history- the first moon landing

• • with the development of inter-continental ballistic missiles after WW2, it became clear that the potential was there to send men & satellites into space
• the U.S. thought they had the edge in missile development thanks to Von Braun, so they were shocked with the success of the U.S.S.R
• 1957- Sputnik 1 became first stallite in space
• 1960- Luna 11 became the first man-made object to land on the moon
• 1961- Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1 was the fist man in space
• 1963- Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space
• the U.S. responded immediately
• 1958- Eisenhower set up NASA
• 1958- explorer1 was the first U.S. satellite in space
• 1961- JFK promised to put a man on the moon within the decade
• three separate programmes were set up in the 60's
• Mercury->1959-63, to see if a person could survive in space
• Gemini->1963-66, experiments relating to the moon mission
• Apollo->1961-72, to land a man on the moon
• after 3 mins the launch escape tower was jettisoned
• after 9 minutes the second-stage rocket was jettisoned
• after 11 mins Apollo & 3 astronauts reached the earths orbit
• on the journey the austronauts took part in live T.V broadcasts & ate freeze dried food
• the crew travelled 384,400km from earth to the moon
• on 20th July, Armstrong & Aldrin took the Eagle (Lunar module)& landed it in the sea of tranquility
• 'contact light on. Engine off. The Eagle has landed'.
• 'thats one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind'-Armstrong
• he was watched by an estimated 350 million people on T.V.
• the austronauts wore portable systems, spacesuits with an extra layer for added protection & helmets with 2 visors.
• Aldrin & Armstrong planted an American flag on the moon.
• Aldrin & Armstrong left a plaque on the moon
• they collected rock samples & carried out experiments
• the astronauts spent 21hrs, 36mins on the moons surface before departing on the eagle & docking with Columbia
• the eagle was left to float in the moons orbit
• Columbia (protected by a heat shield) returned to earth with parachutes to slow the entry speed
• the astronauts splashed down in the pacific ocean & were picked up by the U.S.S. hornet
• the astronauts were placed in quarantine for 21 days
• the U.S. now led the space race
• the soviets focused more on the development on space stations
• due to budget cuts, the last U.S. mission to the moon was in 1972
• tours, parades, interviews were arranged for all astronauts
• the astronauts were rewarded the presidential medal of freedom by Nixon
• a presidential tour was organised. they visited 24 countries in 45 days
• the astronauts even met the pope
• the moon landings were seen as a victory for capitalism, democracy & the U.S. in the cold war