Neil Armstrong, Mission Commander of Apollo 11, had one shot to make a landing on the moon before a shortage of fuel denied him the opportunity. Suddenly, with only sixty seconds left to make a decision, he saw a crater the size of a football field. He was down to twenty seconds of fuel when the engines shut down and Armstrong’s voice came through to Houston: “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Armstrong got onto the surface exactly six and a half hours after landing and said “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.” [There is disagreement over whether the “a” was part of the sentence spoken by Armstrong.]
Both Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walked on the moon that day while Command Module Pilot Michael Collins orbited above. Aldrin described the view as “magnificent desolation.”
The trip to the moon was the culmination of an eight-year, $20 billion journey, and more specifically, four days and 238,000 miles.
Today, we are unable to return to the moon. As the Arizona Daily Star explained,
“Since the last manned lunar mission, Apollo 17 in 1972, mankind has taken one giant leap backward.
Neither the United States nor any other country currently has the means to send a manned mission to the moon, said Michael J. Drake, director of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
Detailed designs of the Saturn V rocket no longer exist, Drake said. And even if they were recovered, they’d be obsolete because they wouldn’t meet current safety standards — which the U.S. deemed acceptable in the 1960s as it scurried to beat the Soviets to the moon.
The designs would also be too archaic to work with modern computers and communications systems.
‘Technology has moved on,’ Drake said.
Thus, we as a people are stranded on Earth, able only to dream about returning to the moon, or eventually going to Mars. Drake said the nominal 2020 goal of a lunar return is unrealistic because NASA is underfunded. He projects that a possible visit to Mars is at least 25 to 50 years away.”
Unbelievable that we have advanced so far that we can’t repeat this amazing accomplishment.
I do remember the occasion of Neil Armstrong’s landing. We stayed up very late clued to the tv. Just before it looked like he was going to land, I got our one and a half-year-old son out of his bed. I didn’t want him to miss this historic event. Silly mother! It’s become one of our family stories.
I was 10 at the time and not all that interested in the space program even though we watched every lift off and splash down at school. I do remember the first steps on the moon because my father got me out of bed to watch it.
Great post…. this is so very very cool…
I remember this night vividly. It was such a big deal that we went to a viewing party. Even though I was only eight at the time, I knew it was a really big deal because all of the adults were so excited.
I have front page newspapers of this day. So cool!
I wasn’t aware of all the information you gave us about the inability to return. Thanks, that was great!
In the picture, the flag seems to be blowing in the wind.
How can this be when there’s no wind on space?
When Neil Armstong put the flag in the ground he pushed it in such a way that the flag shook thats why it looks like its blowing in the wind.
Well, it’s July 20 again & I’m taking two granddaughters to see Aliens Love Underpants at Leicester Square Theatre, London, Quite apt, really!