Directly from the Personal Collection of Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin

FLOWN TO THE LUNAR SURFACE ON APOLLO 11, this checklist sheet details the find alignment of Lunar Module Eagle before undocking and descent to the Moon.

Two copies of the Apollo 11 LM Systems Activation Checklist , the Launch Operations Checklist and the Entry Operations Checklist were carried to the Moon in the Command Module Columbia, and then both copies were transferred from the Command Module into the Lunar Module Eagle and then carried down to the Lunar surface, where both Armstrong and Aldrin made notations on both copies. One of these two copies was supposed to have been jettisoned and left on the Lunar surface (and indeed the Apollo 11 Stowage List lists a quantity of 2 being loaded into the CSM for launch, a quantity of 2 being transferred to the LM from the CSM for the descent, and then a quantity of only one be transferred back into the CSM from the LM for the return ) but Aldrin decided to keep both copies. (The complete copy that was to be jettisoned was sold in these rooms in 2022, as lot 16 in the "Buzz Aldrin: American Icon♌" sale for♈ $567,000)

BUZZ ALDRIN'S ꩵprovenance letter reads, in full: 

"Enclosed with this letter is a sheet numbered ACT-42 and ACT-43 from the Apollo 11 LM Activation Checklist. The entire checklist was carried to the Moon on the flight of Apollo 11 during July 16 to 24, 1969. Then the checklist, including this sheet, was taken to the surface of the Moon in Lunar Module Eagle during the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969.

Side ACT-42 marks the beginning of Mike’s landmark tracking of the prime landing site on the lunar surface. The tracking exercise required Mike to pitch the Columbia in such a way that the LM, still attached to the CSM’s nose, could have difficulty communicating with Earth. The line of asterisks on this page indicate the anticipated loss of signal. The information Mike was getting during landmark tracking was used to update Mission Control on the location of the spacecraft, which they later used to calculate the precise time to begin powered descent to the lunar surface.

Side ACT-43 details procedures in the LM after Mike completed landmark tracking in the CSM. We were able to get our High Gain Antenna locked on and get better communications with Earth. After Landmark Tracking was complete by Mike in Columbia, Neil and I could undergo fine alignment of Eagle’s Inertial Measurement Unit. After completing coarse alignment of the LM IMU at the Ground Elapsed Time (GET) 97:14:20, Neil and I were given the torquing angles X, minus 00060; Y, plus 00620; Z, plus 01080 by Charlie. Neil then used these angles to complete fine alignment of the docked LM with the Alignment Optical Telescope (AOT). Making star sightings with the AOT allowed the computer to pin down the correct orientation of the spacecraft. 

This LM Systems Activation Checklist sheet from Apollo 11 is from one of the few documents used both in lunar orbit and on the Sea of Tranquility. It is a rare example of an astronaut flight-certified object used on the first landing on the Moon. "