25:00
Set a task and start the countdown

Mission control

minutes

When time runs out the rocket launches, and you fly the final descent to the Moon.

↑ / W / Space thrust · ← → tilt
P toggles P66 · in P66, ↑ ↓ change descent rate

Lunar descent trainer

Pick a landing site. More open up as you land safely.

How to fly

Apollo crews rehearsed these last few minutes hundreds of times in the LM mission simulator and flying the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle. The computer has brought you down to a few thousand feet. From here you have the stick.

Thrust
Hold ↑, W or Space. Gravity is one sixth of Earth's, so gentle is enough.
Tilt
← → or A D. Like the real LM hand controller it's rate-command, attitude-hold: let go and the lander holds that angle. Tilt back to slow down.
P66
Press P for the mode Armstrong and every later commander flew: the computer holds your descent rate and each tap of ↑ ↓ changes it by 1 ft/s, just like the ROD switch.
Cues
Your shadow appears low down, the contact light fires when the 5.6 ft probes touch, and Houston calls out fuel at 60 and 30 seconds.
Moon base
Moonshot Base sits past the Tranquility landing zone. Every real mission you land safely delivers a new module. Keep clear of the buildings.
Touch down
Under 10 ft/s down, under 4 ft/s sideways, under 12° tilt, on level ground. The LZ scores best. Stay off boulders.
Fly home
After a safe landing, launch back to orbit, dock with the command module, then fly the whole trip home: the burn out of lunar orbit, mid-course corrections, re-entry and splashdown.
← → back / forward · ↑ ↓ up / down
A D pitch · nothing slows you but the opposite thruster

Rendezvous and docking

You're in lunar orbit, a few dozen meters from the command module Homeward. Apollo crews practiced this final approach on NASA Langley's Rendezvous Docking Simulator, a full-size cab hung from a crane in a hangar.

Move
← → back and forward, ↑ ↓ up and down. Thrusters only push; you keep drifting until you fire the opposite way.
Pitch
A and D. Keep the nose level with the docking probe.
Sight
The docking sight in the panel shows where the target is. Center the yellow target on the green cross.
Capture
Touch the probe at 0.03 to 0.35 m/s, within 0.3 m of center and 4° of level. Too gentle and the latches won't trip; too hard and you bounce off.
→ drive · ← brake / reverse · ↑ ↓ pitch in the air
Slow down over a glowing rock to grab it

Rover break

Take the Lunar Roving Vehicle out around Moonshot Base. On Apollo 16, John Young put the real rover through a "Grand Prix" of hard turns and hops for the TV camera. In one-sixth gravity it bounces.

Drive
→ or D. ← or A brakes, then reverses.
Jumps
Crater rims launch you. In the air, ↑ ↓ pitch the rover so you land on your wheels.
Samples
Slow down over a glowing rock to grab it. The rare ones are worth more.
Battery
Once the base has a solar array, park beside it to recharge.

Return to Earth

Three days from home. Apollo crews rehearsed every step of this in the Command Module Simulator in Houston, and rode a human centrifuge to feel the g-forces of re-entry.

TEI burn
Behind the Moon and out of radio contact, turn onto the green prograde mark and fire the engine inside the yellow window. Cut it off when Δv TO GO reaches zero.
Coast
Two and a half days in time-lapse. Houston calls mid-course corrections: nudge the entry angle into the green corridor with ▲ ▼.
Entry prep
Jettison the service module, then turn the heat shield to face the direction of travel.
Re-entry
At nearly 25,000 mph, roll the lift vector with ← →. Lift up makes the path shallower, lift down steeper. Follow the green needle to reach the recovery ship, stay under 12 g, and don't skip back out.
Splashdown
Drogue chutes near 24,000 ft, main chutes near 10,000 ft, then get the capsule upright for the recovery team.