Final Apollo II Flight Plan (MS506/CSM107/LM5/National Aeronautics and Space Administration). 1969 July 1. [Housed in binder bearing Apollo 11 flight patch. Prepared by Flight Planning Branch, Flight Crew Support Division, Manned Spacecraft Center, Houston, Texas. Bears holograph signatures of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin et al, and other, facsimile signatures. Copy of Frank Miles of Independent Television News]

This flight copy of the Apollo 11 flight plan bears the signatures of Commander Neil Armstrong and LM Pilot, Buzz Aldrin.

A flight plan (also known as a flight data file) is an extremely detailed document that is put together prior to a launch, containing vital information needed by astronauts during a mission. This includes mission descriptions, minute-by-minute timelines of activities and duties for each crew member to complete, information and data on all aspects of the mission from lift off, lunar orbit, moon landing/exploration, return flight to splashdown.

It is important for astronauts to have these flight plans while venturing out into space so that they can have any necessary information to hand when needed.

You can access the flight plans for the Apollo 11 mission, as well as many other missions, on NASA’s website. There you will be able to scroll through and find lists of acronyms used by NASA, diagrams, the daily schedules of the astronauts (when they eat, sleep and carry out activities), engine firing schedules for both the Command Service Module (CSM) and the Lunar Module (LM), and lists of checks, procedures and manoeuvres.