On May 25th, 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy set an ambitious goal in a speech to Congress for the nation to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. With just months to spare, the late president’s goal was realized when Neil Armstrong took the first step onto the lunar surface on July 20th, 1969. The televised touchdown, which occurred at 10:56 p.m. EDT, was watched by more than 500 million. Launched on July 16th, 1969, the Apollo 11 mission’s primary goal was this history-making rendezvous between man and the Moon. Accompanying Armstrong on the momentous mission were Buzz Aldrin, who became the second man on the Moon, and Michael Collins, the command module pilot. At 4:18 p.m. EDT on July 20th, the Lunar Module Eagle touched down safely in the Sea of Tranquility after some manual maneuvering by Armstrong. While Armstrong’s first words on the Moon captured the significance of the event, it could be argued that Aldrin’s first words captured the awe of what they had accomplished. As he stepped down shortly after Armstrong, he said, “Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation.” In total, the astronauts spent 2 hours and 31 minutes of their more than 21 hours on the Moon walking and working on the lunar surface. They left behind experiments, footprints, an American flag, commemorative mementos honoring the three Apollo 1 astronauts and two cosmonauts who had perished in the space race and a silicon disk containing goodwill messages from 73 countries. The descent stage of the lunar module also remained with a plaque on one of its legs that read, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” The astronauts did not return empty-handed to the Command Module. In fact, they brought back more than 47 pounds of Moon rocks, which added another achievement to the mission — the first return of samples from another planetary body. On July 24, the epic mission came to an end when Apollo 11 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean. • • • Image credit: Chuck Chiofar with an Explore Scientific ED127 telescope |
