Apollo+11

__Apollo 11__ “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” exclaimed 36 year old Neil Armstrong as he stepped on the moon. These words were heard all around the world on July 20th, 1969. The United States had finally accomplished their goal of the decade set by John F. Kennedy in 1961, and made progress towards winning what became known as the Race to Space, a competition with the Soviets to see who could accomplish missions in space first. Three heroic astronauts, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins would become part of the mission that would place the first man on the moon.

Contents 1.NASA/mission overview 2. Involvement of citizens 3.The Astronauts

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**NASA** NASA stands for National Aeronautics Space Administration. NASA was formed after Congress approved of the National Aeronautics Space Act in 1958. It replaced its predecessor The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The goals of NASA were to further space exploration, aeronautic research and scientific discovery. NASA began with the 8,000 former NACA employees and a budget of $100 million dollars. Since its formation, NASA has had many successful missions and continued to develop. Apollo 11 was the fifth manned mission and the first in which the United States landed on the moon. In the three years following //Apollo 11, //NASA had five Apollo missions that landed on the moon. **Mission Overview:** Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy’s Space Center in Florida on July 1969 at 8:32 a.m. The three astronauts traveled for three days without capturing a glimpse of the moon. The next day //Apollo 11 //split into two separate spacecrafts. Neil Armstrong and Aldrin remained in the //Eagle // and Collins remained behind in the //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Columbia. // Collins would orbit the moon in his space craft while the other two landed the //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Eagle // on the surface of the moon. Armstrong landed //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Eagle // on the moon with just forty seconds worth of fuel remaining. The two astronauts took photos, lunar samples, and planted a United States flag during the two and a half hours they were walking on the moon for. Finally, //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Eagle //docked with //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Columbia // and began the descent for Earth. The crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean three days later. The total duration of the mission was 8 days. It returned with 47.5 pounds of lunar samples and many photos. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**Involvement** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">There were many people whowere involved in one way or another in contributing to the success of Apollo 11. First off, there was the inspiration that came from John F. Kennedy in his speech to Congress on May 25, 1961. In this speech he said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth, “. Clearly there were the three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and John Michaels, but there were also many people that worked behind the scenes. The goal set forth by JFK would challenge a lot of people. It is estimated that over 400,000 people in the United States were involved directly or indirectly to the Apollo 11 mission. There were doctors, geologists, scientists, planners, builders, safety inspectors, tailors, engineers, flight directors, programmers, welders, and just about any other profession that one can think of had members that were represented. This task was only able to be met by the help of all these people. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**Neil Armstrong** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio on August 5<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">th, 1930. He had his first airplane ride in 1936 at the age of six. Near his hometown Armstrong began to take flying lessons at age 15. Armstrong worked three jobs to pay for his classes, and on his 16<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">th birthday he received his flying license. In 1946 he won a scholarship to Purdue University in Indiana. Taking up the offer, Armstrong began college in 1947. But after his first year and a half, he had to leave college to go serve in the war in Asia. In the Korean War he flew 78 bombing missions and as a result was awarded with three medals. After the war, Armstrong resumed his college career and met his future wife. He married Janet Shearnon in January of 1956. In September of 1962 Armstrong was one of nine pilots chosen to be trained by NASA. While working for NASA Armstrong was involved in the Mission Gemini 8. He, along with his copilot, almost lost his life, but his quick thinking saved them both. The next mission he was involved in was Apollo 11. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**Buzz Aldrin** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Aldrin was born on January 20<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">th, 1930 in his home city of Montclair, New Jersey. He took academics seriously, and he finished among the top three in his class while attending West Point Academy. After graduating, he joined the United States Air Force and served in the Korean War. In the war he flew F86 Sabre Jets. He also fought flew F-100s in Birburg, Germany. After serving, he earned a Doctorate in Astronautics from Massachusetts Institution of Technology. Finally, he got involved in NASA when he was selected to take part in Gemini 8 and the Gemini 12 project. For his mission to the moon, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">**Michael Collins** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Michael Collins was born on October 31<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">st, 1930 in Rome, Italy. Before his career as an astronaut he attended the United States Military Academy. He served in the Air Force and in 1957 he married Patricia Finnegan. Within one year of his mission on Apollo 11 he retired his from NASA and took a job as the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Then he switched professions several more times in the following two decades. He also wrote three books. These books are //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Carrying the Fire //, //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Flying to the Moon and Other Strange Places, // and //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Liftoff: The Story of America's Adventure in Space //. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">** Analysis ** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The United States soared to new heights because of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission. Three men were sent on a mission to the moon because of the persistence of more than 400,000 Americans that have traces of involvement in the Apollo 11 mission, and their completive nature that pressured them to supersede their rivals, the Soviet Union. July 20<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">th, 1969 was seen as a very important day that not only reshaped the United States, but a day on which the U.S. attained global recognition, advanced technology and space exploration, and that helped the United compete against Soviet Russia in the ongoing Cold War. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Following the end of WWII in 1945, the Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War began because there was a mutual sense of distrust between these two nations, who had fought alongside one another against Nazi-Germany. Both sides were afraid of the threat that was presented by the unfamiliar, opposing country. For this reason, both nations tried to show their dominance over the other. There was a belief that the amount of power that one possessed was dependent on the amount of nuclear weapons that you possessed. Eventually this race for power took moved into space. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The Soviet Union may have been unable to keep up with the production of quality missiles that surpassed those of the U.S., but in October of 1957, the Soviets launched their artificial satellite, //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Sputnik I //, which orbited the Earth. This initiated a competition between the Soviets and the United States to become the first ones to perform successful space missions. This on going competition became known as the Race to Space. The Soviets also sent the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin, in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. The Soviets also were able to send the first woman into space in June, 1963 and perform the first spacewalk in March of 1965. On the other hand, the Apollo 11 mission was one of the unprecedented milestones of the United States; it was the first space mission in which the United States had done the unthinkable, landed on the moon. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">The recognition of the United States had been affected tremendously by this mission. Prior to the moon landing, 43 percent of Americans were supporters of the mission according to a 1967 Harris poll, but this mission did not only appeal to Americans. In fact, the moon landing was so grand that it attracted viewers from all around the world. There was an estimated 500 million, or about eighteen percent of the world that viewed the televised landing and more that listened to it on the radio. Following the return to Earth, the astronauts were given much attention. Following their return to Earth the three “Hero Astronauts,” as they were called, went on a thirty-five day tour in which they visited twenty five different countries. Also, the three astronauts received the Collier Trophy and Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society within a year of completing their mission. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Apollo 11 was not the last of space exploration missions, even though Apollo 11 may have been seen as the end of the Race to Space. Since Apollo 11, NASA has performed numerous mission, and five in which they returned to the moon. In Apollo 11, the astronauts returned to Earth with 47.5 pounds of lunar rock, and in the nest five Apollo missions they continued their space landing and taking more data. The Apollo astronauts collected information such as soil mechanics, solar winds, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and heat flow. The next major mission after the Apollo missions was cooperative space mission between the Soviets and the United States in 1975. This project was called the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Later, in 1993, the United States and the Soviet Russia signed an agreement to create a joint space station. This is an ongoing process that involves a total of fifteen countries worldwide. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">Created by Andy Stanek <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: auto;">__****__ Related Links Apollo Program John F Kennedy Technology __NASA__
 * "The Cold War"**

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