Category: Apollo 11

The United States and other parts of the world went through hardships during the 1950s and the 1960s. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union caused tensions throughout the world. After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States at the end of World War II in 1945, the Soviet Union began to develop its own atomic weapons after realizing the military capability of nuclear weapons. This competition between the United States and the Soviet Union developed into the Space Race.

The Space Race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to become the first ones to achieve spaceflight capability. The Space Race gave Americans something to look forward to during such a difficult time. After the successful launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, created by the Soviets, the world began to focus more on space and the potential it had.

President John F. Kennedy made a pledge in May of 1961, during the height of the Cold War, to land a man on the Moon and safely return him to Earth by the end of the decade. He said: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth”. An enormous amount of work by countless people went into achieving his goal. Kennedy’s goal was finally achieved with the success of Apollo 11, which launched on July 16, 1969, and returned safely to Earth on July 24, 1969. The success of the Apollo 11 Moon landing was significant because it set the groundwork of space exploration, it provided many benefits to the world, and it expanded our knowledge of outer space. The success of Apollo 11 broke through Earth’s natural atmospheric barrier and expanded the places humanity’s explored.

The Space Race

The Soviet Union got a head start on the United States at the beginning of the Space Race after successfully launching Earth’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik, into Earth’s orbit, in 1957. The U.S quickly caught up in 1958 with the satellite named Explorer 1. The NASA program was also announced later that year. There seemed to be a trend of the Soviet Union besting America and that really hurt the pride of our nation, but we didn’t give up. The Soviets became the first to fly beyond Earth’s orbit and to orbit the sun with their Luna spacecraft. They also were the first to take pictures of the Moon. As each side made progress towards getting a man to the Moon, they tried to keep their plans under wraps for obvious reasons. As they were doing this, they were also developing technology to spy on each other. The U.S created satellites under the code name of Corona, in 1959. And the Soviets created the Zenit satellites two years later, in 1961. Later that year the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel to outer space in April of 1961. America was beaten by the Soviets yet again. John Glenn became the first American to travel into Earth’s orbit in February of 1962. This event was one of the reasons that President Kennedy announced his goal of sending a man on the Moon just the following month after Gagarin’s flight. He also wanted to give Americans something else to focus on and he wanted them to think about all of the potential benefits that could come from the space program despite the higher taxes they had to pay. A little over a year later tensions rose as photographs from spy satellites flying over Cuba, discovered that there were Soviet nuclear missile sites being constructed only 90 miles away from the U.S coast. America had built similar bases near the Soviet-Turkish border. Each side was on standby ready to defend themselves if the other side decided to attack. This event was later called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for about two weeks. It shook up both sides and they removed their nuclear weapons. The success of the Apollo 11 Moon landing officially ended the Space Race.

Apollo 11

It took over six years to develop and test the Apollo spacecraft and the Saturn V booster. Three robot probes – Ranger, Surveyor, and Orbiter, – helped to choose the best landing site possible for the Apollo mission. Apollo 11 launched on July 16, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center. The crew included Neil Armstrong, the commander of the mission, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins, the command module pilot. After two hours and forty-four minutes after the launch and one and a half orbits around the Earth, NASA cleared them to go into translunar orbit. After three days in lunar orbit, they began to make their descent. Aldrin had a difficult time trying to land the Eagle on their landing site, which was the Sea of Tranquility. The problem was that they were going a bit off course during the descent and many alarms began to go off. The alarms block the computer displays. Mission control told them to proceed with the landing. Armstrong began to control the spacecraft, and Aldrin told him important information about their location and speed. They managed to land in a safe area without too many boulders. Later it is revealed that they only had about 30 seconds of fuel left. Armstrong told mission control, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed”, after that tense moment. The crew requested that a scheduled rest period be postponed after landing, so they could prepare for the surface missions. Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969. With that, he said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. Yes, his famous quote was misheard. He later had explained that their voice-operated microphones could lose syllables. Buzz Aldrin followed behind him.

The astronauts had quite a few things they had to do including, collecting samples, conducting experiments, and examine and photograph the lunar surface. As a priority, a sample of the lunar ‘soil’ was collected and placed in the spacecraft so in case of an emergency, and the astronauts couldn’t complete their mission, samples from the Moon can still be collected and examined on Earth. Many samples were collected from the surface of the Moon, including 50 rocks and two core samples 13 centimeters deep from the lunar surface. None of the samples contained water or any evidence of life on the Moon at any time in the moon’s history. A television camera was also set up. It wasn’t very difficult but the cord wouldn’t stay flat and it created a tripping hazard. One of the experiments that were conducted was the Solar Wind Composition Experiment. Basically, the sun creates charged particles in space and they are called the solar wind. They can’t reach Earth because of our magnetic field, except for the poles and they can cause auroras. They can reach the Moon because it isn’t always in Earth’s magnetic field. The astronauts put foil on a metal pole facing the sun for about an hour and scientists studied the solar wind on the foil back on Earth. Other experiments they did include the laser ranging retroreflective experiment, Passive Seismic wave experiment, and a Lunar Dust detector.

Armstrong and Aldrin also took panoramic photographs of the moon. Before the astronauts left the Moon, they planted an American flag, a patch honoring the Apollo 1 astronauts who died in a launchpad fire, and a plaque that reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind”. After they planted the flag on the Moon, they received a phone call from President Richard Nixon. They splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969. They achieve President Kenndy’s goal and were marked as heroes.

Impact

Many technologies that we have today originated in the Space program. Medical technologies, weather forecasting, computer technology, and telecommunications all originated from the Space program. These are just a few of the tangible benefits that President Kennedy helped to set into motion. NASA wanted to create tangible proof of the benefit of the program to prove to taxpayers that their investments were being paid off and that their money was not being wasted. Other products developed for the Apollo program include nonstick coatings, dehydrated foods, and miniaturized electronic components. The physical benefits from the Moon landing can’t even begin to compare with the scientific and social benefits. The Apollo 11 Moon landing brought everyone together to celebrate a historic moment in human history. It didn’t matter what nation you were from or were representing. Neil Armstrong’s words weren’t those of a U.S citizen, but those of a human being from Earth. Our flag wasn’t planted there to claim the land as our own, but to mark the historic moment. Apollo 11 was just the beginning of our exploration of what’s beyond. The Moon landing broke through barriers by doing what many at the time thought was impossible. Everyone preserved despite all of the setbacks they went through because they had a goal to achieve. Since then, some major accomplishments we’ve had are creating the first international space station, taking photos of and orbiting other planets in our solar system, exploring the far side of the Moon, having an all-female spacewalk and many more things. None of this would have been possible if not the Space Race and the subsequent Moon landing. We wouldn’t be as technologically advanced as we are today. It also inspired so many future scientists and others who wanted to go into the aviation field.

The Soviet Union began to gain some attention in 1957 as they sent the first man-made satellite into space. Soon after Sputnik, the first man-made satellite, made its way to space President John F. Kennedy introduced the thought of how important starting a space exploration team would be for the United States. President Kennedy encouraged the Apollo program with a goal, to have a man walk on the moon by the end of the decade. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration other-known as NASA immediately began testing methods to could safely get a man not only to space but walking on the Moon.

Once the space race had begun NASA didn’t hesitate in testing. Less than a year after President Kennedy talked to congress NASA developed the Saturn 1. NASA’s goal for the Saturn program was to test the propulsion, structure, and aerodynamics of each craft. With each launch of a new Saturn space craft the test got more rigorous. The very first test of the SA-1 went perfectly, flying 215 miles from the Kennedy space station deeming the first successful flight of a U.S. spacecraft test. The testing of the S-2 and S-3 carried 30,000 gallons of water that was released in the atmosphere to test how the water reacted to the temperatures and how the radio transmissions responded rom that altitude. As the crafts released the water observers from the ground were able to see ice clouds form. As the tests continued NASA successfully completed 10 Saturn missions finally making the spacecraft safe enough to begin un-crewed missions.

