Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was the project name given to the first space mission to land human beings on the moon. The mission marked the culmination of years of effort that began in 1961 with a presidential call to send explorers to Earth's natural satellite. It accomplished its goal on July 20, 1969, when American astronauts touched down on the lunar surface. The astronauts spent less than a day on the moon, but their journey set the stage for five more lunar landings and gave birth to one of the most famous quotes in human history.

History of the Program

In the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in a political and ideological battle called the Cold War. On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union took that conflict into space when it launched the world's first artificial satellite into orbit. Sputnik not only transmitted a radio signal back to Earth, but it also sent shockwaves through the United States, which realized the Soviets were far more advanced in their space technology. The United States scrambled to catch up and touched off a technological competition between the superpowers known as the space race.

As the 1960s began, the United States still trailed the Soviets in space exploration. New American president John F. Kennedy was determined to close the gap between the nations and win the space race. In a speech before Congress on May 25, 1961, Kennedy set out a goal of placing a human on the moon by the end of the decade. A team of American and international scientists worked on the ambitious and expensive project, which was named Apollo after the Greek god of the sun and music.

By 1966, scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had begun testing a vehicle and spacecraft for a launch to the moon. The first crewed Apollo test flight was scheduled for early 1967, but a fire during a preflight test of the command module killed the three astronauts aboard, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. The tragedy and subsequent investigation delayed the project, but later that year uncrewed test flights resumed. Mission Apollo 7, the first crewed test flight of the command module, occurred in October 1968. That was followed in December by Apollo 8, the first crewed vehicle to orbit the moon. Apollo 9 and Apollo 10 launched in early 1969 to test the lunar module, setting the stage for the next step in the program—a human landing on the moon.

The Landing and Its Legacy

Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on the morning of July 16, 1969. On board were mission commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and command module pilot Michael Collins. The spacecraft made the 240,000-mile trip to the moon in just under seventy-six hours and entered lunar orbit. On the afternoon of July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module, which had been named Eagle, and separated from the command module, Columbia. Collins remained behind orbiting the moon as Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the lunar surface.

Two and a half hours later, Eagle touched down on the surface of the moon in a region called the Sea of Tranquility. After checking to make sure their position was secure, the astronauts ate and were scheduled to sleep before stepping foot on the surface. Armstrong and Aldrin, however, did not want to wait and asked NASA for permission to venture outside. NASA granted their wish, and they began preparations to leave Eagle.

At 10:56 p.m., Armstrong left the lunar module, stepped off the ladder and onto the surface of the moon. As an estimated six hundred million people watched on their television sets back on Earth, Armstrong said the now iconic words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin followed him to the surface nineteen minutes later, and the two astronauts spent two and a half hours walking on the surface, taking pictures, and performing simple scientific experiments.

Armstrong and Aldrin reentered Eagle and slept in preparation for the planned liftoff on the afternoon of July 21. Leaving the surface of the moon and reuniting with the command module was one of the biggest concerns of the mission and weighed on the minds of the astronauts and mission control. The ascent engine of the lander had been tested, but in the atmosphere and gravity of Earth. Many NASA scientists and astronauts wondered if it would function properly in the conditions on the moon. Armstrong himself thought the engine had only a fifty-fifty chance of working. US president Richard Nixon even prepared for the contingency by preparing a speech mourning Armstrong and Aldrin, who would be left stranded on the moon if the engine failed to launch. Their fears were unfounded, however, as the engine fired as planned, and Eagle departed the lunar surface twenty-one hours and thirty-eight minutes after it landed.

Apollo 11 safely returned to Earth on July 24, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. The mission's success set the stage for six more Apollo flights. Five of those would successfully land on the moon. One flight, Apollo 13, nearly ended in disaster when an explosion in space crippled the command module. The three astronauts on board never landed on the moon, but did return to Earth. The last crewed lunar mission was Apollo 17 in December 1972.

The astronauts of Apollo 11 brought back with them several samples of lunar rocks, the first extraterrestrial objects ever recovered from another planetary body. They also left behind an American flag, scientific equipment, and a plaque signed by Nixon, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. The plaque read, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."

In 2019, NASA and the world celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Commemorative events were held at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Johnson Space Center in Texas, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Numerous media outlets also televised and published retrospectives on the landing.

Bibliography

"Apollo 11." The Planetary Society, www.planetary.org/space-missions/apollo-11. Accessed 12 July 2024.

"Apollo 11." Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/apollo-11-moon-landing. Accessed 12 July 2024.

Cortright, Edgar M., editor. Apollo Expeditions to the Moon: The NASA History. Dover Publications Inc., 2009.

McKie, Robin. "How Michael Collins Became the Forgotten Astronaut of Apollo 11." The Guardian, 18 July 2009, www.theguardian.com/science/2009/jul/19/michael-collins-astronaut-apollo11. Accessed 1 Oct. 2016.

"NASA Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Historic Moon Landing with Live TV Broadcast, Events." National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 17 Oct. 2022, www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-celebrates-50th-anniversary-of-historic-moon-landing-with-live-tv-broadcast. Accessed 28 Dec. 2022.

"Sputnik Launched." History.com, 30 Sept. 2021, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched. Accessed 12 July 2024.

"What Was the Apollo Program?" National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 18 July 2019, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-was-apollo-program-58.html. Accessed 12 July 2024.