The 1969 Moon landing truly ranks as the most breathtaking achievement in human history. The Apollo 11 mission on July 20 1969 was the first man to walk on moon and this made history when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon. Additionally, this monumental event in space race with the USSR showed the technological crapability of the United States. The feats of the first Moon landing are an iconic symbol of human exploration and scientific progress and inspiration to dream about space travel.
There are a lot of interesting details about the Apollo 11 mission including the challenges faced by the astronauts as well as the incredible technology that made the mission possible. Here we take a look at 10 interesting facts about the Moon landing and the significance of the event.
NASA had spent a decade working on this and the Apollo 11 mission was the result of that period of work. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a bold move for the nation, saying that he wants to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. So this goal drove scientists and engineers, and renewed astronauts to find new technology and space flight technologies.
At the end of the 1960s, NASA had successfully conducted a series of Apollo missions, on the way to a manned landing on the moon. The Saturn V rocket, the most powerful rocket ever built at that time, carried the Apollo 11 mission into space on July 16, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on the mission. Armstrong and Aldrin would walk on the Moon, Collins staying in orbit in the Columbia command module.
It was about four days in to the travel for Apollo 11 when it went into lunar orbit. On July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module, named Eagle, separated from the command module and descended toward the Moon’s surface. When Armstrong and Aldrin were about to land, the original landing site was filled with very large boulders, forcing Armstrong to manually fly the module to a safer place.
The Eagle landed at 20:17 UTC, in the Sea of Tranquility (more or less), a reasonably flat part of the Moon. The rest of the world heard Armstrong’s voice proclaim: “Houston, Tranquility Base here.” The Eagle has landed." The world waited in breathless anticipation as the first humans were about to take their first steps on to the lunar surface.
Neil Armstrong was the first to walk on the moon several hours after they landed. He uttered the now-famous words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," when he stepped on the lunar surface. Buzz Aldrin emerged on the surface soon after. The two astronauts experimented, collected rock samples, and walked on the Moon for approximately two and a half hours.
Aside from snapping photos and planting the American flag, they also installed a plaque that read, "Here men from the planet Earth first stepped foot onto the Moon, July 1969 A.D. For the sake of all humanity, we came in peace. The astronauts could walk in a bouncing manner on the Moon due to its low gravity, which was subsequently named "moonwalking."
Michael Collins played a crucial role in the Apollo 11 mission, even though Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became famous for their historic Moonwalk. He ensured that his fellow astronauts were safely returned by remaining behind on the Columbia command module in Moon orbit. Collins was critical to the success of the mission despite not stepping on the moon.
The idea that the American flag was "waving" on the surface of the Moon is perhaps the most common fact concerning the moon landing. There is no wind on the Moon because there is no atmosphere. The space agency's engineers designed a specialized horizontal rod under the flag in order to keep it from slumping over. This is the reason it appears to be waving. When planted by the astronauts, this generated the illusion of movement.
The lack of water and wind on the Moon ensures that the footprints left by the astronauts will not be eroded. This means that, except for a possible future mission or meteor impact, the footprints Armstrong and Aldrin left in 1969 may not be changed for millions of years.
Armstrong and Aldrin collected more than 47 pounds of moon rocks and soil samples during their time on the moon. It's surprising to know that one bag containing some of the rocks went missing for decades only to be discovered again in 2015 and put up for auction.
Bacon, sugar cookies, peaches, and coffee were the initial foods eaten on the moon, one of the intriguing facts about the landing. Special meals that were pre-prepared and could be rehydrated in space were served to the crew.
It was longer than expected before Armstrong found a safe landing site while hand-flying the Lunar Module. The astronauts had less than 30 seconds of fuel left when Eagle landed.
One of the most viewed events in history was the 1969 moon landing. A turning point in human history, Neil Armstrong's moonwalk was seen by an estimated 600 million people around the globe.
The possibility of humans bringing back with them undiscovered lunar microorganisms concerned NASA. Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were placed in quarantine for 21 days upon their return to Earth to ensure they did not expose themselves to any lethal disease.
Concurrently with Apollo 11, the Soviet Union's unmanned spacecraft Luna 15 was attempting to land on the moon. But hours before the landing of Armstrong and Aldrin, the Luna 15 crashed into the lunar surface.
The Apollo 11 mission in 1969 had an estimated cost of $25 billion in today's money, which is over $150 billion. The mission saw great technical innovations that revolutionized space exploration and everyday life, even though it was incredibly costly.
While meeting the challenge of landing on the Moon was in itself a scientific achievement, it was a human achievement that signified a pivotal moment in history. This was a demonstration of what we as humans can achieve when we have determination when we work together as a team, and when we are creative. This is why the Apollo 11 mission was so important because the future of space exploration was paved with the success of this space mission. Now NASA and other space agencies are planning new missions to the Moon and beyond.
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