In preparation for NASA’s un-crewed missions NASA completed the Saturn V which would be like most of the un-crewed crafts. Saturn V was propelled by NASA’s F-1 engines that sat under a fuel tank and a lox tank that would deploy from the craft. Above the tanks was another set of the F-1 engines with its own lox and fuel tank. Above the tanks was service module which held the important parts of the ship including; oxygen, fuel cells, and batteries. Neat the top of the craft was a fuel tank and different J-1 engine for the lunar module and Apollo capsule which sat at the top of the Saturn V spacecraft. The Saturn V spacecraft stood over 400 feet tall which is more than 53 stories in a building. This massive spacecraft was configured to carry each Apollo mission to the Moon and was said to be “one of the most powerful rockets to ever fly.”

With the test’s seeming to go as planed they are not quite over as NASA just begins their un-crewed tests. The un-crewed missions had one major goal in mind, making a safe spacecraft for people to fly to space. For NASA to be able to achieve this goal they have to make a spacecraft that is structurally sound and has all the required protection including subsystems and heat shields. The first un-crewed Apollo-Saturn mission NASA endeavored on was mission AS-201. This was a very short Mission only lasting 37 minutes however was an adequate flight. NASA now had data to improve upon their spacecraft so a few months later in August of 1966 NASA had their second un-crewed mission. The second mission went better with a ninety-three-minute flight time. During the third un-crewed mission (AS-203) NASA was able to get the spacecraft in orbit. Mission AS-203 was able to orbit the earth four times before coming back down with no recovery of the ship. With the AS-203 gone NASA developed the next mission as the first mission to be called Apollo. With this fourth un-crewed test Apollo 4 would “demonstrate structural and thermal integrity, as well as compatibility of launch vehicle and spacecraft.” During the time of NASA’s un-crewed missions, they also came up with a symbol for the Apollo program.

The Apollo emblem is a disc circumscribed by a band displaying the words Apollo and NASA. The center disc bears a large letter ‘A’ with the constellation Orion positioned so its three central stars form the bar of the letter. To the right is a sphere of the Earth, with a sphere of the Moon in the upper left portion of the center disc. The face on the Moon represents the mythical god, Apollo. A double trajectory passes behind both spheres and the central stars.

During the testing of Apollo 4, NASA created a situation to replicate the environment the spacecraft would come through if it were coming from the Moon. The test was to make sure the heat shield would stay intact. Apollo 5 began to go further not only testing the spacecraft heat shield but testing the lunar module of the spacecraft. Apollo 6 was the final un-crewed mission which showed how the Saturn v would perform under the estimated weight.

Apollo 7 would not be the very first crewed mission. There was an Apollo 1 the first mission that would have been crewed however it turned into a great tragedy. On January 27th of 1967 NASA attempted to do the first crewed mission to space. Unfortunately on take off a fire got into the command module killing the three brave men who hoped to be the first in space. Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives that day in an attempt to make history. After many more un-crewed test missions Apollo 7 would be the first crewed mission to space. Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walt Cunningham could be the first astronaut to orbit the Earth. In less than 20 minutes Apollo 7 what orbit the Earth more than 140 miles high. NASA was well on its way to getting to the Moon. All systems are a go, that’s what the Apollo 8 mission was all about. Apollo 8 was sent into space to refine and test the equipment of the spacecraft. The Apollo 8 spacecraft didn’t only test the new technology but also held the first people to see the far side of the Moon. The Apollo 9 mission was sent to me an orbit around Earth. During this crewed mission NASA would test the spacecraft systems such as the command module and the service module. NASA’s main focus for this mission was to test the docking and undocking capabilities of their spacecraft. The Apollo 10 mission set out as the first completely crewed Apollo mission around the Moon. During the flight Apollo 10 also was able to take the first colored photographs of our Earth.

One of the most historic days in the United states history I was about to take place. On July 16th 1969 NASA set out to put the first man on the Moon. 8 years after President John F. Kennedy gave NASA the goal of getting a man on the moon they were about to do it. At 9:32 A.M. Apollo 11 took off from The landing Pad with pilot Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, commander Neil Armstrong, and module pilot Michael Collins. Apollo 11 landed on the moon about 42 minutes after Apollo 11 launched from Earth. After about 20 minutes Neil Armstrong would be the first man to step foot on the Moon and say the iconic line “that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. After 8 days Apollo 11 landed back on Earth and was recovered by the USS Hornet.

For the astronauts on Apollo 11 to safely land on the Moon they would need a craft that can function completely out of our Earth’s orbit. Apollo’s lunar module we’ll split into two sections an upper and a lower. In the upper section of the lunar module NASA had “the crew compartment, system displays and controls, S-band and radar antennae, a reaction control system (RCS), fuel and oxidizer tanks and oxygen tanks”. In the lower area of the lunar module was almost like a storage house for the astronauts as it held everything they would need whenever they walked on the moon.

After the astronauts walked the Moon and set the flag they were tasked the chore of getting home safely. Without the Apollo command module of the Apollo 11 ship there would be no way to enter back to Earth safely. The Apollo team had to come back to earth at a specific trajectory in order to maintain control. The command module had to withstand heats up to 5000 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the command module got to a certain altitude NASA was able to deploy three parachutes.

NASA’s Apollo 11 mission to the Moon is still today one of our most important breakthroughs for space exploration studies. As we are currently booking flights for civilian passengers to orbit the Moon many questions still remain; when can a mission to land a human on Mars be realized, what will this mean for colonization on other planets, and when will we find another planet suitable to sustain life? The importance of all the Apollo missions are critical in the field of astronomy in our discoveries for the future survival of our species. Current knowledge in the field of space exploration is NASA’s Twin Study of the Kelly brothers and what researchers observed on how our bodies react to other environments besides Earths. As a species we are unaware of the existence of other life in the Universe and future missions to the Moon will attempt to begin the process of deep space exploration. In preparation for deep space exploration NASA with the help of international affiliates/companies, are journeying back to the Moon to discover the complexities required for human missions to Mars.

At the time of the Apollo Missions, President John F. Kennedy felt great pressure from the Soviet Union after they sent Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin to successfully ‘become the first human in space on April 12, 1961” (NASA). Along with Vice President Johnson and NASA Administrator James Webb, President Kennedy announced that American would be the first nation to have a man on the Moon. Although President Kennedy wasn’t alive to see it, President Johnson and President Nixon were fully committed to seeing his vision as a reality.

All the Apollo Missions had importance in preparing for Apollo 11 in July 16, 1969. In 1967, Apollo 1 never took off because during the preflight test there was a fire in the command module and Astronauts Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee lost their lives. In 1968 Apollo 7 was the first to get to space with an 11-day flight with a number of test taken, during the same year Apollo 8 crewed Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders where they orbited the Moon for 10 hours. In 1969 Apollo 9 Commander James McDivitt and Lunar Module Pilot Rusty Schweickart “the lunar module from the command module and flew independently for six hours, testing the lunar module’s systems” (NASA: Loff, Sarah) and Apollo 10 was a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched on July 16, 1969 where astronauts first orbited the Earth, orbited the Moon, and then descended to the lunar surface. Astronaut Lance Armstrong was the first man on the Moon followed by Gus Aldrin where they a camera recorded humankind’s first steps on the lunar surface. They collected moon rocks, took panoramic photos of the landing region, and deployed a Laser-Ranging Retroreflector and a Passive Seismic Experiment Package a moonquake detector. Moon rock samples that were collected were breccias which told us that the Moon has been hit countless times by meteorites, and basalt rocks which are a type of volcanic rock and were aged 3.6 to 3.9 billion years old. The Passive Seismic Experiment is a seismometer that detailed the internal structure of the Moon and recorded meteorite strikes during the lifetime of its power.

