Apollo 11 Research Paper

Apollo 11

Apollo 11 was a space mission that landed the first men onto the Moon. The Saturn V rocket flew Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins up to the Moon and back to Earth. The mission was most famous for having the first human, Neil Armstrong step onto the Moon. The Moon landing happened on July 20, 1969.

During the 1950’s and the 1960’s the “space race” was a huge dispute between the U.S and Russia. The U.S and Russia had a competition to see who was capable to earn more achievement involving space. This competition was called the “space race”. In 1957 Russia sent the first artificial satellite “ Sputnik” into space gaining the lead in the “space race”. About four years later on April 12,

1961, Russia sent the first man into space. The man’s name was Yuri Gagarin. After Russia sent Gagarin into space, the U.S was far behind in the “space race”.

On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about sending man to the Moon before the decade ended. President John F. Kennedy really pushed for this idea because he felt that the U.S was really far behind in the “space race”.

On July 29, 1958, Dwight D.

Eisenhower founded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA was a government agency that had to do with space and aerial topics. Besides sending satellites up into space, NASA also conducted many Apollo missions to send men up into space such as; Apollo 1, Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 9, and Apollo 10. NASA was also the first organization to send men onto the moon. It took years for NASA to set up the Apollo 11 mission. They took the technology from past Apollo missions and enhanced it and used it for Apollo 11. Assassinated in 1963 Lyndon B. Johnson preceded John F. Kennedy as President of the United States. Lyndon B. Johnson continued to work on the Apollo 11 project throughout his whole presidency. Voted in office in 1969, Nixon prepared for the launch that was about six months

away.

Throughout the mission Mission Control stayed in contact with the Apollo 11 crew while they were in space. Christopher C. Craft Jr. born February 28, 1924, was a NASA engineer and manager who established Mission Control. Dedicated to him was the, Christopher C Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, located in Houston, Texas.

The Saturn V was a rocket that carried three astronauts into space. The Saturn V rocket was a manual pilot rocket that was three hundred sixty-three feet tall and thirty-three feet in diameter. The Saturn V rocket was used on the Apollo 4 mission, the Apollo 6 mission, the Apollo 8 mission, the Apollo 9 mission, the Apollo 10 mission, the Apollo 11 mission, the Apollo 12 mission, the Apollo 13 mission, the Apollo 14 mission, the Apollo 15 mission, the Apollo 16 mission, the Apollo 17 mission, and the Skylab 1 mission. The Saturn V rocket costed about 6.0 billion dollars. The three astronauts that the Saturn V carried into space were, Neil Armstrong (born: August 5, 1930, Auglaize County, Ohio), Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. “Buzz” (born: January 20, 1930, Glen Ridge, New Jersey), and Michael Collins (born: October 31, 1930, Rome, Italy).

The launch site was at the Kennedy Space Center located on Merritt Island, Florida on Pad 39 A, at complex 39. On July 16, 1969 at 9:32 exactly, the Saturn V launched from the Kennedy Space Center. It took three days for the Apollo 11 crew to reach the Moon. Once they reached the Moon, before landing, Michael Collins separated the Command Module “ Columbia” from the rocket, and then orbited around the Moon while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong began their descent onto the Moon in the in the Lunar Module “Eagle”. The Lunar Module landed with the least fuel out of any other Apollo missions. Total the Lunar Module had about twenty seconds of fuel left. The two astronauts brought a video camera, so that people were able to watch the mission on their televisions. About six million people watched the Moon landing including President Nixon who made contact with the astronauts later on in the mission.

With Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the Lunar Module landed on July 20, 1969 at 8:18 Universal Time Coordinate (UTC). Six hours later Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Lunar Module and onto the ladder, and then described the Lunar surface to Mission Control to make sure it was safe to step on. On July 21, 1969, at 2:56 (UTC), Neil Armstrong Planted his left foot on the Lunar surface. While stepping onto the surface Armstrong said, “ That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong then became the first person to step onto the Moon in World history. Later Buzz Aldrin joined Neil Armstrong on the Moon. On the Moon Nixon came in contact with Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong and congratulated them and also told the two astronauts that what they just did was going to be remembered forever by everyone. Nixon made contact with them on the phone in the Oval Office at the White House. On the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took samples of the Lunar surface and of the rocks on the Moon, and then they placed the samples in the Lunar Module to bring back to Earth. Besides taking samples on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong took a video and pictures of themselves on the Moon.

After about two and a half hours of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon, they headed back into the Lunar Module and started their ascend from the Moon to regroup with Michael Collins in the Command Module. The two astronauts brought about forty-eight pounds of Moon rock onto the Lunar Module. They left scientific instruments on the Moon such as a device to measure moonquakes ( like a earthquake, but on the Moon). They also left the American Flag they planted, a Apollo 1 patch and a memorial bag. Nixon made the Moon Disaster Speech incase the three astronauts were not capable of returning home. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent a total of twenty-one and a half hours surfaced on the Moon. After Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin regrouped with Michael Collins, they prepared for splashdown onto Earth.

On July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 crew landed in the Pacific Ocean at 12:50 P.M in the Command Module “ Eagle”. NASA sent a recovery team of helicopters, boats, and people to pick up the Apollo 11 crew. After the recovery team located the Apollo 11 crew, a helicopter picked up the three astronauts, and then brought them onto the USS Hornet Navy ship. The ship also picked up the Command Module “ Columbia”. The Command Module “ Columbia” is located in the National Air and Space Museum to this day. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins were quarantined for twenty-one days for fear of any types of diseases or radioactive chemicals that may have infected the Apollo 11 crew. While in quarantine President Nixon boarded the USS Hornet to congratulate Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins in person. After about three weeks of quarantine, the three Apollo astronauts were let out on August 10, 1969. On August 13, 1969 there were parades in New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles where Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins rode on parade floats in their honor. Also later on in 1970 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon.

After the Apollo 11 mission, four more missions sent man to the Moon and back safely.

Technology used from the Apollo 11 mission was used for other missions such as Apollo 13. NASA did not enhance the technology just for Apollo missions, but they used the same technology from the Apollo 11 mission and used it to make and launch satellites. The Apollo missions that put man on the Moon where, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17. Each of these mission was successful because of the Apollo 11 mission and its technology. NASA made technology that was able to put man on the Moon successfully, and they knew that the technology was only going to get more advanced for future Apollo missions. That day that humans sent man to the Moon really showed how advanced the technology was at that time. The computers that were used for the mission were less powerful than one of today’s cell phones. Technology had a huge impact on the mission. The Apollo 11 mission did not just impact the technology, but it also impacted humans everywhere. It showed that the impossible can be made in to something that is possible. John F. Kennedy had a vision to send man to the Moon before the decade ended. NASA accomplished his vision with a lot of work put into it. The Apollo 11 missions showed that if a group of people put their mind to something, they are able to accomplish anything if they put in the hard work and time to make it happen. The question “ can we put man onto the Moon” was

asked. It was also answered with a definite “yes”. July 21, 1969 will not only be remembered by Americans, but it will be remembered by humans everywhere.

Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins still live today and both are eighty-five years old, but sadly Neil Armstrong died of cardiovascular complications. Neil Armstrong had vascular bypass surgery on August 7, 2012. Eighteen days later on August 25, 2012 Neil Armstrong died in Cincinnati, Ohio. On September 14, 2012, Neil Armstrong’s wife, Carol tossed his ashes off the USS Philippine into the Atlantic Ocean. Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins attended Neil Armstrong’s burial at sea. Neil Armstrong’s legacy will never be forgotten, and the words that he said will be remembered in World history forever. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

-Neil Armstrong July 21, 1969 on the Moon.

Works Cited