In 1989, ‘Voice of Apollo 11’ Douglas Ward recalled the moon landing: ‘Computer alarms began to pop up’

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of the Apollo 11 mission became the first humans to land on the moon.

Twenty years later, in July 1989, Douglas Ward, one of NASA’s “Voices of Apollo”— public information officers who provided the missions’ play-by-play for the world— recalled his work that day, including some harrowing moments when “the computers were overloaded.”

Here’s raw audio of my 1989 interview with Douglas Ward, followed by archival NASA audio of his historic commentary.


Then listen to my interview with Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell: “After we came back ... we got sued.”