On July 20, 1969, the world's first "interplanetary phone call" took place, as President Richard Nixon called astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong from the Oval Office. It may well be the most historic phone call ever made from the White house. In a copy of the President's Daily Diary below, note that Buzz Aldrin is listed by his real name as "Edwin".
A portion of President Nixon's Daily Diary listing the
telephone conversation
with Apollo 11 astronauts on the Moon, July 20, 1969
Below, a "split screen" TV picture, showing the "interplanetary phone call". Television picture quality of the day was nowhere near the standards of today, and a photograph of a TV picture was difficult. Neil Armstrong is shown at left, standing next to the Lunar Landing Module, with President Nixon at his desk.
