Moon men return to earth upside down but safe The Apollo 11 explorers landed safely in the Pacific with their pre- cious cargo of moon rocks at 5.50 p.m. B.S.T. yesterday, only lOsec. behind schedule and within a mile of the target point. The capsule splashed into the sea upside down, but was soon righted with flotation bags. The splashdown was a minor flaw in the historic eight-day mission. The capsule hit the water 13 miles from the recovery carrier Hornet. As the spacecraft hatch was opened frogmen pushed through special anti-contamination clothing to Mr. Neil Armstrong, Colonel Edwin Aldrin, and Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Collins. The spacecraft was sprayed and the astronauts were winched from a raft into a helicopter which flew to the Hornet. On board the carrier President Nixon, who had watched the recovery through binoculars, waved to the astronauts as they went into quarantine for 18 days. 'All crew excellent, take your time', Collins says FROM THE NEWS TEAM- -Houston, July 24 The Apollo ,l I astronauts are home, back safe and well after their historic Journey that took Mr. Neil Armstrong and Colonel Edwin Aldrin to the surface of the moon in mankind's most spectacu- lar achievement. The command module-all that is left of the mighty assembly that blasted off from Cape Kennedy on July 16-dropped into the choppy Pacific seas at 5.50 p.m. B.S.T. It landed upside down, some 13 miles from the prime recovery ship, but righted itself within a few minutes. President Nixon, on board the U.S.S. Hornet to greet the return- ing astronauts, was with everyone else denied a repetition of the elegant dawn landing of Apollo IO. Instead, low clouds and the dimness of early morning cloaked the return of the astronauts. The spacecraft hit the corridor -the narrow angle of reentry through which the craft has to travel if it is not either to skip off into space or burn up-dead on time. Some 14 minutes before splashdown there was the usual loss of signal as the craft entered the atmosphere bearing its precious cargo of moon rocks. Twvo minutes later mission con- trol reported that they had a visual contact. A small heatshield popped away, to release the para- chute system. Eight minutes before splashdovwn, the men on board the carrier Hornet saw the red glow in the sky, before it vanished behind clouds. A grey dawn was beginning to break as the crew released their drogue parachutes to slow and stabilize their fall, and the double sonic boomn rolled across the sea. At l0,OOQft. they released their main parachutes, and the huge orange and white canopies blossomed. The swinmmers who had to fasten a collar on the craft to keep it afloat, anid to anchor the capsule, dropped from their helicopters. Unlike the procedure on other rccovery missions, the astronauts had to wait for their special Bio- lo-ical Isolation garments to be handed through the hatch. These are part of the quarantine proce- dure which they will have to en- dure for the next 18 days. Lieutenant-Colonet Micbael Collins revorted: "Excellent. All crew excellent. Take your time", as the Hornet churned towards the capsule with its court of hover- ing helicopters The astronauts had an eight- minute wait for the flotation bal- loon to inflate and right the pear- shaped capsule. Fortunately, communication with the recovery helicopters and the carrier was maintained during this period of perverseness by the spacecraft which had performed flawlessly throughout the flight. Clad in their special suits, all three astronauts were out of their craft 40 minutes after splashdown, On pages 8 and 9 are reports about moon pollu- tion, flights to Mars, and pictutres tiier splasidoivn. On page 31 World of Technology examines the moon trip. and the hatch was closed by the swimmers with a little help from the three explorers. Naval frogman Lieutenaut Clancy Hatleberg sprayed the outside of the spacecraft with germ-killing fluid. Lieutenant Clancv was the B.I.G. swimmer, the frogman wearing a Biological Isolation Gamient, who was the first to come into contact with the crew as they boarded a raft from the capsule. It took some minutes for Lieu- tenant Clancy to scrub down the three astronauts, and they ir turn scrubbed him down. Sixty-three minutes after splash- down all three men were on board the recovery helicopter and otf the raft. which together with its equipment was to be sunk 1 8,000ft. to the bottom at the ocean. It took another five minutes for the crew to arrive on board the Hornet. Their helicopter landed just before 7 p.m. and was towed to the carrier lift and taken down to the hangar deck with the three still inside. Flags and cigars were brought out at mission control Houston as the helicopter landed safely. On the big display board in the mission control centre President Kennedy's words of May 25,1961. appeared: " I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal. before this decade is out. of Sanding a man on the Lnoon and returning him safely to earth." President Nixon on the bridge of the Hornet waved and applauded as the helicopter was towed past. Below decks, a pair of steps was pulled up against the side of the helicopter. Moments later, three waving figures in their all- envelopinig germ-proof suits, emerged and quickly walked the three yards to the isolation caravan. With hardly a backward glance at the cameras for the watching millions they disappeared silently into their quarantine home during the three-day voyage to Hawaii. British television viewers were -surprised to hear the naval band aLoard the Hornet playing a jaunty version of " God Save the Queen" about the time the astronauts left the helicopter. The air was in fact "My Country T'is of Thee ", which goes to the same tune. Some two hours after splash- down, the astronauts were visited by President Nixon. Through an intercom he talked to the three men who peered back at him through the rear window of the mnobile : quarantine facility (M.Q.F.). Collins had grown a moustache. President Nixon led the applause for the astronauts and was obviously very excited when he talked to them. "Neil, Buzz, and M1 ike ". he said, "I think I'm the luckiest man in the world and I say this not only because I have the honour to be President of the United States but particularly because I have the privilege of speaking for so many in welcoming you back to earth. " I can tell you about all the messages we received in Washing- ton. Over 100 foreign govern- ments, emperors, presidents, prime ministers and kings have sent the most warmest messages we've ever received. Thev represent ovetr 2.000 million people on this earth. all of them have had the opportu- nity through television to see what you have done." The President told the astro- nauts that he brought with him love and congratulations from their wives---" three of the most zourageous women in the world ". " This is the greatest week in the history of the world since the creation ", said the President. Later, the President left the U.S.S. Hornet for Guam. kresident Nixon talks to Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins (who has grown a moustache) through the window of their mobile quarantine facility on board the U.S.S. Hornet. MIoon men return to earth upside down but safe