34 years ago, a Saturn V rocket launched from Cape Kennedy with Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins aboard. Millions of viewers across the world watched live as Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins successfully reached and landed on the moon.
President Kennedy had spent weeks carefully considering America’s space options after Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made headlines by landing on May 25. On September 18, 1961 he presented to Congress his goal to put an American on the moon within 10 years.
The Challenge
United States and Soviet Union races to launch humans into space began shortly after WW II ended, and Russia took an early lead when Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin circled Earth in his Vostok spacecraft on April 12, 1961 – Americans would need to wait until astronaut Alan Shepard made suborbital flight on May 5, but even then only held onto an tenuous lead.
President Kennedy issued an ambitious challenge to America in 1962: “I want a man on the moon and back before this decade is out.” Although such an endeavor required considerable resources and sacrifice from everyone involved, President Kennedy managed to galvanize a global movement towards one common goal – inspiring many nations around the globe and uniting nations behind one goal.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin successfully landed on the moon as 530 million viewers watched live on television. Their accomplishment not only met Kennedy’s challenge, but it also spurred further scientific discoveries about it and laid the groundwork for future lunar exploration by humanity. It gave world confidence that America could lead the charge into new frontiers with strength, power, and resolve much as other continents had been conquered before them.
To reach the moon, three astronauts boarded a Saturn V rocket from Cape Kennedy in Florida with three crewmembers aboard. Once separated from Columbia and Eagle (Command and Service Module and Lunar Module respectively), S-IVB stage reignited for another burn that placed their craft into translunar orbit before docking with lunar surface for two and half days of stay.
Although facing some last-minute difficulties, the landing was ultimately successful. After encountering computer alarms that did not appear in simulations, Armstrong took semi-manual control of his Lunar Module (LM). He maneuvered it safely over a boulder field and into Little West Crater before landing safely on its surface with 25 seconds left in fuel remaining.
Today, the Apollo program still reaps rewards; from everyday use items like computers and satellites to aerospace, pharmaceuticals and energy industries. Economic studies estimate that for every dollar invested into the Apollo program, five to seven dollars were received back.
The Speech
Six decades since John F. Kennedy set forth on his ambitious plan to land a man on the moon, its impact remains vividly present in public consciousness. Few presidents since him have pursued such a noble national goal with such energy and hopefulness.
Kennedy delivered his Rice University address shortly after Alan Shepard had successfully completed a 15-minute suborbital flight for NASA, an amazing accomplishment, but not enough to convince Americans of its merits; early Gallup polls demonstrated their distaste with such an ambitious endeavor.
But the critics would soon be silenced: NASA was able to secure funding and begin making strides. By 1966, they had brought Project Gemini – designed to test whether humans could survive the long journey to space – closer than ever.
After Gemini proved its worth, President Kennedy initiated the Apollo program. The goal of Apollo was to send men to land on the Moon; unfortunately he would never see its fruition after his assassination in 1963; his successor Lyndon Johnson spearheaded its successful completion.
Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin made President Kennedy proud when they set foot onto the Moon from the Lunar Module’s ladder in 1969. These men knew they weren’t simply there to admire its beauty – rather, they knew they had come to conduct scientific experiments that would help humanity better comprehend our universe. Between 1969 and 1972 alone they collected 842 pounds of rock samples while conducting over 90 science experiments that studied seismic activity, meteoroids, thermal dynamics, solar wind and magnetic fields – among others.
At this point in history, most of the original astronauts have passed on and Fred Haise, one of Apollo 11 crew member died in 2012. But their legacy lives on; its advances helped push modern technology to unparalleled levels and to explore beyond our planet.
The Mission
After the rocket lifted off on July 16, its crew was assigned various tasks. These included setting up a television camera for broadcast back to Earth and collecting samples from lunar-surface materials for return to the United States; taking photographs of themselves, lunar terrain features, scientific equipment deployed for use onboard, as well as each other; as well as communicating with Mission Control in Houston via radio communications system.
After two weeks on the moon, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to Columbia for their trip back. On the trans-Earth coast they performed one SPS firing for about three minutes to correct their CSM trajectory for reentry into lunar orbit. At 27 revolutions of their CSM Armstrong and Aldrin fired their descent engine on their LM, disengaging from Columbia, jettisoned Eagle, docked Eagle with Collins, and returned to their command module docked to Columbia via Eagle’s descent engine and their respective command modules before returning Eagle to its owners before returning Eagle to its owner before docking back up with Columbia again for another journey homeward bound journey homeward.
At 10:39 p.m. on July 21 Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind by setting foot onto the Moon’s surface, with millions watching on television remarking, “That is one small step for man, and one giant leap for humanity”. After climbing down from Eagle, he stood there for approximately 21 hours.
Neil Armstrong’s historic Moon landing was no mean feat – it required over 400,000 people working towards one common goal over nine years and three administrations, surviving an accident that claimed three astronaut lives, as well as the turmoil of the 1960s – not to mention its tremendous cost – adjusted for inflation alone, it would cost approximately $288 billion today.
JFK’s Rice speech set an ambitious goal that ultimately resulted in the landing of humans on the Moon, an achievement he did not live to witness but one which has transformed space exploration ever since. Indeed, NASA itself and all of its predecessor agencies could be seen as fulfilling Kennedy’s promise through decades of space exploration.
The Return
Apollo 11 was an immense success, fulfilling President Kennedy’s goal that we would send people safely to the moon and return them safely home. Due to this success, we explored and conducted scientific experiments on the lunar surface while 530 million Americans watched history unfold as Neil Armstrong took his historic step onto its surface and said: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. This achievement ultimately lead to five additional moon landings which significantly advanced lunar science.
Michael Collins had spent much of their three and a half hour lunar mission working tirelessly on preparations for their return voyage home, including preparing the spacecraft with tasks such as fueling it with propellant. Armstrong and Aldrin, after three and a half hours on the surface, left their lander, returned to CSM, and jettisoned their lunar module (LM).
At 20:17:39 UTC, they docked with Columbia on her 27th revolution, and Armstrong made the following declaration: “Houston, Tranquility Base here – Eagle has landed!” They began an extensive checklist that included installing scientific equipment, taking photographs of lunar landscape and surroundings and shooting video footage of themselves in space.
Astronauts were able to conduct multiple experiments, including lunar soil mechanics, seismic activity, thermal radiation and lunar ranging. Furthermore, the LM crew deployed a television camera and laser ranging retroreflector so that data can be transmitted back home via television broadcast.
After two-weeks in space, the astronauts safely returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:51 p.m. on July 24. Four Sea King helicopters and three Grumman E-1 tracers helped retrieve them for recovery before being quarantined for three weeks in case any lunar pathogens had remained.
Individuals and organizations across the nation came together to reach an unachievable goal that seemed distant at one time. From design engineers who conceptualized the Command and Service Module to those responsible for windows, bolts, life support systems and landing gear designs for lunar landing gear; it took much hard work for American men and women to land on the moon – today reminding us how much can be accomplished when individuals from diverse backgrounds collaborate as one team.