50 Years Ago Today – The Apollo 11 Year

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s accomplishment was witnessed by more than 530 million people worldwide and left an indelible mark on our hearts, inspiring further space exploration, strengthening American pride and showing that anything is possible.

At 4:17 PM, Armstrong radioed Mission Control in Houston with the news: “Tranquility Base here; Eagle has just landed.”

Mission Overview

The Apollo 11 mission marked humanity’s inaugural visit to the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent more than two and a half hours collecting lunar dust, rocks, pebbles, and sand before returning home with it. They deployed various self-contained experiments on its surface such as an Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package and Lunar Surface Laser Ranging Retroreflector; additionally they took extensive photographs of both lunar terrain, experimental equipment deployment sites as well as each other – both still and motion picture cameras were available at that time!

On 20 July, Armstrong and Aldrin made history as they transitioned from Columbia, their command module, into ‘Eagle’ – their lunar module – enthralling viewers all over the world through television and radio coverage of this momentous occasion. After making adjustments to lower their lunar module’s orbit over the Moon and commence descent at 4.17pm with NASA giving NASA approval for powered landing at 4.17pm, Armstrong and Aldrin set about landing their Apollo 11 lunar module safely with NASA giving clearance.

As part of their preparations for landing on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin conducted the inaugural spacewalk ever. During this EVA they deployed science and engineering experiments, walked across the lunar surface, raised and positioned the American flag, read an inscription plaque, photographed themselves and their surroundings, collected rock samples for geologists to study, verbally described their progress to Earth-bound scientists watching via television broadcast, as well as collecting rock and soil samples to take back home for study by geologists; cameras mounted both inside and outside their LM recorded their efforts.

After their Moon-landing EVA, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to Columbia and docked with the lunar module ascent stage for docking. This was Armstrong’s second space docking – after previously performing one with Gemini 8 – and it went smoothly as before. After three and a half hours in lunar orbit, Armstrong and Aldrin fired their lunar module’s engine to shift their near circular course to an elliptical orbit closer to lunar surface, then fired again their engine for powered descent despite warnings from five 1202 programme alarms which warned them against continuing the mission successfully.

Launch

Nasa dedicated immense amounts of time and resources into simulating what the astronauts of Apollo 11 would experience during space flight, including their engines’ firing sounds. BBC Tomorrow’s World took an in-depth look inside one of these simulators for an idea of what that might sound like.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins took off aboard a Saturn V rocket on 16 July 1969 and three hours later the upper stage fired to thrust them into an elliptical lunar orbit of 111 by 306 kilometers.

Columbia and Eagle, their command and lunar modules respectively, successfully docked 128 hours and 3 minutes into their mission. Columbia housed astronauts as well as its operation systems; approximately the size of a small car. Attached behind Columbia was Eagle, providing propulsion as well as room for additional crew members and cargo.

Armstrong and Aldrin faced several last-minute challenges during their landing sequence. For instance, an alarm they hadn’t anticipated warned them that their moon surface radar was pointed towards a boulder field and an ejecta crater from West Crater; by using semi-manual control they maneuvered their lunar module away from this location and eventually successfully landed in the Sea of Tranquility.

Apollo 11 marked an unprecedented victory for the United States in the Cold War space race with Soviet Russia, capping off an effort that started back in 1962 and led to humans reaching the moon for the first time 10 years later. An estimated 530 million viewers worldwide witnessed Neil Armstrong step onto its surface saying, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. This mission would go on to pave the way for five subsequent lunar missions which greatly advanced our knowledge about our celestial neighbor; additionally it helped create a generation who idolized Armstrong himself – his spacesuit can now be found displayed at Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum!

Landing

Armstrong and Aldrin unstowed Eagle from Collins after six and a half hours, beginning a powered descent toward the lunar surface. When their fuel hit five per cent, Mission Control gave a one-second warning urging them to either land immediately — or abort it — otherwise known as a bingo call. At this stage Armstrong could no longer rely on its guidance system but was instead flying it manually.

At approximately 10:56 p.m., Armstrong took his first steps onto the lunar surface as an estimated 530 million people watched on television and declared, “That is one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind!”

On the surface, astronauts spent two hours exploring with a color TV camera, collecting lunar rocks and soil samples to bring back to Earth, as well as conducting several scientific experiments such as seismograph and laser-ranging retroreflector deployments that will provide scientists with more knowledge of lunar environment and history.

Returning to the CSM took one day, and landing back on Earth another three. Splashdown occurred 1,400 km (900 miles) west of Hawaii. Before boarding a ship back to Houston for return flight, astronauts underwent various medical examinations designed to detect diseases or germs they might have picked up while exploring lunar terrain.

After landing, Apollo 11 crewmembers underwent a 21-day quarantine period at Lunar Receiving Laboratory, during which time cosmic radiation exposure was monitored, medication was provided to reduce any risks of “space sickness”, and they were also treated for various minor health ailments like dehydration. Only after all this discomfort did they finally make it home – making Apollo 11 one of history’s greatest successes while remaining an extremely stressful event in human history.

Return

At exactly 50 years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin achieved one of the nation’s greatest national feats: they became the first men ever to step foot onto the Moon! Apollo 11 marked an extraordinary national accomplishment driven by President John F Kennedy’s challenge that America beat Soviet Russia to beat them and win the Cold War space race.

Exploring space travel was expensive – costing more than $25 billion dollars at today’s value – and American opinion was divided about spending so much money, especially as tensions mounted between the United States and Soviet Union.

Astronauts who ventured to the Moon were amazed and inspired by their experience, creating widespread excitement across America. People lined up eagerly when the astronauts returned home.

The recent lunar landing was not without its challenges. When the crew separated their command module from the service module, problems arose when an antenna bearing was damaged – leaving NASA without communication capability as their capsule approached Earth.

Greg Koch was an unexpected helper to the astronauts; at 10-years-old he fit through an access hole in their antenna and could pack grease on to repair broken bearings in their antennae. Thanks to Greg, NASA was able to keep track of their astronauts as they returned home safely.

After arriving back on Earth, the three astronauts were quarantined for at least a week as an extra measure to prevent germs from the Moon from returning with them and were met by millions of cheering spectators.

Apollo 11: First Steps Edition provides viewers with unprecedented access to this historic voyage with newly-found, never-before-seen 70mm footage and audio recordings, taking viewers through its preparation, launch, landing and return. Produced exclusively for science centers and museum theaters worldwide, this award-winning documentary recreates what Mission Control felt during this momentous event as well as how astronauts felt when making history on July 21, 1969.