Happy Friday!
Greetings from about 37,000 feet as I traveled home from Doha, Qatar (yesterday). It was a whirlwind but nonetheless wonderful and interesting week in Dubai, Kuwait and Doha on a pharmaceutical speaking tour. I was honored to meet and teach with new colleagues, reconnect with old ones and find surprising connections with others. And the food was great. I feel truly fortunate.
While traveling home, I watched a documentary on the Apollo 11 space flight, culminating with the first lunar landing of a crewed spacecraft and a spacewalk, proceeding mostly as planned. It occurred in July 1969, admittedly before some of my readers were born. However, I was alive and well at the time and was inspired by watching the details of the mission while in flight.
I have written about space explorations in the past that ended tragically, i.e,, Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia (contact me privately if you would like to receive that post), also recognizing Apollo 1 and two Soyuz accidents. However, Apollo 11 was a success story, proving what ingenuity, drive and teamwork could produce. The available technology is a far cry from now but the NASA team achieved what was the United States' wildest dream – a lunar landing with a successful return to earth.
After eating steak-and-egg breakfasts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins suited up and boarded a Saturn V rocket and launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:32 AM on July 16. All three astronauts had prior spaceflight experience and had an "amiable working relationship". Saturn V was a 3-stage rocket. The first two stages detached from the rocket shortly after liftoff. The command module had cabin seating for 3 astronauts and was the only part that returned to earth. The service module, supplied propulsion, electrical power, oxygen and water to lunar module, known as the Eagle. The Eagle had a descent stage for the moon landing and an ascent stage to return the astronauts into lunar orbit. An estimated one million spectators watched the launch from nearby highways and beaches along with around 3500 members of the press and various dignitaries and officials.
Pre-mission, potential lunar landing sites were selected from high-resolution photographs taken by from uncrewed lunar orbital missions (which also took the first photos of the earth as a whole). Five different sites on the moon were considered for the landing and Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) was selected based on seven criteria, the most restrictive being the angle of the sun. The site was inspected and deemed acceptable during the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969.
Once reaching the moon's orbit, Collins remained in the Columbia command module orbiting the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin landed the Eagle at the Sea of Tranquility on the moon's surface. The Eagle traveled a little too quickly, putting it west of the planned target. Armstrong took semi-automatic control while Aldrin navigated to a suitable spot as their propellant supply precariously dwindled. After much nail biting at Mission Control, Armstrong announced, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."
Six hours and 36 minutes after landing, the hatch was opened for Armstrong's descent. The decision of who would be the first person to walk on the moon was somewhat contentious. Aldrin wanted to be first but he damaged the simulator during an attempted egress from the hatch. Armstrong, a civilian, was the commander and was selected by a committee that wanted a "calm and quiet person" to be first. The televised images used Apollo's slow-scan television, which was incompatible with broadcast TV, so it was displayed on a monitor and viewed by a conventional TV camera (taking a movie of a movie) which reduced the quality of the picture as well as the sound transmission. Armstrong claims that he said "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" but the "a" was not audible in the transmission (the a" makes more sense). Aldrin reached the surface adding," Magnificent desolation." President Nixon spoke with them by telephone from the White House while they were on the lunar surface.
They spent 2 hours exploring the area, collecting 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of soil and rock samples, setting up experiments, planting an American flag (Aldrin), and leaving medallions honoring the Apollo 1 crew (Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee) who died during a flash fire that broke out in the capsule during a training simulation in Florida. They also left a plaque with the date of the landing and the inscription. "We came in peace for all mankind", as well as memorial medals for Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komorov and Yuri Gargarin, a gold olive branch, and a disk with messages from former U.S. presidents and leaders of 73 countries around the world, a list of US congressional leaders involved with NASA legislation and names of NASAs past and then-current top management. Armstrong and Aldridge tossed their backpacks, lunar overshoes, camera and other equipment prior to closing the hatch and pressurizing the Eagle's interior. Meanwhile, Collins enjoyed his solitude and his orbits to the dark side of the moon.
The Eagle ascended and rendezvoused with Columbia. After docking, Eagle was released back into lunar orbit to ultimately land on the moon. Apollo returned to earth with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. However, a storm system was headed toward the planned recovery area, so the flight plan was changed. Columbia landed safely at the new location albeit upside down. The astronauts righted it using floatation bags, a sea anchor was attached via helicopter, and the module was stabilized using floatation collars. The astronauts donned biological isolation garments, boarded a life raft and were taken by recovery helicopter to the U.S.S. Hornet.
Apollo 11 accomplished John F. Kennedy's goal set 8 years earlier, and America won the "Space Race". There were, of course, detractors, indicating that the money spent on the mission should have been used to help people at home. Others believe that the whole thing was faked. Nonetheless, Apollo 11 was a remarkable achievement, generating excitement worldwide and the three astronauts were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.
Have a good weekend and enjoy the last day of May!
Deb
Holst didn't write a moon movement, but the astronauts may have had a good view of this one while there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkiiAloL6aE