CAPCOM for the Apollo 11 Moonlanding
Charles Duke was the CAPCOM during the Apollo 11 MIssion. His voice can be heard all throughout the video.
Listen at min 14:47. This is the moment the world held its breath, and Charlie Duke was the one who told us we could breathe again.
Neil Armstrong: “Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Duke (CAPCOM Mission Control): “Roger, Twan… Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot!”
Charlie was so excited he could barely say “Tranquility” at the beginning—a small, human touch in a moment that would become history
This post is a personal tribute to my childhood hero. To the world, he is a figure of history—the ‘Voice of the Moon’—but to me, he was the man who shared a high school dorm with my father. Long before he was a Moonwalker, he made the stars feel within reach for a little girl.
Apollo 13 — "A Twist of Fate"
Charlie Duke was originally assigned to the Apollo 13 crew, but a last-minute twist changed the course of the mission—and history itself. After contracting measles shortly before the mission, he was grounded—leading to Ken Mattingly’s removal from the flight due to exposure, and setting in motion a chain of events that would alter the course of that mission, and ultimately lead Duke to the Moon on Apollo 16. As Charlie later explained in his own oral history, even a simple childhood illness can change the course of history.
Apollo 16
Apollo 16 launched on April 16, 1972, carrying Commander John W. Young, Lunar Module Pilot Charles M. Duke, and Command Module Pilot T. Ken Mattingly. The mission landed on the Moon’s Descartes Highlands on April 21, marking another remarkable chapter in human exploration.
I will be sharing videos and more about this unforgettable journey in the upcoming posts.
Charlie Duke is the youngest person to walk on the Moon at 36 years old
From the Voice of Apollo to the Inspiration for Artemis II
Charlie M. Duke Jr. sends a heartfelt message to the crew on Artemis II
More than fifty years later, the voice that once answered the first Moon landing returned—this time, speaking to the future
Message Text
“Hi Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy. This is Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke. “John Young and I landed on the Moon in 1972 in a lunar module we named Orion. I’m glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the Moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface. Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we and America and all of the world are cheering you on. Thanks to you and the whole team on the ground for building on or Apollo Legacy with Artemis. God Speed and safe travels home.”
— Charlie Duke, April 5, 2026
All spaceflight images and historical audio are provided courtesy of NASA
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