Facts on Moon Landing | General Knowledge Encyclopedia - Class 8 PDF Download

Introduction

In 1962, President Kennedy made a courageous and ambitious declaration, stating, "We opt to journey to the Moon." In the subsequent seven years, NASA, the US space agency, mobilized a workforce of 400,000 individuals and invested $25 billion (£20 billion) in realizing this extraordinary mission. Finally, on July 16, 1969, after extensive planning and preparations, the Apollo 11 mission was ready to commence its historic journey.
On a picturesque sunny day at Cape Kennedy, Florida, Commander Neil Armstrong and two fellow astronauts, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, started their day. They enjoyed a breakfast of steak, scrambled eggs, toast, coffee, and orange juice before heading to the launchpad.
At 6:45 am, they boarded the spacecraft and meticulously inspected the equipment. Nearly three hours later, precisely at 9:32 am, the successful launch took place. Only 12 minutes after liftoff, they entered an elliptical Earth orbit.

The remainder of the day proceeded without any issues for the astronauts. They decided to turn in earlier than scheduled, going to bed at 8:52 pm. The spacecraft continued its pre-programmed trajectory towards the Sea of Tranquillity, their designated landing site on the Moon. 

Note: The Sea of Tranquillity is not an actual sea, as there is no water on the Moon's surface. Early astronomers mistakenly identified dark patches as large water bodies and named them 'seas'.

Over a span of 76 hours, Apollo 11 covered approximately 240,000 miles before finally entering lunar orbit on July 19th. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made preparations to descend to the Moon's surface using the lunar module, named Eagle, while Michael Collins stayed aboard the command module, orbiting the Moon.

On July 20th, 1969, at 8:18 pm, they successfully touched down on the Moon. Although a five-hour rest period was planned, both astronauts doubted their ability to sleep, so they immediately started getting ready to leave the lunar module, Eagle. After six hours, Neil Armstrong eventually emerged from the lunar module and took the historic step onto the Moon's surface, becoming the first human ever to walk on its surface.
As he stepped from Eagle, he uttered the following now famous words…

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Buzz Aldrin joined Neil Armstrong on the surface about 20 minutes later, and simply said…

“Magnificent desolation.”

• During their time on the Moon, the astronauts took numerous photographs of the lunar surface and gathered 21.5kg of soil and rock samples to bring back to Earth. They also planted an American flag on the Moon's surface and had a conversation with President Richard Nixon through a telephone-radio transmission. 
• President Nixon expressed that it was the proudest day for Americans, to which Neil Armstrong replied that it was an honor to represent people of peace from all nations. A plaque was left on the Moon, commemorating the historic event and carrying the signatures of the astronauts and President Nixon, along with two drawings of Earth.
• After spending more than 22 hours on the Moon, the astronauts returned to the lunar module, Eagle, for a rest period of 7 hours before reuniting with Michael Collins aboard the command module. On July 24th, they re-entered Earth's atmosphere and safely landed in the Pacific Ocean, deploying the command module's parachute. The entire Apollo 11 mission, from launch to splash down, lasted exactly 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 35 seconds, which was 36 minutes longer than originally planned.

10 Fascinating Facts about the Moon Landing

• The Moon is an average of 238,855 miles away from Earth (that’s the equivalent of travelling from Land’s End to John o’ Groats 273 times!).
• The Apollo 11 spacecraft was over 110 metres tall.
• Today, most mobile phones are more powerful than the Apollo 11’s computers.
• The lunar module, Eagle, was so small that there was no room for seats - Armstrong and Aldrin had to stand.
• Three new minerals were discovered on the Moon, one of which was called Armalcolite - named after Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins.
• On the Moon, gravity is only one sixth as strong as it is on Earth - this means you can jump six times higher on the Moon than you can here!
• Armstrong said that the Moon smelled like ‘wet ashes in a fireplace’.
• Black and white footage of the Moon landing was transmitted to Earth and watched by 600 million people (that was then a fifth of the world’s population.)
• After returning to Earth, the astronauts had to spend 21 days in quarantine.
• Katherine Johnson, an African American mathematician, made the calculations that ensured the mission to the moon was possible. Her achievement paved the way for more women and ethnic minorities to make progress in this field, too.