Armstrong Walks on the Moon

From History.com:

At 10:56 p.m. EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Stepping off the lunar landing module Eagle, Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon.

The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth." At the time, the United States was still trailing the Soviet Union in space developments, and Cold War-era America welcomed Kennedy's bold proposal.

In 1966, after five years of work by an international team of scientists and engineers, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) conducted the first unmanned Apollo mission, testing the structural integrity of the proposed launch vehicle and spacecraft combination. Then, on January 27, 1967, tragedy struck at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when a fire broke out during a manned launch-pad test of the Apollo spacecraft and Saturn rocket. Three astronauts were killed in the fire.

Despite the setback, NASA and its thousands of employees forged ahead, and in October 1968, Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, orbited Earth and successfully tested many of the sophisticated systems needed to conduct a moon journey and landing. In December of the same year, Apollo 8 took three astronauts to the dark side of the moon and back, and in March 1969 Apollo 9 tested the lunar module for the first time while in Earth orbit. Then in May, the three astronauts of Apollo 10 took the first complete Apollo spacecraft around the moon in a dry run for the scheduled July landing mission.

At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, with the world watching, Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins aboard. Armstrong, a 38-year-old civilian research pilot, was the commander of the mission. After traveling 240,000 miles in 76 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19. The next day, at 1:46 p.m., the lunar module Eagle, manned by Armstrong and Aldrin, separated from the command module, where Collins remained. Two hours later, the Eagle began its descent to the lunar surface, and at 4:18 p.m. the craft touched down on the southwestern edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong immediately radioed to Mission Control in Houston, Texas, a famous message: "The Eagle has landed."

At 10:39 p.m., five hours ahead of the original schedule, Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module. As he made his way down the lunar module's ladder, a television camera attached to the craft recorded his progress and beamed the signal back to Earth, where hundreds of millions watched in great anticipation. At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong spoke his famous quote, which he later contended was slightly garbled by his microphone and meant to be "that's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." He then planted his left foot on the gray, powdery surface, took a cautious step forward, and humanity had walked on the moon.

"Buzz" Aldrin joined him on the moon's surface at 11:11 p.m., and together they took photographs of the terrain, planted a U.S. flag, ran a few simple scientific tests, and spoke with President Richard M. Nixon via Houston. By 1:11 a.m. on July 21, both astronauts were back in the lunar module and the hatch was closed. The two men slept that night on the surface of the moon, and at 1:54 p.m. the Eagle began its ascent back to the command module. Among the items left on the surface of the moon was a plaque that read: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot on the moon--July 1969 A.D--We came in peace for all mankind."

At 5:35 p.m., Armstrong and Aldrin successfully docked and rejoined Collins, and at 12:56 a.m. on July 22 Apollo 11 began its journey home, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24.

There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar swing-by, Apollo 13. The last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated 400,000 engineers, technicians, and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today's dollars). The expense was justified by Kennedy's 1961 mandate to beat the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their viability.

Here is the video of the Eagle landing on the moon and Armstrong’s famous words:

[Image via 4bp.blogspot]

“Houston, We Have a Problem” – Anniversary of Apollo 13

Today marks one of the most dramatic events in American space history; the day the oxygen tanks exploded on Apollo 13. Commander James A. Lovell, command module pilot John Sigert and lunar module pilot Fred Haise were the mission crew who launched into space on April 11, 1970. The mission intended to land on the moon, but two days into the mission, the oxygen tanks ruptured causing enough damage to abort the moon landing. Imagine the initial emotions of the astronauts who had come so close to walking on the moon, only to have that dream taken away in a split second. One moment the astronauts were imagining the fruition of years of training, the next they had to use all their strength to keep themselves alive. The astronauts were able to return safely from their mission as a nation waited with baited breath. They landed on earth on April 17th. Ever since their safe return, their story has continued to inspire not because they achieved what they set out to do, but because they could adapt to the challenges at hand and survive.

Here is the audio from the Apollo 13 flight after the explosion of the oxygen tank in which Commander James Lovell utters the now famous words, “Houston, we have a problem.” If you listen closely, I think he actually says, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

           

Here is an interesting simulation of the Apollo 13 flight showing what might have happened if the crew hadn’t used the rockets on the landing gear to get them back into earth’s orbit.

[Image via b2bcmo]

  

Golfing at the Most Exclusive Country Club in the World (make that Solar System)

On February 6, 1971 Astronaut Alan Shepherd hit a golf ball on the moon. His fellow astronaut Edgar Mitchell also threw a “javelin” during the same moonwalk. The golf ball and javelin landed in the same crater where they remain to this day.

For Alan Shepherd, this moonwalk and impromptu golf session were the icing on the cake of his astronaut career. He was an Annapolis grad who served on a destroyer during World War II. After the war, he worked as a test pilot and later became part of burgeoning space program. On May 5, 1961, Shepherd became to first American to be launched into space as part of Project Mercury. His flight in Freedom 7 lasted 15 minutes and took him a distance of 301 miles. As commander of the Apollo 14 landing, Shepherd became the fifth person to walk on the moon. In 1974, Shepherd retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy. I guess after you golf on the moon, what else is there to shoot for?

Take a look at Shepherd’s lunar golfing skills:

           

[Image via dailyradar]

One Giant Leap for Mankind - Americans in Space and the New and Improved Hubble Telescope

This week, NASA released photographs from the newly repaired Hubble Telescope. These images are so surreal that I think they humble anyone who views them by reminding us all that we are not just players in American history, or world history, but in a universal history. Ever since human beings could look up at the night’s sky, we have wondered how we fit into a larger picture. I won’t get philosophical or scientific about this, (that can be for other blogs) but I will say that the history of space exploration is a part of American history that I often overlook.

It is hard to believe, for example, that it was only 40 years ago that the United States landed astronauts on the moon. Likewise, it has only been 28 years since the first US space shuttle flight in 1981. That said, in such a relatively short span of years, it is difficult to believe how blasé we’ve become in American culture about our own space exploration. Almost more famous than the moon landing itself are the stories of how many people watched it on TV, with some estimates placing the number of viewers at half a billion worldwide. Ask a parent, grandparent or teacher where they were the night of the moon landing, and they will probably tell you that they watched with baited breath as Neil Armstrong took his short step for man and giant leap for mankind. Comparatively, when the shuttle crew launched in May to repair the Hubble telescope, I would be safe in guessing that the amount of people who followed the story online or took notice of it in newspapers or other media outlets was dramatically less. However, many media outlets have reported on the fruits of these astronauts’ labor: which focuses on these amazing photos showing other universes, the births of stars and other cosmic wonders.

Enjoy this video featuring some of the photos obtained by the newly repaired Hubble telescope courtesy of NBC Nightly News. If you don’t have time to watch the video, then just take a step outside and look at the sky and enjoy feeling small.

Hubble ready for its close-ups

For more information about the Hubble telescope and its importance in American scientific history, click here.

For a timeline of America’s shuttle program, click here.

[Image via The Flash]