First Man on the Moon

This site is part of the Science Museum's	STEM Project	and it was completed by a student of North London Collegiate School,	based on a visit to the 'Exploration of Space' Gallery, and called
			The Development of Space Travel and the First Moon Landing.

On 20^th July 1969, more than 600 million people - a fifth of the world's population - witnessed one of the most memorable and breathtaking accomplishments of mankind - NASA's first successful lunar landing mission.

On 16^th July 1969, the day of the historic launch, the crew in the Apollo 11 Saturn V consisted of three men: Neil Armstrong, commander; Edwin Aldrin, Lunar Module pilot and Michael Collins, command module pilot. The rocket was as heavy as eight jumbo-jets, and as high as a 40-storey skyscraper.

It was fuelled mainly by kerosene, which is quite similar to the fuel used by jetliners. During lift-off, the fuel was burnt by the rocket's first-stage motors at the rate of 13 tonnes per second!

This is NASA's official portrait of the prime crew of the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. Left to right are Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin JR., lunar module pilot.

The voyage took 4 days, 6 hours and 45 minutes to complete. The momentous touchdown took place at 8:17 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on 20^th July 1969. Yet if Neil Armstrong had needed half a minute longer to find a suitable landing site, the Apollo 11 Moon-lander Eagle would have ran out of fuel and crashed - they only had enough fuel to last another twenty seconds! Back on Earth, controllers were holding their breath; after the Eagle had successfully landed, the commentator told the astronauts:

"You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue - we're breathing again. Thanks a lot."

While 'Buzz' Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were preparing to descend the ladder to the surface soil of the Moon, which appeared to have the consistency of a freshly ploughed field, Michael Collins, the pilot, was orbiting the Moon in their command module, Apollo 11.

The commander, Neil Armstrong, took the first step. He was followed closely by his colleague, Edwin Aldrin. Together, they erected the American flag, which was rimmed with a stiff wire frame because there was no breeze to display it (see About the Moon).

Buzz Aldrin and the United States flag.

They also set up a seismometer to detect moonquakes, a laser reflector, and a sheet of aluminium foil to trap particles of the solar wind. Photographs were taken of the landscape and the rocks and they collected 22kg (48.5 lb) of rock samples to be examined at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston.

"We have brought back rocks and I think it's a fair trade. For just as the Rosetta Stone revealed the language of ancient Egypt, so may these rocks unlock the mystery of the origin of the Moon, and indeed even of our Earth and Solar System."

Michael Collins, CM Pilot, Apollo 11, before a joint session of Congress.

The most famous lunar surface photograph: Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin poses for the history books.

Armstrong, who was first out and last in of the Lunar Module (LM), spent a total of two hours and thirty-one minutes on the Moon. During the last of the Apollo missions, crew time outside the LM was extended to twenty-two hours and five minute. The travelling range on the surface also increased from about 100m on foot (during Apollo 11), to a total of 35km (21.7 miles) in an electric car (during Apollo 17).

When the Apollo 11 crew got back to Earth, they were put into quarantine (isolation imposed to prevent infection or contagion). This "safety-precaution" was undertaken by scientists to see whether the astronauts picked up any unusual illnesses, and to observe any side effects of being away from Earth, in the outer space, and on the Moon.

The Apollo 11 lunar expedition can be regarded as the first step in human expansion into the Solar System, but it can also be seen as a result of the 'space race' between the USA and the ex-Soviet Union at that time. America wanted to restore its technological leadership in the eyes of the world after it had witnessed the Soviet Union's early lead in space flight (see Space Records). This was confirmed by the speech President Kennedy delivered to Congress on 25^th May 1961:

"I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth."

(This speech, later established political and public support for, and hastened the advancement of space technology.)

With Apollo 11, the race to the Moon ended. The Apollo - Lunar programme of 1969 - 72 sent nine expeditions to the Moon, six of which succeeded. A total of twelve astronauts landed on the lunar surface.

Apollo 17 on the Moon

The astronauts who first stood on the Moon became national heroes. They were pioneers of space travel, paving the way for future generations.

Click on this link - Steps to the Moon - to see the chronology of some of the main developments in the man-in-space-race.