Decades after the famous Apollo missions it has become a cultural benchmark for scientists, Americans, and conspiracy theorists alike. NASA, with the partnership of commercial and international leaders, will return to the Moon in 2024 and explore more than previous missions before it. These missions will help us build technologies such as a lunar outpost and other resources to take us to Mars and beyond. These contracts that have been awarded to different companies will provide services for decades to the “Commercial Lunar Payload Services and these efforts will expand partnership opportunities on the lunar surface” (NASA; Cheryl Warner). Five companies – Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space System, and Space Systems/Loral, – were awarded $2.4 million to develop “potential commercial synergies to support development of a power and propulsion element” (NASA, Jimi Russell, Cheryl Warner). These propulsion studies and building of technologies will provide information necessary to put together a future mission for deep space travel. The second flight, Artemis 2, will take humans on board beyond low earth orbit with a ten part series; launch, enter Earth’s orbit, Apogee raise burn to High Earth Orbit, a trans-lunar injection by Orion’s main engine, a 4 day outbound trajectory trans-lunar, the lunar fly-by, a Trans-Earth return, service module separation, entry/descent/landing, and the crew capsule recovery on Earth.

From March 2015 to March 2016 Scott Kelly, a US Astronaut, and Mikhail Korniyenko, a Russian cosmonaut, were selected to participate in a year long Twin Study to observe physiological changes long term exposure to deep space flight would have. There findings were categorized into 6 subjects: biochemical, microbiome, epigenomic, metabolomics, proteomics, and integrative omics. Some hazards included; vision problems, genome deviations only during the mission, and poor gut flora due to freeze-dried or thermo-stabilized prepackaged foods. There was also decreased body mass, and poor cognition changed upon return to earth for 6 months. There were some changes in gene expression from radiation exposure, and DNA telomere elevated exposure risks.

A Mars expedition would take 3 years round trip and these twin studies findings will help NASA to prepare or this voyage. Mars is considered a natural laboratory to study the solar system’s planets. This red planet has less active tectonic plates compared to Earth and it can help us understand what our planet was like prior to erosion. In comparison the Moon has a weak atmosphere compared to earth and can not properly form oxygen and water on the surface which makes it lifeless, and consequently Mars also has a chaotic atmosphere which is primarily carbon dioxide. Mars’ atmosphere is also thinner, it is colder and can be comparable to Antarctica, all of which makes our more recent missions of SLS and Orion important for deep space exploration to Mars which is targeted for 2030. The SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, are a system of complex missions with its first mission called Artemis 1. This SLS rocket will launch 280,000 miles from Earth, farther than any other spacecraft meant for humans before. The Orion will launch the most powerful rocket for a spacecraft built and will stay in space the longest ever for any ship without docking to a space station.

There are many questions that remain unanswered. Can we colonize on Mars? What will civilian missions to the Moon help us discover about non-astronaut preparations would be necessary to prepare others for space exploration? Will we discover any signs of life on Mars.

The ultimate question is whether or not there is other sentient life beyond our galaxy and what can we discover about colonizing another planet before we destroy Earth. Apollo 11 was the catalyst for all deep space exploration and with its 50 anniversary just passing it is a testament to our determination prove we aren’t alone in the universe.

Since the Columbian exchange and the coming of a new age there have been a wide amount of technical feats and objects that have helped the world to overcome obstacles and set new precedents. Many of these artifacts have led to more adaptable innovations that change our lives mostly for the better, but occasionally at significant costs. While most artifacts are relatable to history in a wider historical context and different versions have arose over time to produce something most of us probably take for granted daily, there is one artifact in particular that I feel has aided in so many different fields of interest and captured the public’s interest intensely. It is NASA’s Apollo Missions.

There are over seven million parts that were engineered for the construction of this iconic spacecraft, all of them being grouped into four main sections: the Saturn V rocket propulsion system, the service module, the lunar module and the command module. All of these sub-assemblies and assemblies were produced by many different manufacturers that in the end developed new technologies that aid many people worldwide today. The practices of perfecting rocketry also have led to great developments which will be further discussed. The only item that returned back to earth is the command module, so it will be the main example used as a historical artifact, but in all reality, it was just one of many integral parts.

The main focus of this paper will be how the methods of engineering that went into the Apollo program have played the part in developing technologies, the economic and political costs associated with the program, and other factors that led to the demise of the American and Soviet rocket programs. July 20th, 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of the seminal Apollo 11 flight that first put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon and more or less ended the Space Race with the Soviet Union. But to understand why this event was so important we need to examine what events led to creation of such technologies and why this Space Race came to be.

The topic of the Space Race is a very long and drawn out series of events that more or less was the image of the early Cold War, the subject of the Space Race/Cold War itself could have a paper just focusing on it. Rocketry and missile launches had been an experimental science since the dawn of the 20th century in both Europe and America. There has been testing in White Sands, New Mexico since the mid-1930’s. But it was not until World War II that the world saw rocketry used in such a destructive but proficient manner. The missiles that terrorized England were one of the great technologies held by the Nazi’s army, the Wehrmacht. This device was labeled the V-2.

After the fall of Nazi Germany, local German scientists and engineers had a choice (or sometimes not) of going with the U.S.A. or U.S.S.R. One particular scientist that was part of the Nazi V-2 rocket program was Wernher von Braun. As the Allies started dividing up Germany, the U.S. got their hands on von Braun and put him to work. At first, he was testing new and improved V-2 rockets at the Redstone Arsenal Army post near Huntsville, Alabama. The success of these rockets led to the Army Ballistic Missile Agency which put America’s first satellite into orbit.

After the American’s knew they had a foot in the door into space with von Braun and his team, it was now time to develop a rocket that could have an even bigger payload, this rocket would eventually become the Saturn V. Alongside the development of this rocket, there were many other undertakings that were happening simultaneously. The development and production of the Soviet Vostok rocket that carried Yuri Gagarin into space also prompted the United States to invest much more heavily into the newly formed National Aeronautics Space Administration, especially after President Kennedy announced his vision to put men on the Moon. This in turn led the Soviet Space Program to create their Soyuz spaceship, which is still in service today and launched by the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation – Energia (named after Sergei Pavlovich Korolev- a renowned Soviet rocket engineer).

There were many manufacturers and companies that contributed to the build of the entire spacecraft with the aid and expertise of over 400,000 technicians and engineers. Most of the companies contracted had previous experience in the defense and aerospace industries including; North American Aviation (later Rockwell) built the Saturn V’s second stage and command and service modules, Rocketdyne constructed the rocket engines for the Saturn V, the Grumman Corp. built the lunar module, the Douglas Aircraft Company manufactured the rocket booster for Saturn V’s third stage (SIVB), the Westinghouse Corp. lunar camera), and IBM designed and integrated the Real-time Computer Complex system aboard the spacecraft and command center in Houston, TX. For the Apollo spacecraft there are five major manufacturing assemblies: the command module, service module, lunar module, launch escape subsystem, and the spacecraft-LM adapter. All but the LM are assembled by North American Rockwell. In a NASA document it claims: “One of the severest requirements of the Apollo program was for a heat shield that would withstand the intense aerodynamic heating experienced during entry from a lunar mission”. The heat shield is fabricated of a special stainless-steel honeycomb sandwich material that is then impregnated with a phenolic epoxy-resin material among other labor-intensive technical processes. This heat shield would be a crucial part of the overall technology that would lead to further developments in ceramics and composites. It was the innovation of the engineers and technicians that allowed such an object to be designed, tested and produced in order to complete the mission.

