It might sound a bit stupid, but...?

Question

If Neil Armstrong was the 1st man on the moon, who is filming him taking his first step?

Answer 1

A camera mounted on one the limbs of the LM, operated remotely.

Answer 2

With all due respect, please think about the question and ask yourself why there has to be anyone behind a camera for it to work. Are there little men sitting on CCTV camera posts operating the camera?

When Armstrong was on the porch of the LM he pulled a handle and a section of the descent stage (the bottom part, covered in all that gold foil) opened up and a TV camera on a spring mount popped out in such a way as to point at the ladder to capture the pictures of him climbing down and steping onto the lunar surface. Inside the LM, Buzz Aldrin pressed a switch to turn on the camera, and the pictures started to be beamed back to Earth.

Later in the EVA, when both astronauts were on the surface, they took the camera off the LM and mounted it on a tripod a few feet from the LM to send pictures of the rest of their moonwalk.

This pattern was repeated up to Apollo 15, with the camera being remotely deployed to watch the astronauts come down the ladder, then later put on a tripod to get a better view of the astronauts working. On Apollo 12 Alan Bean accidentally aimed the camera at the sun while moving it and burned out the video tube. On Apollo 15 the camera was later mounted on the lunar roving vehicle, where it was remotely controlled from Houston by a guy named Ed Fendell. On Apollo 16 and 17 the camera did not record the first steps of the crew, and was not switched on until it was on the lunar rover.

Interestingly, the TV pictures almost never happened. The scientists (and even some of the astronauts) considered a TV camera to be a distraction from the job of exploring the Moon. Wiser heads prevailed. Chris Kraft, one of the mission directors, recalls a meeting to discuss the matter in which he listened for ages while people explained why TV was a waste of time and weight for the spacecraft, then simply stood up and said he could not believe they were seriously suggesting denying the taxpayers who were funding their work the chance to see the historically significant moment when men first walked on another celestial body. The teams had lost sight of the historical and media significance of the missions. Put that way, they relented and made provisions for the inclusion of television on all the Apollo flights.

Answer 3

As per Jason T's answer.

Just wanted to rebut Olli's comment about Buzz Aldrin being 'a bit shorter than Niell [sic] and he said something like "It might be a small step for him ......" '

You're getting a bit confused there - the comment "Whoopie! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but that's a long one for me" was made by Pete Conrad, commander of Apollo 12 and the third man to step on the Moon, who at 1.69m was quite a bit shorter than Neil Armstrong (1.8m).

Answer 4

Buzz Aldrin probably,
he was a bit shorter than Niell and he said something like
"It might be a small step for him ......"

Of course the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was faked and shot in a studio in Hollywood is very popular so you will get a lot of those answers.

EDIT ah of course you meant who filmed him from the FRONT!
Yeah go with the first answer LOL

OR it was the guy in the studio.... :-)

Answer 5

I MUST address the 'no wind on the moon' theory. That comes from the fact that the US flag was extended in the shot.

I watched the first moon landing as a child and I specifically remember them discussing how they had to put a curtain rod in the flag to extend it in no wind conditions.

That seems to be the biggest single piece of evidence that keeps this story going, and I will swear by first hand account that it was understood that there is now wind on the moon to extend the flag.

Let it rest guys.

Answer 6

you are right it does sound a bit stupid. He obviously was not the first man on the moon but he got the credit because he had more o levels.

Answer 7

The camera was attached to tye lunar module. Since there's no air on the moon, the camera wouldn't be damaged by high speed winds during the landing.

Answer 8

A camera attached to the outside of the LM filmed them both descending the ladder. After both astronauts left were on the surface, they removed to camera from its location on the vehicle and set it on a tripod a few yards away.

Answer 9

armstrongs walking on the moon was all a big trick...it was made on earth...2 reasons....1:the flag was moved on the moon 4rom the wind...on the moon there is no atmosphere so no wind...and 2:...they couldn't put the flag in the moon...the gravity wouldn't keep it sticked to the ground...so was all a big f*****g trick...it was a film made in a studio...

Answer 10

The only possible answer is that a camera was atached to a leg of the lander and was operated remotely by Houston.