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US-SPACE-MOON WRAP
50 years ago, humanity’s first steps on another world
WASHINGTON, July 20, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Fifty years ago on Saturday,
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans in
history to set foot on the Moon, an event watched on television by half a
billion people.
Their lunar module, named “Eagle,” touched down at 2018 GMT (4:18pm ET) on
July 20, 1969.
A little over six hours later, at 0256 GMT, Armstrong placed his left foot
on the lunar surface, declaring: “That’s one small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind.”
NASA has been in overdrive for several weeks to mark the anniversary, with
exhibits and events nationwide but most notably at the Kennedy Space Center
in Cape Canaveral, Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence is due to deliver a speech from the
Kennedy Space Center, from where Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins, the
third crew member took off. All three men were born in 1930.
Pence sent shockwaves through the industry in his last major space speech
in March, when he advanced the deadline to return humans to the Moon by four
years, from 2028 to 2024.
It is within this charged context, with President Donald Trump publicly
questioning NASA’s plans to return to the Moon to test technology for Mars,
that the US is celebrating the anniversary of the epoch-making Apollo 11
mission.
– ‘World in my window’-
Collins, 88, has remained the more active of the surviving Apollo
veterans, and frequently shares lyrical recollections of the mission.
Speaking at a Washington event on Thursday, he said that while the Moon
itself was breathtaking seen up close, it was the view of Earth that has
stayed with him and shaped his perspective.
“When we rolled out and looked at (the Moon), oh, it was an awesome
sphere,” he said.
“The Sun was behind it, so it was illuminated by a rim of gold which made
the strangest appearances of the craters and crater pits, the contrast
between the whiter than white and darker than dark.”
As magnificent as that view was, it was “nothing compared to this other
window out there,” Collins continued.
“Out there was this little pea about the size of your thumbnail at arm’s
length: blue, white, very shiny, you get the blue of the oceans, white of the
clouds, streaks of rust we call continents, such a beautiful gorgeous tiny
thing, nestled into this black velvet of the rest of the universe.”
While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were on the surface, ex-fighter pilot
Collins remained in lunar orbit where he was in touch with ground control,
providing them updates on his position.
“I said to Mission control, ‘Hey, Houston, I’ve got the world in my
window.’
– Cold War victory –
By placing men on the Moon, the US achieved the ultimate victory in the
Space Race after losing the initial heats to the Soviet Union, which was
first to put a satellite and then a man in space.
The undertaking, announced by president John F Kennedy in 1961 and partly
spurred by the Bay of Pigs crisis, involved enormous spending rivaled in
scope only by the construction of the Panama Canal and the Manhattan Project.
It was a resounding achievement not just from a technical perspective but
also diplomatic, as the two superpowers jostled for global prestige in the
Cold War.
Trump has relaunched the race to re-conquer the Moon — this time with the
first woman — and to journey onwards to the Red Planet.
But the deadlines — 2024 and 2033 respectively — appear unrealistic and
have caused turbulence within the space agency.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1300 hrs