“One giant leap for mankind...” -------------------------- On July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon, declaring, as he stepped on to the lunar surface, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Just 12 men have walked on the Moon, and they remain the only human beings to have visited another world -------------------------- July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 – carrying Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and “Buzz” Aldrin – blasts off atop Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Centre -------------------------- 1. First stage Five F-1 engines, powered by RP1 (refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen, lift Apollo spacecraft to height of 67.6km in just 168 seconds -------------------------- 2. Second stage Five J-2 engines burn for six minutes, lifting craft to 176km at 25,182km/h. Fuel: Liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen -------------------------- 3. Third stage Single J-2 engine boosts craft into Earth orbit, from where Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) burn increases spacecraft’s velocity close to Earth’s escape velocity of 40,320km/h -------------------------- 4. July 16-18 After 385,000km voyage, Command Service Module “Columbia” rotates and docks with “Eagle” Lunar Module -------------------------- July 19 Apollo 11 enters lunar orbit -------------------------- July 20 Columbia pilot Collins remains in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin descend in Eagle. During 13-minute descent radio links with Earth fade and onboard computer flashes error codes. Eagle overshoots landing zone and lands at Tranquility base with less than 30 of fuel remaining -------------------------- Apollo moon-walkers and drivers 1 Neil Armstrong Apollo 11 2 Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jul 1969 3 Charles “Pete” Conrad Apollo 12 4 Alan Bean Nov 1969 5 Alan Shepard* Apollo 14 6 Edgar Mitchell Feb 1971 7 David Scott Apollo 15 Both drive Lunar Rover Lunar Rover 8 James Irwin Jul 1971 9 John Young Apollo 16 Lunar Rover 10 Charles Duke Apr 1972 11 Eugene Cernan Apollo 17 Lunar lander 12 Harrison Schmitt Dec 1972 -------------------------- *Shepard swings six iron to hit couple of golf balls, driving one around 400 metres -------------------------- (Eagle) -------------------------- 1 2 3 4 -------------------------- STEPS TO THE MOON “I believe that 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” President John F. Kennedy, May 25, 1961 -------------------------- 1957 Sputnik: First artificial satellite to orbit Earth launched by Soviet Union -------------------------- 1961, Yuri Gagarin: Soviet cosmonaut becomes first man in space -------------------------- 1962, John Glenn (below): Becomes first American to orbit Earth in Freedom 7 Mercury capsule -------------------------- 1964-66, Gemini programme: Nine manned flights used to practice rendezvous and docking procedures neccessary for Apollo missions -------------------------- Jan 27, 1967: Apollo programme suffers major setback with deaths in capsule fire of Virgil Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee -------------------------- 1967, Apollo 4: First test flight of Saturn V rocket -------------------------- 1968, Apollo 7: First manned flight in redesigned capsule -------------------------- Oct 1968-May 1969: NASA launches four manned Apollo flights -------------------------- 1969, Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong (below) commands first manned mission to land on Moon -------------------------- 1972, Apollo 17: Final Apollo mission. Apollo 18-20 cancelled due to budget constraints. Eleven-year programme cost $25.4 billion – more than $160 billion in today’s currency -------------------------- Sea of Tranquility Sea of Serenity Sea of Rains 11 12 14 15 16 17 -------------------------- Only 24 people – all Apollo astronauts – have ever seen Earth-rise or far side of Moon -------------------------- Sources: NASA, Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum Pictures: NASA, Associated Press, Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS