Forty years ago, on the moon

On July 20th, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first humans to walk on a celestial body other than Earth. Their colleague, Michael Collins, orbited above them in the Apollo 11 command module, in many ways the 'forgotten man' of that historic mission.

Left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin

The three had launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16th, atop a Saturn V rocket.




Arriving in orbit around the Moon on July 19th, the astronauts studied their proposed landing site in the Sea of Tranquility area.




On July 20th, Armstrong and Aldrin entered the Lunar Landing Module, named Eagle, and separated from the Command Module, named Columbia. They touched down on the Moon at 8.17 p.m. Universal Time that evening.

Armstrong was the first to descend to the Moon's surface, uttering his famous words, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."




Aldrin followed him down the ladder. Armstrong later took this photograph of Aldrin, showing himself reflected in the visor of Aldrin's helmet.




Something that pleases me, as a believer, is that Aldrin, a staunch Presbyterian, took Communion with him to the Moon, and received it while on the lunar surface. According to Wikipedia:

Aldrin is a Presbyterian, and is known for his statements about God. After landing on the moon, Aldrin radioed earth with these words: "I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way." He received Communion on the surface of the Moon, but kept it secret because of a lawsuit brought by Madalyn Murray O'Hair over the reading of Genesis on Apollo 8. Aldrin, a church elder, used a pastor's home Communion kit given to him by Dean Woodruff and recited words used by his pastor at Webster Presbyterian Church. Webster Presbyterian Church, a local congregation in Webster, Texas (a Houston suburb near the Johnson Space Center) possesses the chalice used for communion on the moon, and commemorates the event annually on the Sunday closest to July 20.

The two astronauts remained on the Moon for almost a full day, including about 2½ hours on the Lunar surface. They deployed numerous experiments, and collected almost 50 pounds of lunar soil and rock for later analysis on Earth. Here Neil Armstrong unpacks experiments from the lunar lander.




Attached to the lunar lander was this plaque, left on the Moon's surface as a permanent record of their pioneering mission.




The two blasted off from the Moon's surface at 5.54 p.m. Universal time on July 21st. Michael Collins took this picture of their ascent module approaching the Command Module later that evening.




After a safe flight back to Earth, the three astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24th.




Apollo 11 was the high point of the US space program, and fulfilled the vision of President John F. Kennedy, who said to Congress in 1961, "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."




I can recall, as a child, following the progress of Apollo 11 with intense interest. It captured the imagination of the whole world. The three astronauts are to gather at the White House to be honored by President Obama on the fortieth anniversary of their mission - honors richly deserved.

Peter