APOLLO 11 LAUNCHES INTO THE HISTORY BOOKS on July 16, 1969 by being the first manned-space mission to the moon. Photo courtesy of Ohio Historical Society
Written by Evan J. Yap
First posted on July 16, 2009
WATCHING THE VIDEO OF THE APOLLO 11 LAUNCH, you can’t help but let your jaw drop at the power unleashed when those rockets ignite and blast the rocket into the sky. The first manned-flight to the moon, the Apollo 11 spacecraft was a landmark in various fields of science and technology. But what you almost don’t see in the video is the social and political drama surrounding the Apollo 11 launch.
Caught in the Cold War against the Soviets and Communism, John F. Kennedy faced the Americans during his election campaign in 1960 and promised to put America first in the fields of space exploration and missile defense.
But in April of 1961, the Soviet Union succeeded in launching Yuri Gagarin into space orbit.
Not wanting to be outdone, the Congress of the USA intended to have a crash program that would commit the country to catching up with USSR’s space program. A slap in the face, Gagarin’s flight placed a point ahead of the USA in the Cold War scorecard–the Americans just did not want to be outdone.
A month after Gagarin shocked America, Kennedy spoke to Congress expressing his firm commitment to beat the Soviets in the Space Race no matter what it takes (though he didn’t say it that way explicitly).
First, 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 be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
And Kennedy was right. Apollo 11 became the darling of the world. In the summer of 1969, the children littered the living rooms and watched as the rocket launched into space from Cape Canaveral in Florida. At the launch pad, cameras covered every angle of the take-off in what now seems to be the most dramatic space launch anyone will ever see on video. In the rocket, the astronauts–Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins–must have known they were blasting right into history books. With live cameras inside the lunar module capturing every moment of the space flight, surely the whole world knew it too.
- THE WORLD WATCHED AS APOLLO 11 LAUNCHED INTO SPACE. The objective: set foot on the moon. Photo courtesy of NASA
Apollo 11 set the stage for a golden age of moon exploration, and space and rocket technology. A total of six manned lunar missions to the moon were sent. All safely returned to Earth–even Apollo 13, the only mission that never landed. Altogether, the Apollo program was a landmark for engineering, avionics, telecommunications and computers. Only cutting-edge science, technology and innovations could have sent a man on the moon.
Today, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch is remembered. Four days after this posting, the lunar landing will be also be remembered as the first steps of man on another celestial body.
Since the cancellation of the Apollo program in the face of a rapidly declining budget for the space program (it cost $20 and $25.4 billion in 1969 dollars or approximately $135 billion in 2005 dollars) and the end of the Cold War, man has never set foot on the moon again. And while it’s unfair to wannabe-astronauts and space exploration fans to eliminate the possibility of ever going back to the moon, the socio-political conditions that allowed NASA to send a manned-space flight to the moon in 1969 no longer exist.
At least for now.
While other issues like the global economic recession and climate change have focused our attentions back to the world, the space obsessed might not have to wait long. As global issues continue to play out, there is speculation about when the next astronauts will make a return trip to the moon. Some speculate China and India might be interested especially since both have active space programs. The USA is also said to be interested in making a return though it will be later than anytime soon.
But, on this day, we remember that fateful launch in the summer of 1969 as the beginnings of that supreme moment of mankind. Long after the cancellation of the Apollo space program, NASA still has its eyes fixed on the cosmos. Today, telescopes point to the sky and rockets frequently send astronauts to the space station to perform space experiments and make repairs to the international space station–a symbol of global collaboration towards development. And though the younger generation of humans never saw the drama of pioneering space exploration in the 60s, we enjoy its consequences in every corner of our lives whether we know it or not.
As we countdown to July 20–the day the lunar module landed on the moon after which Neil uttered those famous words that have embedded themselves into a collective human consciousness–remember Apollo 11 and her crew.
For a realtime video/photo countdown to the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module Landing, visit We Choose the Moon.
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Tags: Apollo 11, Apollo 11 launch, Apollo program, NASA, Space Race
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