The costs associated with the Apollo mission (starting primarily in 1961) were enormous, in 1967 the federal budget allocated over 4% to NASA and other related endeavors, compared to less than 1% now from the most recent NASA budget report. According to Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2019, “the budget for NASA requests a total of $19.6 billion for NASA, a $500 million (2.6%) increase from the 2018 Budget ($61 million below NASA’s 2017 funding level)”. The government’s space budget had grown from S347.5 million in 195S—the first year after the Soviets launched Sputnik1—to S7,6 billion during the coming year. It is generally agreed that through MA-9 NASA estimated the total costs of Project Mercury at roughly $400 million, not considering the hundreds of millions spent by DoD in space research with NACA/NASA contracts. When officially retired in 1978 the Apollo program would eventually top close to $20 Billion which by all accounts is an enormous amount of money, nearly $75 Billion in 2019 due to inflation. Other estimates range upwards of $300 billion dollars.

Once the United States were the first to put men on the Moon, in essence the Space Race was over in the view of many Americans and especially Congress. According to Arthur Smith, author of “British view of American and Russian Space Program since Apollo 11”, by 1972 the economic tides had shifted for NASA and their budget was being curtailed. Congress decided to scrap the three remaining Apollo Missions which in turn only saved the operational costs associated with the program, the main developmental costs were already accounted for and were therefore ‘lost’ money in the sense that they were not used. Compared to the Russian Space Program at the same time, there were no limitations on their budget and there has never been any evidence of a denied operation due to financial restraints. In my opinion, this unrestrained use of capital was one of the large contributing factors for the downturn of the Soviet economy that culminated with its eventual collapse.

There are many different technologies that arose from the Apollo programs other than the advancement of rocket launches of satellites that enable telecommunications. Some of the technologies developed by NASA during the Apollo missions go into many aspects of everyday life including the medical industry, energy sector and safety practices in many industries worldwide. Many of these ‘spin-off’ technologies used by other businesses, researchers and other institutes are provided assistance by NASA. The role that NASA has with the public and private sector is very important for the fact that they share information. To inform the public of how many of NASA’s new technologies can be employed, they publish a newsletter or bulletin of sorts titled Spinoff, which highlights their achievements and shares information with the public. Since 1976, Spinoff (which is part of the NASA Technology Transfer Program) has annually profiled an average of 50 commercial technologies with origins in NASA missions and research. In 2004 NASA published a Fact sheet titled ‘Benefits from Apollo: Giant Leaps in Technology’, in the publication it offered a some of these highlights which go to show the vast field of sciences that NASA research can eventually aid; In 1979, through a contract with NASA, Wyle-3S (a DoD contractor) built an enormously forceful shock and vibration system to simulate liftoff stresses on the launch pad. In addition to earthquake testing, the company has adapted its shaking technology to evaluate railway cars, rail- or road-transported cargo, truck refrigeration units and highway pavements without destroying or harming its surroundings. In 1980, St. Jude Medical’s Cardiac Rhythm Management Division used Apollo technology to develop a programmable pacemaker system. A physician can communicate with a patient’s pacemaker by means of wireless telemetry signals transmitted through the communicating head held over the patient’s chest. Where earlier pacemakers delivered a fixed type of stimulus once implanted, this system enables ‘fine tuning’ of the device to best suit the patient’s changing needs. By 1981, innovations developed with technology from NASA’s Apollo lunar module program created a renewable energy resource used on Earth and in space. Solar panels collect electricity by absorbing light when it strikes the surface and transfers it to a semiconductor. These solar panels are used on calculators, street lights, houses and on the International Space Station. The solar array surface area of the ISS currently on orbit is 9,600 square feet. The skyscraper-sized solar arrays harness energy from the sun to power the Space Station.

In conclusion, I feel that the Apollo command module was a small part that returned from a much larger vehicle and much larger picture of society in general. Through all the use of resources, whether it be environmental or the use of human mind and body, the need to get to the Moon was a endeavor like none other before and a chance to develop a new type of exploration. Along the way it mesmerized and captivated the world and the pioneering research and groundbreaking innovations led by NASA have helped millions of people worldwide through many different applications. The Apollo program may not remain, and its costs might have been heavy, but they certainly did not outweigh the benefits. It is by these occurrences that I deem the Apollo 11 command module quite a historically significant artifact.

Annotated Bibliography

1. https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap11fj/pdf/19690020242_in%20this%20decade_a-mission-to-the-moon-1969.pdf
2. https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
3. https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/before.html
4. https://spinoff.nasa.gov/back_issues_archives/1990.pdf
5. Riley, Christopher, and Phil Donning. 2012. NASA Mission AS-506 APOLLO 11 1969 (Including Saturn V, CM-107, SM-107, LM-5) Owner’s Workshop Manual. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Haynes. ISBN 978 1 84425 683 9 Library of Congress control no. 2009923195
6. Vavies, Steve, and Paul Crickmore. 2012. Lockheed SR-71 BLACKBIRD 1964 Onwards (All Marks) Owner’s Workshop Manual. Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset, UK: Haynes. ISBN 978 0 85733 156 4 Library of Congress control no. 2012933489
7. Baker, Dr. David. 2011. NASA SPACE SHUTTLE 1981 Onwards (All Models) Owners Workshop Manual. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith w/ Haynes. ISBN-13: 978-0-7603-4076-9
8. Blair-Smith, Hugh. 2011. “System Integration Issues in Apollo 11.” IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE. October 2011.
9. Loory, Stuart H. 1963. “Are We Wasting Billions in Space?” Saturday Evening Post, September 14, 1963. AN: 18087388
10. Richers, Julia. 2017. “Remembering the Soviet Space Program.” Project Muse 18 (4): 843–47.
11. Smith, Arthur. “How The Space Farers Fare – A BRITISH VIEW OF AMERICAN AND RUSSIAN PROGRAMS SINCE APOLLO 11” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist. April, 1972.

The 12th of April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin completed his first orbit around Earth in the Vostok spacecraft taking the title of the first person to journey in outer space. Some 7 years later, Neil Armstrong touches down on the moon. Nearly 600 million people watched the Apollo 11 moon landing and its historic achievement. These were the two main events that birthed not only the set path of future missions, but an opportunity for a new genre known as sci-fi to arise within our culture in the form of entertainment and toys. Now James Knox, a former launch engineer at SpaceX believes “It is the only viable investment we can make to ensure the long-term survival of our species”. Now whether or not that is fact we do not know, but at most discuss a common question partnering an unbalanced opinion: Is space exploration worth it?

The most obvious con is money. For every one kilogram sent into Earth’s orbit, nearly fifteen grand will have been spent to make that happen. Thinking logically, a space shuttle could range to the hundred thousand’s in kilograms meaning an absurd amount of money just to send a shuttle to/past orbit. Then of course you’ve got the fuel, the food, the crew and all the equipment necessary for the men and women onboard. And on top of that, the equipment required for the actual mission itself. Add that all up and you’ve got a hefty amount to fund. Now according to sources, NASA has gone spending nearly two-hundred billion dollars within the last four decades at an estimated average of one and a half billion dollars per flight of each US shuttle. However it is not all bad as the US economy benefits to the tune of 8 dollars. Meanwhile, the space industry is booming in the United Kingdom as it currently supports over one-hundred thousand jobs nationwide due to the amount of maintenance the space shuttles are required, such as cleaning out dirt and debris, making sure all the controls are in fully working order and so on. One would ask themselves if it’s actually worth it to go through blood, sweat and tears with hundreds of hours of work and billions of dollars spent for one mission. I personally think the outcome could outweigh the effort.

Now unfortunately, even the tiniest errors can lead to the most extreme cases of accidents. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster is a perfect example of this. During the takeoff in January 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart just seventy-three seconds into its flight. Because of this, all seven crew members died tragically. This ended in a near three year hiatus in the shuttle program and the formation of the Rogers Commission, a report to investigate the disaster. This is not the first time an accident has occurred as there has been approximately eighteen astronaut and cosmonaut deaths during spaceflight. Understandably however, the toll stays low as most companies keep safety checks and the such at tight supervision. If, most of the time, the astronauts do make it past Earth’s orbit (depending on the mission obviously) then scientists can study the physical capabilities as well as the mental reactions of the human body to zero gravity, exposure to radiation using scientific tests and such. This concludes this part with my opinion drifting once again towards the potential scientists could find through discoveries and studies, I think the risk is worth it.

