The Lunar Landing Manned Missions
Apollo 11 on July 1969: Mare Tranquillitatis (The Sea of Tranquillity)
On July 20, 1969 the Apollo 11 voyage achieved one of man's greatest dreams, landing on the lunar surface. The mission of landing on the lunar surface was very challenging. It was almost aborted due to an alarm that indicated a computer overload. The mission succeeded because of the bravery and the strong determination of the astronauts and the ground crew members that manned the Apollo 11.
The landing site on the lunar surface was the Sea of Tranquillity or the Latin translation Mare Tranquillitatis. The vast, Sun blasted plains of the Sea of Tranquillity stretched as far as the eyes could see. It was hundreds of miles wide and seemed like the perfect place for the first lunar landing. The Sea of Tranquillity was smooth, flat and relatively unmarred by dangerous craters. Above the Sea of Tranquillity was the oddly shaped Apollo 11 spacecraft that looked like a robotic spider. In its five billion year history, this was only the second time that such a spacecraft had orbited the airless Moon. The spacecraft would attempt to land. Below the fast moving Apollo 11, the surface of the Moon remained cold and silent.
The opposite happened to the skies above, where the Lunar Module Eagle was transitioning from a calm orbit to a very exciting landing. Two of the best astronauts NASA had to offer (Pyle 43) were using every bit of their skill and training to complete the goal. They wanted to achieve the honor of being the first Apollo mission that landed on the Moon. The Spacecraft landed safely at 4:18 p.m. EDT. Armstrong uttered, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed". At Mission Control, flight control Gene Krantz was speechless. The mission control crew was elated. Krantz realized that after 8 years of effort and billions of dollars, Apollo 11 was on the Moon. Back to the lunar surface, after the landing, the astronauts ate their first meal and they decided to begin their lunar exploration earlier than planned.
There was a lunar camera that took photographs and provided live television coverage of Apollo 11. Commander Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon's surface at 10:56 p.m. As soon as Armstrong stepped on the lunar surface, he proclaimed the famous quotation, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind". Behind Armstrong was Buzz Aldrin, Lunar Module pilot. Full of confidence, he calculated his ability to move about rapidly. The landing on the lunar surface yielded 23.5 kilograms (47 pounds) of lunar materials. Michael Collins orbited overhead in the Command Module. The astronauts explored the lunar surface for 2.5 hours and then reentered the Lunar Module. America had officially claimed the Moon first for all mankind.
One hundred and twenty eight hours later the Lunar Module docked with the Command and Service Module. The crew transferred into the Command and Service Modules. According to NASA the ascent stage was jettisoned as the astronauts prepared for trans- Earth injection. Only one midcourse correction was required and passive thermal control was used for most of the trans-Earth coast. Apollo 11 entered Earth's atmosphere safely. The Command Module landed in the Pacific Ocean. Apollo 11's successful flight to the Moon accomplished the national goal, to land men on the Moon and return them safely back to Earth. Man's first landing on the lunar surface marked the first manned exploration beyond Earth's orbit, and was now a part of the history books.
President John F. Kennedy's goal to land a man on the Moon within the decade was fulfilled. The successful lunar landing of Apollo 11 brought the highest honor to the United States as the first country that sent 3 men to the Moon and brought them back safely to Earth. The next 5 missions of Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 were all very similar and also devised the technology to allow humans to work on the Moon's environment. The missions continued to elevate the role of the United States in the space race.
Apollo 12 on November 1969: Oceanus Procellarum (The Ocean of Storms)
Four months after the first Moon landing, another crew landed on the rocky surface. The Command Module Pilot, Richard Gordon Jr., remained in the lunar orbit while Commander Charles Conrad Jr. and Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean collected lunar soil and surface samples. The two astronauts were directed to set down close to the lunar probe Surveyor III, which had landed there three years earlier. The lunar landing site was halfway across the Sea of Tranquillity. The Apollo 12 mission was the first opportunity in the scientific exploration of the Moon to sample extensively the rocks within half a kilometer from the landing site.
Apollo 13
Apart from the tragic fire on board Apollo 1, the Apollo 13 mission was the closest NASA came to a major disaster in the lunar landing program. When the astronauts were 321,000 kilometers (200,000 miles) from Earth they heard a loud bang! A Service Module oxygen tank blew up aboard Apollo 13. The Command Module's normal supply of electricity, light and water was lost. Commander James Lovell gasped, "Ah, Houston, we've had a problem". While looking outside, Lovell reported to Mission Control in Houston, Texas "We are venting something out into the - space ". Houston Mission Control replied that it was oxygen gas escaping at a high rate from the second, and last, oxygen tank (NASA).
According to NASA reports, Commander Lovell, Fred Haise, and John "Jack" Swigert and ground Mission Control had an enormous task to complete so that the astronauts could return safely. The astronauts had to move to the Lunar Module to escape the decreasing air pressure in the Service Module. They had to conserve food and water. The astronauts had to get around the Moon. Both Modules, the Lunar and Command, needed to save fuel in order for them to land safely.
