Transcript Apollo 11 The Moon Landing 20th July 1969

Apollo 11
The Moon Landing
th
20
July 1969
It’s 4.15am on Wednesday 16th July 1969 and Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and
Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (below L - R) wake up knowing that today is a special day – they are about
to make history.
But where did it all begin?
Robert Goddard in
1926 became the
first person to
launch a liquid
fuelled rocket. It
may have looked
like a climbing
frame, but it worked
– just!!
Despite Goddard’s
achievements, Germany was
the most successful with
rocket development over the
next 20 years.
Werner von Braun is
acclaimed as being the father
of modern rocketry. A
Prussian, Von Braun worked
with the Nazi's in their rocket
program until the end of the
war. Following the war he
worked in the US Army
developing rockets which
would lead to the beginning
of the US space program
The Russian satellite effort was led by
Sergei Korolev, though his name was
kept secret until after his death in
1966.
Korolev was born in 1907, and trained
at university to become an aerospace
engineer. In the 1930s he worked on
developing long range missiles. In
1938, he was arrested on trumped-up
charges and sent to prison; he spent
the next few years in several forced
labour camps.
During WWII he and other engineers
were sent to prison design camps,
where imprisoned engineers designed
rockets for military use. After the war
Korolev was released from prison and
continued work on long range ballistic
missiles.
On October 1957 the
Soviet government
announced that it had
launched the first satellite,
named Sputnik 1 (sputnik
is Russian for fellow
traveller).
Sputnik 2 carried Laika, a Siberian husky, which became the first
animal to go into orbit.
Laika was kept alive for 10 days to prove that it was possible to
survive in the conditions of space. Unfortunately for Laika, no
one had worked out how to get her down again as the capsule
was not designed to return to Earth, and Laika died in Space.
Imagine: The United States is technologically
behind in a race with its adversary, the Soviet
Union, to explore the new territory of outer
space. You have been chosen from a pool of
110 qualified pilots to be one of seven men to
go into outer space. You have trained long
hours, both physically and mentally, for this
mission. You have watched the explosions of
many of the same kind of rockets that will be
carrying you into space. Now you sit atop one
of those rockets filled with explosive rocket
fuel. Mission Control is counting down. The
world is watching you on television. In
minutes, you will be either in outer space or
dead from a massive explosion. There is no
turning back. The fate of the fledgling space
program is riding on you and the success of
your mission. These were the Mercury
astronauts.
On April 12th 1961, the Soviets launched Yuri Gagarin
into space. – humiliating the US and Nasa. He orbited
the world. The American replied 22 days later with
Alan Shepard, whose entire mission lasted 15 mins
and was more of a space-hop!
“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 the earth. No single space project
in this period will more impressive to mankind”
25th May 1961
John Glenn
– first
American
into orbit
Feb 1962
June 19, 1963 - Russian Valentina Tereshkova is
the first woman in space
Alexey Leonov
– first man to
complete a
space walk.
18th March
1965. The first
American, Ed
White, did it in
June 1966.
Gemini
Astronauts
– 2 manned
American
flight. The
Russian
replied by
cramming 3
people in!
Preparations for the Apollo program began
long before the manned Apollo missions were
flown. Test flights of the Saturn I booster
began in October 1961 and lasted until
September 1964.
Apollo 1
Unlaunched - On 27 January 1967 Gus
Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were
killed when a fire erupted in their Apollo
spacecraft during a test on the launch pad.
The next few flights were either test flights or
manned orbits.
The main reason the Americans were suddenly
becoming more successful was due to the death in
1966 of Sergei Korolev. The instrumental driver of
the USSR’s Space program
Earth Rise – taken on Apollo 8 mission
8.32am Wednesday 16 July 1969 – watched by the world - history was to be made.
The Apollo spacecraft,
bound for the moon,
consisted of a conical
Command Module, in
which the three U.S.
astronauts would fly,
connected to a cylindrical
Service Module
containing the power,
propulsion, and lifesupport systems. It was
called “Columbia”.
Michael Collins will
remain on board as the
command module pilot
waiting to pick up Neil
and Buzz
The lunar module (called “Eagle”), piloted by Neil
Armstrong alongside Buzz Aldrin, descends towards
the moon.
3.17pm – The Eagle has landed!
On July 24th – four days later – Columbia re-entered the Earth’s
atmosphere. It was travelling at 39,750 km/h and glowing with
heat. As the capsule fell, three sets of parachutes opened to
slow its descent. By the time the blackened spacecraft reached
the surface of the sea, it was falling quite slowly, at just 9 m/s.
The capsule splashed down in the pacific, just 20 miles from the
recovery ship . They had travelled 800,000 km
They were kept in isolation for three weeks, as scientists were concerned that
they may have brought back unknown germs from the moon.
One of the astronauts on
Apollo 11, this man also
walked on the Moon
The first man on the Moon
This man read from the
book of Genesis as he
orbited the Moon on
Christmas Eve, 1968
The third astronaut on the
Apollo 11 mission, this man
made sure the others
returned safely from the
Moon's surface.
Now a US Senator, this man
A Russian, this man was the was the first American to
first to orbit the Earth
orbit Earth. He went back to
space in the fall of 1998
The second astronaut on the This man commanded the
Apollo 13 mission
famous Apollo 13 mission
Use the internet to solve
this wordsearch
This man didn't go on the
Apollo 13 mission because The first American to fly in
doctors thought he had the
space.
measles
The third astronaut on the
Apollo 13 mission
Task 2…
Create a one page (A4) biography about one of the people
named in this presentation.
You should include:
• Dates and events
• Information about their life
• At least 5 pictures
• Less well known information