With many of the problems arising on our planet, it’s no wonder that space exploration is becoming more and more of a spoken topic. Global warming has motivated companies towards a new goal finding new, more habitable planets in the case that we do have to evacuate our own. Or, we could discover more suitable solutions on how to solve a problem at this large a magnitude. As companies perfect and discover new techniques, imperfections in future missions could hint at a redux of the safety checks and procedures developing a safer and better protocol and ensuring the astronauts/cosmonauts won’t get injured or killed in their missions. As we delve deeper into space and the manned exploration of space, it is extremely likely areas of science and technology will advance offering new opportunities in the far or even near future. There are those who will question whether advancing technology a little bit faster is more important than a couple lives which may or may not be killed off in the process and I agree with them.

But some missions could be completely worthless if even succeeded at all. For example, in November 2014 there was a mission to send the Rosetta probe to a comet. The mission costed an estimated one billion pounds. It was created to discover how the water that sustained life on Earth got there. It took approximately two decades to finish and was partially funded by the taxes of citizens of all countries that back the European Space Agency. That’s about fifteen pence per year of the mission for each European citizen. So, visually looking at the numbers, fifteen pence per percent isn’t a lot, but in its entirety it’s actually quite a lot which is a good positive outcome for the project, the people of the countries and the government which yet again shows how space exploration is a required staple in our the world, for the present and the future.

In conclusion and my opinion, I am almost one-hundred percent positive that space exploration is worth it. Why? The almost endless amount of positive’s that completely out balance any negative’s that are tied with the question. Obviously things happen here and there but slowing down or stopping manned exploration will do nothing but bring less income for the government to improve on things that could also lose the chance to find new medicines, materials and even extra-terrestrial life. It is necessary, and without it our future may be at stake.

Apollo Eleven was the historic space flight that landed the first humans on the moon. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on the lunar at surface on July twentieth 1969 at 20:18 Universal Coordinated Time or UTC. Armstrong became the first man to step onto the moon’s dusty surface six hours later on July 21 at 2:56 UTC. While spending approximately two and a half hours outside of the spacecraft, Aldrin and Armstrong collected about forty-seven pounds of lunar surface material to be studied back on earth. The mission’s third member, Michael Collins, did not land on the moons surface with his fellow astronauts. Instead he held the incredible responsibility of piloting the mission’s command module in lunar orbit. There he awaited the return of his fellow mission members Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Launched by a Saturn V Rocket from Kennedy Space Center at Merritt Island Florida on July sixteenth, Apollo Eleven was NASA’s fifth manned mission as a part of the Apollo moon exploration program. The Apollo Spacecraft was comprised of three specialized modules. The Command Module was a cabin for the three astronauts and mission monitoring center led by astronaut Michael Collins. The Service Module was the workhorse of the lunar landing phase of the mission; providing thrust, oxygen, electrical power, and water to the Command Module. Finally the Lunar Module was the Apollo Eleven hardware that actually landed on the moon.

After being sent toward the moon by the Saturn V rocket’s upper stage, the astronauts separated the spacecraft from the rocket. The astronauts travelled for three long Earth days before they were able to enter into lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin then moved from the Command Module into the Lunar Module and began their descent to the moon’s foreign surface. The two landing astronauts finally touched down on an area of the moon’s surface known as the Sea of Tranquility and spent a total of about twenty-one and one half hours there. After that time they departed the moon’s surface by detaching the upper portion of the Lunar Module from its base. They reentered lunar orbit and rejoined Michael Collins in the Command Module. The astronauts then began their return trip to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean on July twenty-fourth 1969.

Broadcast on live television to a worldwide audience, these events effectively ended the space race. Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and all of the Americans who contributed to the Apollo Program had fulfilled the national goal set in 1961 by president John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had declared, in a speech at Congress, “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.

Apollo Eleven’s Saturn V rocket launched at 13:32 UTC, speeding into an orbit of the Earth. The rocket and spacecraft spent about 12 minutes in orbit, completing one and a half orbits. At that time the rocket’s third stage propelled the spacecraft onto its final lunar trajectory. About thirty minutes later, the Command Module and Service Module pair separated from the Saturn’s final stage and docked with the Lunar Module, extracting it from the lunar adaptor. Finally, the three modules headed for the moon. Upon the Lunar Module’s final descent, Armstrong looked outside and saw that the flight computer’s landing target was in a boulder-strewn area, just slightly north and east of a three hundred meter diameter crater. Taking semi-automatic control, Armstrong listened as Aldrin called out velocity and altitude data. The pair successfully landed the craft at 20:17 UTC on July twentieth, with about twenty-five seconds worth of fuel to spare.

After more than twenty-one and a half total hours on the lunar surface, the astronauts had left behind several scientific instruments including a retro reflector array used for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiments and a passive seismic experiment package used to measure moon quakes. The astronauts also left behind several mementos from Earth to commemorate their historic achievements on the moon’s surface. The tokens left behind included a specially designed American flag, an Apollo One mission patch, a golden replica of an olive branch, traditionally representing peace, and a disc containing good will messages from several American Presidents and leaders of over 73 countries around the world.

On July twenty-fourth, the astronauts returned home aboard the Command Module named Columbia. Just before dawn, 16:51 UTC, in the Pacific Ocean about 1440 nautical miles east of Wake Island and 210 nautical miles south of Johnston Atoll. The Command Module splashed down thirteen nautical miles from the recovery ship, the U.S.S. Hornet. At 16:44 UTC the module’s drogue parachutes had been deployed, this was seven minutes before the module touched the water. During its reentry and splashdown, the Command Module had ended up upside down. However, floatation bags trigger by the astronauts righted the craft within ten minutes.

In order to abide by the then recently passed Extraterrestrial Exposure Law, the astronauts were immediately placed into quarantine. Although NASA believed it was unlikely for pathogens to exist on the moon’s surface, it was considered a possibility. The astronauts were mandated to remain in quarantine for almost three weeks. After being given a clean bill of health, all three astronauts were released from quarantine on August tenth 1969.

Following their release from quarantine, the astronauts participated in parades in several major cities and attended a state dinner with members of congress, forty-four governors, the Chief Justice of the United States, and ambassadors from eighty-three nations.

On July 20, 1969, Man took their first steps on the moon. This was an enormous triumph for NASA, but also the United States as a whole. It is a day in history that paved the way for many future space missions and discoveries, and it is one that will most definitely not be forgotten. In my essay, I will highlight the details and speculations of Apollo 11, the first manned moon landing.

The three astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, on August 5, 1930. Armstrong went to college for aerospace and aeronautical engineering at Purdue University and the University of Cincinnati, and he served in the Korean War. He married his first wife, Janet Shearon on January 28, 1956. They were married until their divorce in 1994, and had three children; Karen, Eric, and Mark Armstrong. He was remarried to his second wife, Carol Held Knight, on June 12, 1994, and they were married until Armstrong’s death. In 1962, he joined NASA’s astronaut program. His first mission was Gemini Vlll, which launched in 1966, and he served as its command pilot. Of the three astronauts, he was the first man ever to walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong passed on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82 due to complications from an operation he had on his heart.

Buzz Aldrin was born on January 20, 1930, in Montclair, New Jersey. Before being recruited to fly with NASA, he served as a fighter pilot in the Korean War. Although not currently married, he has had three wives. The first was Joan Archer, who he was married to from 1954 to 1974. The second was Beverly Van Zile, and they were married from 1975 to 1978. His third wife was Lois Driggs Cannon, and he was married to her from 1988 to 2012. His first space mission was Gemini 12, which NASA chose him for in 1963. He also served as the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 mission, and was the second man to walk on the moon. Aldrin is currently 89 years old.

