launched on July 16, 1969, at 8:32 AM CDT with the objective of achieving the first human landing on the Moon. The mission was crewed by Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. The crew entered lunar orbit on the afternoon of July 19. On the following day, Armstrong and Aldrin began their descent to the lunar surface in the Lunar Module, Eagle. The intended landing site in the Sea of Tranquility was chosen for its flatness and safety, as surveyed by Apollo 10 at an altitude of 10 miles above the Moon. However, a navigation error resulted in Eagle being approximately 7 kilometers off from the planned location.

During the 12.6-minute powered descent, the crew encountered five unexpected computer alarms indicating that the Eagle’s computer was overloaded. Mission Control assessed each alarm and determined it was safe to proceed. The final alarm occurred less than three minutes before landing, with the Eagle at an altitude of under 500 meters. Due to the navigation error, the computer aimed the spacecraft towards a hazardous area filled with boulders near West Crater. Armstrong took manual control and guided Eagle to a safer location beyond the crater. At 3:17 PM CDT, Armstrong reported their successful landing with, “Houston, Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed.” Initial estimates suggested that the Eagle had only 17 seconds of fuel left; however, post-mission analysis indicated that fuel sloshing in the tank had caused inaccurate readings, and Eagle actually had about 45 seconds of fuel remaining at touchdown.

After verifying Eagle’s systems, Armstrong and Aldrin prepared for their historic moonwalk. At 9:56 PM CDT, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the lunar surface, famously stating, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin followed shortly thereafter. Their moonwalk lasted 2 hours and 31 minutes, during which they remained within 60 meters of the Eagle. The astronauts collected 21.6 kilograms of lunar samples and deployed scientific instruments, including a seismometer to detect moonquakes, a laser retroreflector for precise distance measurements between the Earth and Moon, and a device to collect solar wind samples. They also performed ceremonial activities, such as planting a U.S. flag, unveiling a commemorative plaque on the lunar module, and conducting a brief conversation with President Richard Nixon.

During the moon landing, Collins remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module, Columbia. After 21.6 hours on the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin rejoined Collins in Columbia. The mission spent a total of 2.5 days in lunar orbit, completing 31 orbits of the Moon. The crew safely returned to Earth on July 24, landing in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii, concluding a mission that lasted 8 days and 3 hours. As a precaution against potential lunar contamination, the crew was kept in biological quarantine for 21 days.

Post-mission analysis of the lunar samples identified two primary rock types: basalt and breccias. The Apollo 11 basalts, formed from solidified molten magma, dated back 3.6 to 3.9 billion years and were notably rich in titanium. Breccias were composed of fragments of other rocks, formed by impacts on the Moon. The analysis confirmed that the samples were lifeless and contained no evidence of water.

APOLLO 12, the second mission to land humans on the Moon, was launched on November 14, 1969.

Despite being struck by lightning twice within the first minute of flight, the mission continued successfully. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean landed the Lunar Module Intrepid in the Ocean of Storms, just 535 feet from the robotic Surveyor 3 lander, showcasing an impressive precision landing. This capability was crucial for future Apollo missions targeting more challenging, scientifically valuable locations.

Conrad and Bean spent 31.6 hours on the lunar surface and conducted two EVAs (moonwalks) totaling 7 hours and 27 minutes. During the first EVA, they deployed a set of experiments, including a seismometer that recorded thousands of moonquakes and helped determine the Moon's interior structure, and instruments that measured the solar wind and the Moon's atmosphere. During the second EVA, they ventured up to 1300 feet from Intrepid, including a visit to Surveyor 3. They collected several parts of the spacecraft to study the effects of 2.5 years of lunar exposure. Over both EVAs, they collected 75 pounds of lunar samples. These samples were primarily basalt, distinct from the Apollo 11 samples in having less titanium and being younger (3.1-3.3 billion years old compared to 3.6-3.9 billion years old).

Meanwhile, Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon orbited the Moon in the Command Module, Yankee Clipper. His photography was vital for confirming the safety of the Apollo 14 landing site. Apollo 12 spent 3.7 days in lunar orbit, completing 45 orbits. The mission ended successfully with the crew's safe return to Earth on November 24, 1969, after a journey of 10 days and 4 hours.

I first met Leslie Bricusse in 1968. Bryan Forbes (1926-2013) was a regular visitor to E. Joseph at 48a Charing Cross Road and one day in 1968 he brought in with him Leslie Bricusse who became a lifelong friend and client. I worked with Leslie over the next fifty years to form his wonderful library of rare books. The inscribed First on the Moon was one of his great treasures. I believe that the signatures of Apollo 11 were done sometime after the ones of Apollo 12.
‘Brickman’, as he was called in the trade, worked with most of the giants of show business who would send him inscribed copies of their autobiographies – and for the ones that did not, Leslie would buy their books (mostly first editions) and unashamedly ask them to inscribe them to him. From what I can remember that Leslie told me, this book was signed by the astronauts in the late 70s or the 80s . (David Brass).

Crew Members of Apollo 11:

Buzz Aldrin, born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.: January 20th, 1930
Neil Alden Armstrong: August 5th, 1930 - August 25th, 2012
Michael Collins: October 31st, 1930 - April 28th, 2021

Crew Members of Apollo 12:

Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr.: June 2nd, 1930 - July 8th, 1999
Richard Francis "Dick" Gordon Jr.: October 5th, 1929 - November 6th, 2017
Alan LaVern Bean: March 15th, 1932 - May 26th, 2018. (Inventory #: 05936)