Historical Entry—Sunday, July 20, 1969
At an address of the United States Congress on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy created a national goal.
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade [1960s] is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. We propose to accelerate the development of the appropriate lunar space craft. We propose to develop alternate liquid and solid fuel boosters, much larger than any now being developed, until certain which is superior. We propose additional funds for other engine development and for unmanned explorations—explorations which are particularly important for one purpose which this nation will never overlook: the survival of the man who first makes this daring flight. But in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the Moon—if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”
This goal was in response to the Soviet Union orbiting the first satellite (Sputnik 1), the first person in space (Yuri Gagarin), and the first person to orbit the Earth (Yuri Gagarin). It was an ambitious goal, one many felt was impossible to achieve. Norbert Wiener, a mathematician at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) referred to the entire program as a “moondoggle”.
Despite the dissenters, Congress authorized the budget and NASA began developing the Apolo Project. In February 1967, a fire in the Command Module killed all three crewmembers (Gus Grisson, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee) and destroyed the vehicle. Despite the setback, in November of 1967, the first crewed orbit (Apollo 4) proved the basic technologies required.
Apollo 11 launched July 16, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Saturn V AS-506. More than one million people watched the launch from nearby. It was televised to 33 countries and estimated that in the United States, about 25 million people watched it. The two vessels, Command Module Columbia (CM-107) and Lunar Module Eagle (LM-5), would travel for three days and enter lunar orbit on July 19.
After thirty orbits, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” E. Aldrin Jr, enter Eagle and detached from Columbia for lunar descent. The landing site was located in the southern end of the Sea of Tranquility 12 miles from crater Sabine D. This was because the Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 probes had noted the area was relatively flat and unlikely to have any major landing challenges.
At five minutes into the landing cycle, several computer alarms went off. It was later determined the alarms were due to an electrical phasing mismatch that caused the computer to take data from both the rendezvous and landing radars at the same time. The simple computers of the lander were unable to process the information in real time.
When the alarms had been dealt with, Armstrong noted that the target landing spot was filled with boulders and not safe. He took control of the landing and after several failed locations, managed to find a safe landing spot. After the landing, it was determined there was only about another 25 seconds of landing fuel available. After the shutdown sequence was completed, Armstrong responded to Charles Duke, Apollo 11’s CAPCOM, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Five hours later, Neil Armstrong finished preparations and exited the Eagle. As he climbed down the ladder, he pulled the installed D-ring which deployed the modular equipment stowage assembly and activated the lander’s TV camera. The camera was a slow-scan, which was not compatible with broadcast TV. The stations used a special monitor that another camera shot. This is why the quality of the broadcast was so low.
Armstrong stepping off the ladder changed everything. For the first time in history, mankind touched another world other than Earth. We had become a multi-world species.
Neil Armstrong steps onto the moon
Historical Event
1969
This Day in Science Fiction History examines notable events, real and fictional, concerning fantasy and science fiction in various media.
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