Michael Collins was born on October 30, 1930, in Rome, Italy. Collins married Patricia Finnegan in 1957, and they were married until her death in 2014. Together they had three children, Kate, Michael, and Ann Collins. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Westpoint in 1952, and in 1966 he partook in his first space mission, Gemini 10. On this mission he performed a spacewalk. On the Apollo 11 mission, he never actually walked on the moon, but instead was assigned to remain in the command module. He is now 88 years old. All three astronauts were given the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Despite the award, Collins is often forgotten in the mission, and people give the credit to Armstrong and Aldrin.

The launch date for the Saturn V rocket that would get astronauts on the moon was July 16, 1969. At this time, Richard Nixon is president, and he is following through with John F. Kennedy’s goal to put a man on the moon by 1970. The rocket has about 7.5 million pounds of thrust and is 363 feet tall. It takes off at 9:32 AM from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. At 9:44 AM, it has entered Earth’s orbit. They orbit Earth one and a half times, and are then told by ground control that they are ready for translunar injection. This means they are now fully ready to begin moving towards the moon. The astronauts finally enter the lunar orbit just 3 days later. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin leave the Columbia, the command module, and enter the Eagle, the lunar module, one day after entering the moon’s orbit. Michael Collins stays in the Columbia and continues to orbit the moon. The Eagle is set to land on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility, but things were not going perfectly. When getting close to landing, Armstrong was forced to pilot the Eagle manually, as it had tried to land in an area that was full of boulders, and would have been very unstable. Just seconds before the Eagle would land, its computer system began sounding many alarms. Fortunately, these alarms were only caused by the Eagle attempting to do many things all at once. In fact, they land with only 30 seconds worth of fuel left.

They make a landing on the moon at 4:18 PM on July 20, 1969. Upon landing, Armstrong famously reports back to mission control, saying, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed”. After hearing this, everyone watching from Kennedy Space Center begins to cheer and rejoice in this momentous time. After their successful landing, they prepare to make the first human steps on the moon. At this point, more than half a billion people are watching the live recording on television, waiting to see an astronaut emerge from the Eagle. At 10:56 PM, Neil Armstrong becomes the first man ever to step foot on the moon. With the world watching, he says, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind’ (Dunbar 1). Moments later, Buzz Aldrin joins Armstrong on the moon’s surface, making him the second person ever to step foot on the moon. They take photographs and collect samples for the next two and a half hours, which they will bring back to Earth to help NASA make new discoveries. In addition to taking, they leave behind as well. Armstrong and Aldrin plant an American flag (https://gradesfixer.com/freeessay-examples/the-american-flag/) on the moon, and patch that was in remembrance of the fatal Apollo 1 disaster. It claimed the lives of all three astronauts on board. The also leave behind a plaque on on of the Eagles legs reading, ‘Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind’. After all of this, the men blast off of the moon’s surface and join Collins in the command module. On July 24, 1969, all three men splash down in the Columbia off the coast of Hawaii, into the Pacific Ocean. This means that Kennedy’s wish before his death is completed. America is the first country to put a man on the moon and bring him home to his family.

The Apollo 11 mission helped further many scientific experiments as well. The samples the astronauts brought home with them taught scientists many new things that have tremendously helped us, and will most definitely continue to help us as well. Apollo 11 gave us the very first geological samples from the moon. 22 kilograms of materials were carried back to Earth by Armstrong and Aldrin. This total includes over 50 rocks, soil from the surface of the moon, and material that they took from around 13 centimeters under the ground. However, none of the samples they brought back showed any signs of life, whether simple or not simple, and no water was found in the samples either. These specific samples were unable to prove that life has ever existed on the moon. At their landing site, two main types of rocks were found; basalt and breccia.

By definition, “Basalts are rocks solidified from molten lava”. They are usually dark gray, and can be found in places such as Hawaii, which has a high content of volcanic rock. On the moon, basalt is responsible for the dark spots we can see present in the sky. On Earth, basalt is most regularly made up of pyroxene and plagioclase. The basalt found on the Moon is very similar and is also composed mostly of pyroxene and plagioclase. The major difference between lunar basalt and the basalt we have on earth is its concentration of titanium. Lunar basalt was found to have much a much higher concentration of pure titanium than the basalt we had previously known. Upon further examination, scientists discovered that the lunar basalt has originated from at least two different sources of magma. They also determined that the rock was between 3.6 to 3.9 billion years old.

Breccia are, “rocks that are composed of fragments of older rocks”. The concept of the formation of breccia is relatively simple. The moon has been hit by multiple meteorites throughout the span of its life. When these meteorites hit the moon’s surface, the dormant rocks are smashed and broken down into a multitude of tiny rock fragments. However, the meteorites impact also causes a lot of pressure and heat to be applied to the fresh fragments of rock. This heat and pressure can potentially cause them to bond together. From this we get breccia. When looking at breccia with the naked eye, we can automatically see the many different sizes, shapes, and colors that the rock is composed of. Breccias two main contributors are types of lunar basalt, and also rocks from the lunar highlands. Most of the rocks found on the lunar highlands are a type of rock called anorthosite. These rocks are mostly made up from plagioclase, and they are usually very light colored. This was a new discovery for us, as rocks consisting mostly of pure plagioclase are extremely unlikely to ever be found. On the other hand, rocks like this are believed to be very common on the moon. This is because the crust of the moon formed as a layer of anorthosite. At the point of crust formation, the moon had a completely molten surface, and it was named the magma ocean. So, the anorthosite, which was full of pure plagioclase, moves freely throughout this magma ocean.

With any shocking and amazing scientific advancement, there are people who will speculate. However, the moon landing seemed to draw in more conspiracies than ever before. Some Americans refused to believe it was true, instead suggesting that it was a sort of Hollywood production. They thought it was taped and that the entire ordeal had to be hushed up by NASA. Even to this day people are insistent that the moon landing was faked, and these are their reasons why.

One reason people discredit Apollo 11 is because of the Van Allen belts. This is the most popular conspiracy. These Van Allen belts are simply two very large belts of radiation. They extend around the Earth, being compressed by high energy particles that they are hit with by wind from the sun, and are shaped by our Earth’s atmospheric magnetic field. Theorists believe that a human being would not be able to travel through these high energy bands without dying from extreme amounts of constant radiation. Before the Apollo 11 mission, NASA had already been accustomed to the Van Allen belts. In the 1950’s, mission like the Luna, Explorer, and pioneer taught us all we needed to know about them. One thing to note is that the intensity of radiation from these belts is constantly changing with the Sun’s activity. During the launch of Apollo 11, the radiation intensity was the lowest of the year, making it safe for the astronauts to pass through. If the astronauts did not experience safe conditions in the Van Allen belts, they would have gotten radiation sickness. Radiation is measured in the unit ‘rads’, and getting radiation sickness means that you have been exposed to anywhere from 200 to 1,000 rads in a span of around three hours. On the astronauts’ journey through the Van Allen belts, they were subjected to an estimated 18 rads over a 2 hour traveling time, meaning they were completely unaffected by the radiation. Those who the spaceship that touched the moon worked hard to make sure it was well insulated, allowing minimal amounts of radiation to pass through. In fact, it was determined that during their mission, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins only received about as much radiation as they would have in a standard Xray machine. This theory s easily disproved by statistics and scientific evidence harvested from NASA.

Another very famous conspiracy theory brought up when discussing the moon landing is the flapping flag. When Neil Armstrong planted the American flag in the moon, the world watched it supposedly flap in the wind on live television. People say that since there isn’t any air on the moon, this is a tell-tale sign that we faked the moon landing. There is an obvious answer to this as well. It’s as simple as this; the flag wasn’t flapping at all. This is very easy to understand when looking at pictures of the flag on the moon. The flag is held up by a pole, but a connecting pole running along the top of the flag was made to keep the flag open, and to keep it from rolling up. So, when the astronauts planted the flag in the moon, it’s flag shaped was messed up. Because the moon doesn’t have any sort of strong gravity, the flag remained in its waved shape from when it had been stuck into the ground by the astronauts. To get it into the ground, it had to be twisted and screwed in, and this most likely contributed to its resemblance of the shape a flag in the wing would have. All video evidence we have shows the flag in the same position the flag was in when it entered the moon’s surface.

