NASA Celebrates Apollo 11 Moon Landing and Walk

Neil Armstrong Became the First Human on the Moon 40 Years Ago

Jul 7, 2009

On July 20th, 1969 Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot anywhere other than Earth when he walked out of NASA's Apollo 11 and down onto the surface of the moon.

The fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which resulted in the successful moon walks of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, is on July 20th, 2009. As Armstrong set foot on the lunar surface he famously declared it was 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' This article provides information about the mission, and links to events and programmes celebrating the Apollo 11 moon landing's fortieth anniversary.

NASA and President Kennedy Start the Countdown to the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was set up in 1958. The US government thought it time to revamp their space industry after the Soviet's Sputnik programme beat it to the honour of being the first man-made craft to orbit the Earth.

President Kennedy upped the stakes in 1961 when he set up the Apollo programme with the objective of having the first humans walk on the moon by the end of the decade. The US space programme was nowhere near achieving the target at the time.

The Apollo Mission

This was highlighted by the first Apollo mission, which ended in disaster after the command module burned up and the three crew members were killed.

However, improvements and careful preparation led to astronauts again boarding Apollo for the eighth mission, which orbited the moon successfully despite some scares.

The Apollo 9 and 10 missions also achieved their objectives: 9 tested the lunar landing module and 10 took the lander to within ten miles of the moon's surface.

The successes meant it was time to attempt the first landing on the moon, and man's first steps on a surface other than our own planet.

Apollo 11 Lift-Off

On July 16th, 1969 Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins took off on the Apollo 11 mission from Cape Kennedy in Florida, USA with less than six months to go before the end of the decade. It was the last chance to fulfil the now deceased President Kennedy's objective.

The Saturn V rocket lifted the mission into orbit, before Apollo 11 broke off and continued its journey to the moon.

Apollo 11 Set-up

The NASA site informs readers that the Apollo 11 Command Module, "Columbia," was the astronauts' home for most of the mission.

The Command Module, no. 107, was one of three parts of the complete Apollo spacecraft. The other two were the Service Module and the Lunar Module, nicknamed "Eagle."

The Service Module contained the main spacecraft propulsion system and consumables while the Lunar Module took Armstrong and Aldrin to the Moon's surface on July 20.

The Command Module was the only portion of the spacecraft to return to Earth, and is now housed in the Smithsonian Institute.

The copyright of the article NASA Celebrates Apollo 11 Moon Landing and Walk in Space Exploration is owned by Marc Latham. Permission to republish NASA Celebrates Apollo 11 Moon Landing and Walk in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.