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 WALKING
ON THE MOON
On 20th July 1969, a man set foot on
an extra-terrestrial surface for the very first time in history.
This man was Neil Armstrong, and his words, "This is one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," became
probably the most famous words of the Twentieth Century. It was
announced in 1962 by the American president, John F. Kennedy,
that the Americans would put a man on the moon by the end of that
decade. At the time, America was losing the Space Race against
the Russians, who had launched rockets outside Earth's atmosphere
and were the first to send astronauts (or cosmonauts) into space (Yuru Gagarin in 1961). After also sending the first man on a
space walk in 1965 (Alexei Leonov was the first man to step out
of a space craft in space), the Russians started losing the race.
After many practice flights and orbits around the Moon from 1966,
American astronauts were ready to walk on its surface in 1969.
Apollo 11 was the name of the first mission to land on the
Moon. Neil Armstrong was first, with Edwin "Buzz"
Aldrin as the second man. Their footsteps remain on the surface
of the Moon now, and will remain there for millions of years. A
few months after, Apollo 12 landed two more astronauts on the Moon on 14th
November. Apollo 13 headed for the Moon, but an explosion on the
space-craft caused the mission to be cancelled, and the
astronauts to have to return to Earth, using a home-made piece of
equipment to prevent poisonous carbon dioxide from building up in
the space craft. After that, four more missions landed men on the
Moon, with Apollo 17 being the last on 7th December 1972. Since then, no
man has set foot on the Moon. |
From the
Apollo missions, we discovered how the Moon's surface temperature
can be extremely hot and extremely cold, depending on whether it
is receiving sunlight or not. The Moon's surface is also dry and
chalky. However, orange rocks on the surface provide evidence of
volcanic activity once in the Moon's history. Most importantly,
the Apollo missions proved that man can walk on another world,
something that would have been unimaginable one hundred years
earlier.
Below are
some pictures taken during the Apollo missions to the Moon.
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The picture
on the left shows the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, containing Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the mission to be the first men
to walk on the moon. In the distance, you can see the Earth rising over the horizon. |
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On the right
is a picture of a giant boulder on the Moon's surface. This was
photographed during the Apollo 17 mission, the last mission to land
men on the moon. Again, you can see the Earth, high in the Moon's sky. |
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On the left
is a picture of Earth
rising, viewed from the Moon. |
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The picture on the right shows Edwin Aldrin standing
by the American flag two ours before leaving the surface after
the first manned lunar landing in 1969. After Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin left the Moon, the flag fell over! There is no air on
the Moon, so there would be no wind to make the flag blow.
Instead, a beam going across the top of the flag gives the
impression of it being blown. |
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On the left
is a picture of the landscape near to the landing side of the Apollo
17 lunar module.
Notice how smooth it appears. You can also see lunar hills in the
background. This is the part of the Moon where the orange rocks
were found which show that volcanoes once took place on the Moon.
The buggy in the middle of the picture was the astronauts' method
of transport around the Moon. |
Finally,
here's a picture of an astronaut with his pet dog on the Moon. I
have a feeling that this isn't a genuine photograph!
Hmmmmm.....!!!!
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