This year, on July 20, we will celebrate the 50 years since astronauts from the United States became the first people ever to step foot on the moon. Since then, countless more have had their chance to see the moon as well. The Apollo 11 mission paved the way for NASA to become stronger and better, and the world will never forget the incredible impact it had.

The US needed win the space race to represent the dominance of the free world of witch it was the leader of the 50s and 60s However john f Kennedy had stressed the importance achieving a difficult goal and the success the Apollo 11 mission despite many disasters and setbacks allowed all mankind to be proud of this momentous achievement

Apollo 11 Space Shuttle

Apollo 11 was the spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin formed the American crew that landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969.

How much time did they spend on the Moon?

Armstrong became the first person to step onto the lunar surface 6 hours 39 minutes later on July 21 and Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. They spent about two and a half hours together outside the spacecraft and collected 21.55 kg of lunar material to bring back to earth.

Apollo Guidance Computer

Apollo Guidance Computer was a digital computer produced for the Apollo program that was installed on board each Apollo command module. Astronauts communicated with the Apollo Guidance Computer using a numeric display and keyboard called the DSKY.

• https://www.geek.com/news/how-the-apollo-11s-1-024mhz-guidance-computer-did-a-lot-with-very-little-1562831/

Race to space

Landing on the Moon was viewed as a national and technological accomplishment that would generate worldwide attention, but going to the Moon would be risky and expensive, as exemplified by President John F. Kennedy famously stating in a 1962 speech that the United States chose to go because it was hard.

Who flew Apollo 11?

Mission Commander Neil Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Ohio. Armstrong became interested in flight while still a child. In 1950, Armstrong flew combat missions for the USA Navy. He became an astronaut in 1962 and commanded Gemini VIII in 1966.

How did Apollo 11 land back to earth?

After the journey back from the Moon, the Apollo 11 command module shed flaming pieces of its protective ablative covering as it hurtled through the Earth’s atmosphere toward splash down, July 24, 1969. Although the photograph gives the impression of fiery destruction of the spacecraft, the ablative material was performing as it was designed to. By vaporizing and burning away, it protected the interior of the spacecraft from the searing heat caused by friction with the atmosphere.

Aircraft technology

Lunar Module Specifications

• Weight (empty): 3920 kg
• Weight (with Crew & Propellant): 14,700 kg
• Height: 7.0 m
• Width: 9.4 m
• Descent Engine Thrust: 44,316 Newtons (9870 lb) maximum, 4710 Newtons (1050 lb) minimum
• Ascent Engine Thrust: 15,700 Newtons (3500 lb)
• Fuel: 50-50 mix of Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine (UDMH) & Hydrazine
• Oxidizer: Nitrogen Tetroxide

Prime Contractor: Grumman Aerospace Corporation

How they left the moon

Saturn v fire describes the rockets that helped make the spacecraft take off into space.

Fuel Cells

Both Gemini and Apollo 11 obtained electrical power from hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells.

Was it Safe?

• There were problems with the project before the moon landing.
• In the launch rehearsals the command module caught on fire.
• Neil Armstrong nearly died just over a year before the July 1969 launch. On May 6, 1968, he was piloting the lunar-landing research vehicle that is a test and he had a system failure.
• The Apollo 11 aircraft had unexpected alarms that cause a freak-out to the astronauts.
• Apollo 11 had low fuel when had a slight delay that caused them to miss their designated landing spot in the Sea of Tranquility. Armstrong, the mission commander realized that the spacecraft was coming down in an area with large craters and boulders. So, he took over manual control and bypassed a large crater, and steered past the boulders to find a clear area.
• Finally, the crew landed. Armstrong and Aldrin suited up for the first moonwalk, but as they were putting on their portable life-support-system backpacks (those big, iconic backpacks), the astronauts accidentally knocked off the tip of a circuit breaker.
• A storm prevented the Apollo 11 aircraft from landing efficiently.
• The thrusters were heading the wrong way at the start of the mission which enabled a possibility that they could crash into another space aircraft putting the mission at risk.

Safety Training

• When training for the Apollo 11 mission they would use geological objects, which enabled them to enter and exit the lunar module.
• The Apollo 11 crew trained at facilities here on earth that had the topography the same as the moon. The reason they trained at so many sites was to get an appreciation for the different aspects of various geological features.

Engineering

Nasa made the lunar module to go to the moon on 1967. They had a team that would work on it daily and they had this going for 2 years to make the lunar module as safe as they could.

How much food they took

First Meal in Space

John Glenn was the first American to eat in space in mission Friendship 7 in 1962. At that time, it was not known if ingestion and the eating of nutrients were possible in a state of no gravity. Glenn’s consumption of applesauce, packed in a tube, and xylose sugar tablets with water, demonstrated that people could eat, swallow, and digest food in a weightless environment.

Sources

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This year marks the 50th anniversary since the moon landing mission of Apollo 11. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins exploded off into the now legendary mission of the Apollo 11. At 6:52 am on the dot, Buzz Aldrin as Luna Modul Pilot, Neil Armstrong as Commander, and Micheal Collins as Commander Modul Pilot hopped into the lift to the rocket. The whole world stopped as people ran through security checks getting ready for lift-off. At 9:31 am these three boys travelling journey began. People watched on in there black and white TVs! For the period of time until landing on the moon if successful, their lives were at risk and also mainly in the hands of special life craft systems from the Apollo 11. This was all in the year 1969.

Successful Apollo Programs-

• Appolo 12
• Appolo 14
• Appolo 15
• Appolo 16
• Appolo 17
• Appolo 11

When researching for this assignment, although quite a few Appolo Programs were the unsuccessful one that particularly stood out to me was actually the Appolo 13. Although being unsuccessful was a disadvantage there were a few advantages including how people got to experience completing a rescue mission and they would be experienced if this was ever to happen again on one of the Appolo missions. It wasn’t successful because of a malfunction but it was one of the 1st Apollo programs to come back with photographic evidence.

The 6 manned Apollo missions that were triumphant started with Neil and Buzz on the Apollo 11 and then finished off with Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt who were a part of the Apollo 17 program on the 14th of December 1972. These Apollo programs were actually 3 years apart. All the Apollo programs were constructed by the United States of America.

Launch Dates-

• Apollo 11- 1969, 16th July
• Apollo 12- 1969, 14th November
• Apollo 14- 1971, 31st January
• Apollo 15- 1971, 26th July
• Apollo 16- 1972, 16th April
• Apollo 17- 1972, 7th December

Purpose- The purpose of the Apollo program is to gather more information about our understanding of the moon and its surface and to dig deeper. It helps with research about all things life and other things on the moon. This would help all sciences including earth and environmental science and many many more. It helps with modern-day research and establishing new developments in the future with new types of technology and etc. This is an experiment to see how it can put your body under stress in the atmosphere when the astronauts are not in there usual environment and when they are not in their usual routine and eating their normal food.

A disadvantage I have outlined is that was incredibly expensive. The most pricy parts were the spacecraft and the launch vehicles.

Achievements-

• Apollo 7 was the first-ever broadcast from the moon.
• The Apollo 8 took photos and recorded videos of the earth and moon.
• In Apollo 9, the human’s reaction to weightlessness and space were recorded in a test of 152 orbits.
• Apollo 10, was a dress rehearsal for the moon landing, and the first time ever the moon was seen in live colour.

