And only now—a solid, panic-stricken, gut-wrenching, heart-palpitating ten minutes by clock but feeling like an eternity later—did it sink in for John Coarsen, Tom Kelly, and a lot of the other Grumman folks who had poured years of their lives into building the lunar module: Their baby was on the moon. Let the cheering begin! Aldrin joins [Armstrong] shortly, and offers a simple but powerful description of the lunar surface: "magnificent desolation." They explore the surface for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking photographs. A reader can best combine the information in the excerpts to understand the relief felt by the Grumman folks at Mission control when the lunar module was safely on the moon. understand what Aldrin and Armstrong did for two and half hours after landing the lunar module on the moon. understand the thrill of the lunar module’s landing from both the perspectives of mission control and the astronauts. understand the moon landing from the perspectives of people watching the events unfold on their home televisions