Why did Neil Armstrong land the Eagle if Buzz Aldrin was the crews Lunar Module pilot?
Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) was sort of a misnomer because the Commander actually piloted the LM. What Buzz and the other LMPs did during the landing was operate the on-board computer and give the information to the Commander; for example, what their altitude was and how much fuel was left. LMPs did know how to fly the LM in case of emergency and they did practice this in the simulator. Also, on Apollo 12, Commander Pete Conrad let LMP Alan Bean fly the LM for a few minutes after they took off from the Moon. He thought Bean would enjoy this and they were on the far side of the Moon so Mission Control didn’t know about it.