July 16th, 1969. After spending four days in the vacuum of space, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin begin their nerve-wracking descent to the lunar surface. Slowly and carefully, they maneuver down to the Moon. Exhausted and tired, they take a break to rest, then suit up to head out onto the cold barren lunar surface. All the while, millions of viewers across the world crowd around radios, families huddle around the living room television, and everyone hangs on Walter Cronkite’s every word of commentary on the mission, watching not just American astronauts making history, but humanity’s first giant leap into the stars.

Although quite a thrill to all who were watching, only a very few in the audience really comprehended the unparalleled sacrifices that were made to finally put mankind on the Moon: years of preparation; hundreds of thousands of hours in engineering; development of entirely new technologies; dozens of deaths, and billions of spent taxpayer dollars. NASA finally achieved the milestone President Kennedy first laid out in his famous Moon speech on September 12, 1962, calling on America to put a man on the Moon and return him home safely before the decade was out. Reflecting back on this historic event not only in American but human history, we ponder in the words of John F. Kennedy himself, “why to choose to go to the Moon?” And the answer was quite clear for the time period, at least for most Americans. But for others, it was more ambiguous.

At the time of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the U.S. was deeply involved in the cold war with the Soviet Union. The bitter rivalry saw the U.S. and the Soviets thwarting one another in any way possible. When the Soviets made the first steps into space, America followed suit, in an effort to come out on top with the best rocket technology. The space race was an existential imperative: if we didn’t keep up, Russia could very well achieve an overwhelming military advantage, one we might not survive. America needed the best missile and guidance technology and human exploration was a means to that end. All the while, the U.S. was in the thick of the Vietnam conflict, massive anti-war protests, and the counterculture movement was on the rise in American youth.

America needed to counter the Soviets whether in the jungles of southeast Asia or in orbit above the planet. No less than our very survival as democracy was at stake, or so thought the best minds in our government. Nonetheless, as the costs of Vietnam grew, both in lives and dollars, so too did the opposition. Nightly news broadcasted horrific scenes of battle directly into American living rooms, not to mention mounting civil unrest. Against this backdrop, some Americans began to question the government’s investment in the space program. Those in power, however, had made a calculated decision that we were “better dead than red,” and therefore it was worth diverting resources from fighting poverty to keep up with the Soviets in space. In this paper, we will discuss these two views of sending American astronauts to the Moon. First, we look at the government’s justification, and then the side of those who opposed NASA’s lunar program.

The article from the New York Times “Voice From Moon: ‘Eagle Has Landed’”[1] is about a dialogue between mission control, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong. In summary, although a word-for-word, routine transcript of technical talk between the three parties, the New York Times nonetheless devoted two full pages to their conversation, because it was such a momentous occasion. TV was starting to become a popular form of entertainment, but most Americans still read the newspaper. By giving so much space, the New York Times crystallized the sense of pride and achievement Americans felt in their country’s ability to push the limit of going where no American had gone before. In addition, this article supports the side of NASA’s efforts because it is a straightforward report of the Moon landing without adding any additional context about the cost of getting the men there.

As an agency of the United States government, NASA is funded with taxpayer dollars. In the early 1960s, the “red scare” was at its height. Then the Soviets put a man into orbit. Two months later, Kennedy gave his Moon speech, and Congress, reflecting the fears of their constituents, began funding the space program. Although the Gemini and Apollo programs will go down in history as stepping stones to mankind’s first exploration into outer space, the budgets needed to sustain such programs were astronomically large.

At the same time, the U.S. government also felt it necessary to push back against the Soviet influence in Vietnam, because, as the saying went, if Vietnam fell, that was just the first domino. Fighting this multi-front campaign against Communism in space, and on the ground, consumed vast resources. It’s no wonder that some people felt abandoned by their government. To activists, the lunar program seemed like a colossal waste of taxpayer money that should have been spent on other programs to help alleviate racism and poverty. Let’s now explore the opposition’s point of view.

In the New York Times article, “Hundreds of Thousands Flock to Be ‘There’”[2] Ralph Abernathy, and his followers of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, gathered at the Cape Kennedy Space Center in July of 1969, not just to observe the Apollo 11 launch, but also as a way to bring attention to a variety of issues going on in the United States. His general reason for assembling the protest was to criticize the priorities of the U.S government, for choosing to bankroll a Moon landing expedition, over what they considered more pressing matters, such as lowering the poverty rate and upholding civil rights. In the words of Hosea Williams, the organizer of this protest best sums up their noticeable presence at the space center. “We do not oppose the Moon shot, we feel the effort is laudable. Our purpose for being here is to protest America’s inability to choose human priorities… We do not want to be destructive here, we don’t want to irritate, in fact, we want to educate… We are spending billions of dollars to explore outer space but if America were to spend that same amount of money feeding the poor and hungry, then poverty and hunger would be gone from the face of America today.”[2]

In the New York Times article “Hundreds of Thousands Flock to Be ‘There,’”[2] although the article mainly supports the Apollo program, it also highlights the small, but significant, protest of Ralph Abernathy and members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the main force for civil rights activism at the time. Although Abernathy on the whole supported the idea of the space program, he nonetheless questioned the U.S government’s choice to prioritize the spending of billions of dollars to fight communism over the welfare of its own citizens. Gilbert Scott-Heron, another prominent activist, put his critique of the space program into his heartfelt spoken-word poem: “Whitey On the Moon. ”[3] “I can’t pay no doctor bill. (but Whitey’s on the moon) Ten years from now I’ll be payin’ still. (while Whitey’s on the moon)

The man just upped my rent last night. (’cause Whitey’s on the moon) No hot water, no toilets, no lights. (but Whitey’s on the moon). ”[3] As seen in his poem, it certainly expresses people’s perception that the US government wanted to send a man to the moon more than it wanted to uphold civil rights and lower the poverty rate. While both Abernathy and Scott-Heron highlight how the lunar program money could have been better spent elsewhere, they fail to acknowledge the importance of the political drive people had for wanting to send a man to the Moon before the Soviets did.

The role of a historian is to document the past to the best of their abilities. The past, although easily documented in newspapers, may not fully show the picture of what historians are trying to preserve for future generations, and the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon is no exception. The New York Times article “Voice From Moon: ‘Eagle Has Landed’”[1] which praised the Apollo 11 Mission did not fully encompass the range of what America was going through in 1969. It did not mention the many struggles a fifth[2] of its citizens were going through, nor did it show the brutal reality of Vietnam’s influence on the average American’s mind, or even the feeling of pointlessness the next generation felt toward carrying the torch of fighting communism with them.

In all seriousness, this New York Times article[1] only showed a snapshot of America’s good side and left out the troubling domestic problems that Americans would rather overlook at a time of rejoicing and celebration of not only America’s greatest scientific achievement but also humanity’s as well. What does seem to encompass the full view of America in 1969 was the article[2] reporting on Ralph Abernathy’s peaceful protest, and the poem by Gilbert Scott-Heron.“Whitey on the moon”[3]. These two sources, taken together, showed not only the positive aspects of Apollo 11 but also the domestic problems America seemed to be concealed under a rug for another day to solve. If a historian were to judge which source would be more truthful, they would most likely choose the article of Ralph Abernathy’s protest and Gilbert Scott-Heron’s poem, to accurately portray the range of American sentiment during Apollo 11’s departure to the lunar surface.

It is a truism that we tend to remember the happiest moments of our lives while blocking out the more painful times (even subconsciously). This is true of societies as well as individuals. It is fine to cherish the successes of the past, and the Moon landing was a memorable moment, where Americans, and indeed the whole world, could stop in our shoes and say say “we’ve done it,” and stand in awe of ourselves taking the first steps to becoming a starfaring species. After all, it’s inevitable that there will always be poverty, war, and greed. And if we never focused on anything else, we would have never made the technological strides that we have. But the one thing the Moon landing has taught the human race is that even the most impossible things are within our reach with enough willpower and effort. Just as Ralph Abernathy said we are capable of such beautiful things if we put our heads together, perhaps the example of the Moon landing can inspire us to eventually bring about an end to the perpetuity of human suffering.