Due to the explosion, the navigation system was unreliable. The astronauts used the Sun as the navigation point to guide the crippled spacecraft to Earth. While enduring sleeplessness, the astronauts moved back into the Command Module, then ejected both the Lunar and Service Modules. After Earth's reentry, the astronaut landed in the Pacific Ocean almost four days after the explosion.
Apollo 14
After Apollo 13 failed its landing mission on the Moon, Apollo 14 attempted to land on the Fra Mauro landing site. The Apollo 14 crew, namely, Commander Alan Shepard Jr., and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar G. Mitchell performed space experiments different from those that were planned for the Apollo 13 experiment. The Command Module Pilot, Stuart Roosa rendezvoused with the Lunar Module after the lunar liftoff. The Modularized Equipment Transporter was added to improve the crew's ability to move around. The equipment is a light hand-drawn cart that enabled the crew to transport tools and samples with greater ease. Two moonwalks happened in this mission. The astronauts walked for 9 hours and 21 minutes. Toward the end of the moonwalk, Alan Shepard became the first astronaut to hit a golf ball on the Moon.
Apollo 15
The Apollo 15 mission was known as the first mission to explore the Moon over long periods, greater range, and more scientific instruments for the collection of scientific data than on previous Apollo missions. The lunar roving vehicle (LRV) was worth U.S. $40,000,000. The LRV reached a top speed of 16 kilometers per hour (10 miles per hour) across the Moon's surface.
NASA reports that the successful Apollo 15 lunar landing mission was the first in the series of three advanced missions planned for the Apollo program. The primary scientific objectives were to observe the lunar surface, survey and sample material, and surface features in a pre-selected area of the Hadley-Apennine region, set up and activate surface experiments, and conduct in-flights experiments and photographic tasks from lunar orbit.
A total of three moonwalks occurred during Apollo 15 for a combined duration of 18 hours and 33 minutes. Commander David Scot and Lunar Module Pilot Irwin completed the first of the extended lunar scientific expeditions known as the J-series. Also, Apollo 15 televised the first lunar lift off and recorded a walk in deep space by Alfred Worden.
The scientific payload was double the previous Apollo missions.
Apollo 16
The Apollo 16 crew was Capt. John W. Young commander, Lt. Commander Thomas K. Mattingly II, CM pilot, and Lt. Colonel Charles M. Duke Jr., LM pilot. The number 16 is a coincidence of the Apollo 16 that was launched on the 16 th day of April 1972.
In this mission, a number of experiments were deployed ,and two impressive landmarks, Stone Mountain and the North Ray crater, were visited. Samples taken from the rim of North Ray crater later proved to be bedrock thrown up from the meteorite impact that had created it. Three moonwalks with lunar surface activities totaling 20 hours and 17 minutes were accomplished by Young and Duke. The Apollo 16 crew remained on the lunar surface for a total of about 71 hours. After lunar lift off, the Lunar Module rendezvoused with the Command Module (CM) and Mattingly II.
When the Apollo 16 crew returned to orbit, there was a technical problem. The crew was tense because a faulty engine on Casper, the Command Module, had to fire. The crew decided to take the module to the far side of the Moon where the burn would take place as Mission Control waited for news. As a result the burn had the desired effect as the crew re-established radio contact to ground Mission Control. Apollo 16 entry and landing proceeded as usual.
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 culminated man's active exploration of the Moon's surface. The intensive activity of the Apollo missions answered many questions about lunar science. However, many questions remain to be answered. Perhaps, in the future, unanswered questions will be answered after the data already returned has been analyzed. Some questions will have to wait for data yet to be returned from the scientific instruments already in place on the Moon's surface. There will still be other questions waiting for further missions or space explorations.
The basic objective of the Apollo 17 mission was to sample basin-rim highland material and investigate the geological evolutionary relationships between these two major units. Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans remained in lunar orbit aboard the command module, "America". Commander Eugene Cernan and Lunar Module pilot Harrison Schmitt, also a professional geologist, engaged in three moonwalks for a total of 22 hours and 2 minutes. The Lunar Rover also experienced its first lunar fender bender. (NASA 2005).
In summary, Project Apollo had six lunar manned missions. Twelve American astronauts landed on the Moon. They spent collectively about 300 hours on the Moon's surface and 80 hours of that outside the landing aircraft. The astronauts collected rock samples, photographs and set up experiments to monitor the Moon's activity and its environment. People from all over the world acknowledged the Apollo Program's successful missions.
The Apollo Program lasted for 11 years. There were half a million people and over 20,000 companies working together in a harmony unmatched in the twentieth century. It was the finest creation of a peace time civilization and it performed with unmatched success (Pyle 180). Buzz Aldrin summed up the Apollo missions and quoted, "We need to move from Magnificent Desolation to Magnificent Inspiration" (Pyle 2005).
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