West - The Journey of Apollo 11 to the Moon

The Journey of Apollo 11 to the Moon

Copyright 2019 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form without written permission from the author.Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

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Table ofContents

Welcome to thebook, The Journey of Apollo 11 to the Moon. This book isvolume 36 of the 30 Minute Book Series and, as the name of theseries implies, if you are an average reader this book will takearound 30 minutes to read. Since this short book is not meant to bean all-encompassing story of mans first trip to the moon, you maywant to know more about this great achievement. To help you withthis, there are several good references at the end of this book. Ihave also provided a Timeline, in order to link together theimportant events of the story.

Thank you for purchasing this book, and Ihope you enjoy your time reading about this historic journey.

Doug West

February 2019

Apollo 11 ishumankinds most impressive achievement in the field of spaceexploration up until this moment, and it is also one of the mostremarkable episodes in American history. The fifth manned missionof NASAs Apollo space program, Apollo 11 took the first humanbeings on the moon on an adventure that surpassed the wildestimaginations. 600 million people from all over the world watched asastronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the celestialbody that humanity had looked at for eons from what appeared likean insurmountable distance. An expression of that optimism of theAmerican spirit which proclaims that nothing is impossible, Apollo11 was a national goal that took NASA and the White House almost adecade to accomplish and involved hundreds of thousands of people.The result was a technological and scientific achievement ofoutstanding proportions.

It all started with the Space Race betweenthe Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. Tochallenge the Soviets superiority in space exploration, PresidentJohn F. Kennedy promised Americans in 1961 that by the end of thedecade, the U.S. would put a man on the moon and also bring himback home safely. His promise was kept, although he wasnt there towitness it. On July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module Eagle landedon the moons surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, and the followingmorning, Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot BuzzAldrin stepped on the moon, where they planted the U.S flag. Withthe aid of their third crewmate, Michael Collins, they safelyreturned to earth with rich geological samples of lunar soil androcks and all mission objectives successfully accomplished.

For their role in Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong,Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins gained instant fame and are nowconsidered some of the greatest American heroes of all time. Theynever returned to space, but they became keen promoters of spaceexploration and continued to inspire younger generations.

To understand the magnitude of Apollo 11, onemust get a glimpse into the fascinating and challenging journeythat the United States took in order to arrive at such a greatsuccess. Even though the moon landing was the central goal ofNASAs Apollo program, each step of the program was essential forthe success of Apollo 11. The moon landing would not have beenpossible without the testing and the research accomplishedpreviously by projects Mercury and Gemini. Extremely complex andexpensive, the Apollo program in its entirety tested not onlyhumankinds technological and engineering skills but also humanendurance and resilience in the face of the unknown, all withspectacular results. Apollo 11 proved that all efforts and riskswere worth it, and the mission ended the Space Race, establishingthe supremacy of the United States in the field of spaceexploration.

Aiming at thestarsis a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter howmuch progress one makes, there is always the thrill of justbeginning. Dr. Robert Goddard, father of modern rocketry, ina letter to H.G. Wells in 1932.

The United States showed little interest inspace exploration before the 1950s. In 1957, however, everythingchanged when the nations main rival, the Soviet Union, launchedthe worlds first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, into orbitaround the earth. This unexpected demonstration of the Sovietstechnological superiority stirred a wave of concern in the UnitedStates. The countrys officials began to fear that the Soviet Unionpossessed scientific and military knowledge that largely surpassedtheir own. Lyndon Johnson, who would become the president of theUnited States upon Kennedys death, recalled his reaction toSputnik: the profound shock of realizing that it might bepossible for another nation to achieve technological superiorityover this great country of ours. Any claim on the part of theUnited States to being the worlds greatest power became, all of asudden, unfounded. This prompted President Dwight D. Eisenhower totake immediate steps to establish a strategy for national spaceprograms. In 1958, President Eisenhower dissolved the NationalAdvisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the federal agencyfocused on undertaking and promoting aeronautical research, inorder to make way for the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA), a much more ambitious federal project.Through the foundation of NASA, the United States responded to theSoviets challenge and entered what would become known as the SpaceRace.

While NASA was working on developing andrunning its first space programs, the flagrant disparity betweenthe technological achievements of the Soviet Union and those of theUnited States remained a sore point for Americans. By the time JohnF. Kennedy became president, the Soviet Union had alreadydemonstrated a staggering superiority in terms of space explorationand missile defense, and Kennedy was far from content with thesituation. Even during his presidential campaign, he had spokenabout space exploration as an area where the United States waslosing significant international prestige.

On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union set ahistoric milestone when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the firstperson to travel in earths orbit. This was glaring proof forKennedy that America wasnt on par with the Soviet Union when itcame to space exploration. Even as a candidate running for thepresidency in 1960, Kennedy was pro space exploration, stating,This is the new age of exploration; space is our great NewFrontier. He became adamant about winning the Space Race and foundit unacceptable that the Soviet Union possessed more advancedtechnology, thinking that this undermined his nations position onthe global scene. Things had to change, and Kennedy wanted topropose a challenge that could situate the United States and theSoviet Union on a level of equality so each would have to starttheir research from scratch. Kennedy also wanted a grand missionthat could inspire hearts and imaginations.

Figure The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Thefirst man in space.