COLLINS: Sounds like it looks a lot better now than it did yesterday at that very low sun angle. It looked rough as a cob then.

ALDRIN: ... I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way. Over.

The astronauts begin preparations to leave the LM, first having made a detailed check of their craft to make sure all is in order for eventual lift-off. Armstrong will be the first out, about 6 1/2 hours after the landing.

ARMSTRONG: The hatch is coming open.

ALDRIN: Neil, you're lined up nicely. Toward me a little bit. O.K., down.

ARMSTRONG: How am I doing? ALDRIN: You're doing fine.

ARMSTRONG: O.K., Houston, I'm on the porch.

CAPCOM (now Astronaut Bruce McCandless): Man, we're getting a picture on the TV.

ALDRIN: Oh, you got a good picture, huh?

CAPCOM: There's a great deal of contrast in it, and currently it's upside down on our monitor, but we can make out a fair amount of detail. ... O.K., Neil, we can see you coming down the ladder now.

ARMSTRONG: I'm at the foot of the ladder. The LM [lunar module] footpads are only depressed in the surface about one or two inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It's almost like a powder. Now and then it's very fine. I'm going to step off the LM now. That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

The television camera on the LM records Armstrong's first movements through the moon's dark shadows and blinding sunlight.

ARMSTRONG: The surface is fine and powdery. I can—I can pick it up loosely with my toe. It does adhere in fine layers like powdered charcoal to the sole and sides of my boots. I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine sandy particles.