There has been lots of news and press releases of the first moon landing of 50 years ago. Its something I remember clearly to this day TV footage at home was on black & white caythode-ray tube televisions of that era.
Its one of those world shattering occasions you never forget like the TV news annoucement of the assination of President John F Kennedy in November 1963. Those events seem to leave an indilible mark on the psychic.
The space race, as it was then called, was the race to be first in everything to do with getting men and women into space. First by sending men up into orbit around our planet. John F Kennedys nations challenge to land men on the moon before the end of that decade.
I’ve been listening to a BBC World series podcast called 13 Minutes to the Moon. Actually how long it took the luna module from leaving the command module space craft to it succesfully landing on the moon at Tranquility base.
13 Minutes to the moon looks at all aspects of the moon landings from an engineering and scientific point of view but also the young support staff at mission control in Houston.
President Kennedy set his nation a clear and specific goal. When the young NASA orginisation learn’t of this goal they thought to themselves how are we ever going to achieve this in reality. In the process they came up with so many novel and unique ideas.
NASA had a clean sheet of paper and the huge finanical resources of the US economy to backing them up, They didn’t at that stage have a rocket ship powerful enough to transport them to the moon and even how to get the astronauts to the moon and to land safely onto the luna surface.
It was an engineer that originally came up with the idea of having separate stages including a luna lander which meant the size of the first stage rocket could be smaller.
The spacecraft had three parts 1. Command Module cabin for three astronauts and the only part that actually returned back to earth. 2. Service Module which supported the command module with propulsion,electrical power, oxygen and water and 3 Luna Module which had two stages – descent stage for landing on the moon and an ascent stage to ejected off the moon put them back into luna orbit.
Kennedys speech at Rice University in Texas set his country a technological goal.
https://youtu.be/FYb_mhiE-qU
I’ve always thought what they achieved was really amazing from Kennedys initial challenge to beat the Russians to the moon.
The many set backs NASA encountered on the way, even with first the Saturn V rocket ships. The terrible deaths of 3 astronauts in early Command and Service module with a horrific flash oxygen fire. Caused by poor workmanship, bad electrical wiring bad escape hatch design.
NASA completely re-design the command and service module and looked at all aspects of their management procedures and oversight of the aeronautical contractors.
https://youtu.be/8dpkmUjJ8xUhttps://youtu.be/tl1KPjxKVqkhttps://youtu.be/qt_xoCXLXnIA good few years ago I read a book by Andrew Smith called Moon Dust in seach of the men who fell back to earth.
In fact the book really confirmed how the 12 moon walkers felt about their moon walks on the luna surface. I think it profoundly effected each and everyone of them in different ways.
The moon experience was surreal nothing about the moon resembled earth. It was completely alien landscape and environment, sterile and devoid of life.
Scientifically the moon rock samples showed the moon was similar to the earth geological analysis. Hence the Theia planetry collision concept which I mentioned in an earlier blog post.
What impacted each and every moon walker was looking at Earth rise, that beautiful blue marble planet. No where in our solar system is anything remotely like earth. A blue liquid planet teeming with life.
Personally I always like looking at the big picture about the world around me. Standing back looking at a landscapes, or looking at a big city from a high vantage point.
Those moon walkers were able to stand back, on another celestial body, and view the breathtaking beauty of a master piece of biological creation.
https://youtu.be/ZbU3crqJt3w