With Eagle at Tranquility Base the condition of the Lunar Module would determine the next several hours. Nobody knew how well Eagle would survive the descent and landing. It had not been done before. The first job was to conduct pre-planned procedures, including dumping residual propellant, opening the vent valves to prevent over-pressurisation, conduct systems checks and prepare for an emergency lift-off should that become necessary. Mission Control needed to accurately assess the state of the spacecraft after touchdown. Preparation for an immediate departure was a critical activity in the minutes after landing on every Apollo mission. Should something begin to go wrong they would have to get back to the Apollo spacecraft. If possible, the crew would wait to launch at a time in which a standard ascent and rendezvous could be conducted. That would allow rehearsed procedures to be followed but it was dependent on the path of the orbiting Apollo spacecraft, which came around once every two hours. If there was an urgent need to get off the lunar surface, that could occur at any time of course but Apollo had to be ahead of the Lunar Module when the latter reached orbit.
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