Top ten things to know about the Apollo 11 mission

The Apollo 11 Mission – Must-know facts

1. Launched: July 16, 1969 – 13:32:00 UT (09:32 a.m. EDT) Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A
2. First manned lunar landing took place on July 24, 1969 at 12:50:35
3. Crew: Neil Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; Edwin Aldrin, lunar module pilot
4. Present location of capsule: National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian Institution), Washington, DC.
5. Astronaut Neil Armstrong emerged from the spacecraft first.
6. The first EVA or spacewalk took approximately two and a quarter hours, after which the astronauts began preparations to reenter the LM.
7. The ascent from the lunar surface began at 124:22 GET, 21 hours and 36 minutes after the lunar landing.
8. The name of the Lunar Module was Eagle.
9. The name of the Command and Service Module was Columbia.
10. Landing site: Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility)

Let’s reach for the stars again!

Let’s Reach for The Stars Again, Mike Griffin, Washington Post

“The words are great, but the actions aren’t. In early 2005, about $110 billion was allocated to the task of returning American and international partner astronauts to the moon by 2020. Less than five years later, that figure has been slashed to about $70 billion, not enough to do the job. We’re willing to spend hundreds of billions of dollars bailing out failed enterprises, but we’re not willing to spend more than a half-penny of the federal budget dollar to support one of the greatest enterprises in history.”

July 18, 1984 – Svetlana Savitskaya is first woman to perform EVA

July 18, 1984: Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to perform an Extravehicular Activity, or spacewalk, during the Russian Soyuz T-12 mission.

July 18-21, 1966 – Gemini X EVA by Collins and Young

18-21 Jul. 1966 During Gemini X American astronauts Mike Collins and John Young make two rendezvous and docking maneuvers with Agena target vehicles, plus complete a complex EVA.

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Goddard fires his liquid-fuel rocket, July 17, 1929

Dr. Robert H. Goddard

July 17: Liquid-fueled rocked fired by Dr. Robert Goddard, Auburn, MA. Flight generated much “moon rocket” publicity. The rocket was 11-feet long and carried the first scientific payload — a camera, thermometer and barometer — all of which were recovered intact. The rocket rose about 90 feet before crashing down just 171 feet away. Despite its failure, the launch garnered quite a bit of publicity.

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NASA releases restored footage from earliest moonwalks

NASA held a briefing Thursday, July 16, at the Newseum in Washington where NASA released greatly improved video imagery from the July 1969 live broadcast of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

[See the official press release and see the restored videos online]

The release featured 15 key moments from Neil Armstrong’s and Buzz Aldrin’s historic moonwalk using what is believed to be the best available broadcast-format copies of the lunar excursion, some of which had been locked away for nearly 40 years. The initial video released Thursday is part of a comprehensive Apollo 11 moonwalk restoration project expected to be completed by the fall of 2009.

See the NASA photo gallery on Flickr related to the briefing

Archived and restored Apollo 11 moonwalk footage is shown on a large video monitor above panelist at a NASA briefing where restored Apollo 11 moonwalk footage was revealed for the first time at the Newseum, Thursday, July 16, 2009. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

July 16, 1969 – Apollo 11 launches for the moon

The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of the Apollo program and the third human voyage to the moon. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.
- Wikipedia

16-24 Jul. 1969 The first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11 lifted off on 16 Jul. 1969, and after confirming that the hardware was working well began the three day trip to the Moon. At 4:18 p.m. EST on 20 Jul. 1969 the LM—with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin—landed on the lunar surface while Michael Collins orbited overhead in the Apollo command module. After checkout, Armstrong set foot on the surface, telling the millions of listeners that it was “one small step for man—one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin soon followed him out and the two plodded around the landing site in the 1/6 lunar gravity, planted an American flag but omitted claiming the land for the U.S. as had routinely been done during European exploration of the Americas, collected soil and rock samples, and set up some experiments. After more than 21 hours on the lunar surface, they returned to Collins on board “Columbia,” bringing 20.87 kilograms of lunar samples with them. The two Moon walkers had left behind scientific instruments, an American flag and other mementos, including a plaque bearing the inscription: “Here Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon. Jul. 1969 A.D. We came in Peace For All Mankind.” The next day they began the return trip to Earth, “splashing down” in the Pacific on 24 Jul.

Source: NASA

July 15-24, 1975 – Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

15-24 Jul. 1975 The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was the first international human space flight, taking place at the height of the détente between the United States and the Soviet Union during the mid-1970s. It was specifically designed to test the compatibility of rendezvous and docking systems for American and Soviet spacecraft, and to open the way for international space rescue as well as future joint missions. To carry out this mission existing American Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecraft were used. The Apollo spacecraft was nearly identical to the one that orbited the Moon and later carried astronauts to Skylab, while the Soyuz craft was the primary Soviet vehicle used for cosmonaut flight since its introduction in 1967. A universal docking module was designed and constructed by NASA to serve as an airlock and transfer corridor between the two craft. Astronauts Tom Stafford, Vance D. Brand, and Donald K. Slayton took off from Kennedy Space Center on 15 Jul., to meet the already orbiting Soyuz spacecraft. Some 45 hours later the two craft rendezvoused and docked, and then Apollo and Soyuz crews conducted a variety of experiments over a two day period. The two spacecraft remained docked for 44 hours, separated, then redocked, separating finally a few hours later. After separation, the Apollo vehicle remained in space an additional six days while Soyuz returned to Earth approximately 43 hours after separation. The flight was more a symbol of the lessening of tensions between the two superpowers than a significant scientific endeavor, a sharp contrast with the competition for international prestige that had fueled much of the space activities of both nations since the late 1950s. This was the last Apollo spacecraft to be flown.

Source – NASA

July 14, 1965 – Mariner 4 flies close to Mars

14 Jul. 1965 An American space probe, Mariner 4, flies within 6,118 miles of Mars after an eight month journey. This mission provided the first close-up images of the red planet. The mission had been launched 28 Nov. 1964.

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STS-127 ready for launch

Space shuttle Endeavour is in place at Launch Pad 39A, Friday, June 12, 2009 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Endeavour is undergoing final preparations for its upcoming 16-day mission to the International Space Station. Photo Credit (NASA/Bill Ingalls)