After the first steps on the moon, the crew welcomed aloha to his home – New Delhi Times

Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins' moon trip ended with a trip to Hawaii.

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, but after these historic first steps, NASA still had to bring the three astronauts back to Earth safely – and the waters off Hawaii were the scene of the the cone-shaped spacecraft.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser announced Wednesday, on the occasion of the return of the astronaut on Earth, that the crew struck the atmosphere at 25,000 km / h, creating a visible fireball from the door crew – USS Hornet recovery aircraft waiting, at a distance of about 1,448 miles. kilometers southwest of Hawaii.

"It was like a shooting star when it came out of the sky," recalled Vance Hege, a 20-year-old sailor on the Hornet, 21 kilometers from the crash site.

After two sonic boom, three huge parachutes slowed down the descent into the Pacific Ocean.

Hege, a Columbus resident in Indiana aged 70, said the navy "had helicopters all around" from the command module after its fall in the Pacific.

The astronauts were picked up and quarantined. President Richard Nixon met the trio and returned to Pearl Harbor.

On July 26, 1969, about 25,000 people watched the astronauts travel 4.8 km to catch their flight back to Houston.

"It looked like a parade of Kamehameha Day – and it was just to see the trailer," said state archivist Adam Jansen.

The astronauts could only look through a closed window of the sealed camper while spectators cheering and waving flags along the road.

"Just to see the trailer in which the astronauts were standing – it was just a monumental occasion," Jansen said.

A 12-year-old boy traveled the 3 miles on the quarantine unit, which was on a platform truck, "in order to be able to monitor his heroes," the Honolulu Star and announcer reported Sunday.

Then-Gov. John A. Burns told astronauts through a microphone system that Hawaii was "extremely proud" to be the first state to host the trio back from the moon.

"We would just like to thank you for being here," Armstrong said from within the unit. "It is perhaps the warmest welcome to which any man or group of men has ever attended."

"It was all of you – all of humanity had a role to play in what we could accomplish," Collins said. "We have seen incredible sites, but I have not seen anything half as beautiful as Oahu Island this morning."

Credit: Associated Press (AP) | Photo credit: (AP)