Stories tagged Michael Collins

Man on the Moon: One of few photographs showing astronaut Neil Armstrong on the lunar surface. Since he was the first to descend from the lunar module, he took most of the photographs of the event. Image courtesy NASA via Wikipedia.On this date in 1969, Apollo 11's lunar module, the Eagle, landed on the surface of the Moon in a region known as the Sea of Tranquility. About six hours later, US astronaut Neil Armstrong descended the spacecraft's ladder and became the first human to walk on the lunar surface.

Armstrong's words as he made the historic first step have long been considered redundant: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

But Armstrong has long claimed that he said "a man", and that the "a" was lost in an audio glitch due to inadequate technology. Recent analysis of the recording by an audio expert appears to vindicate Armstrong on this point.

Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin later joined Armstrong on the surface for more than two and a half hours of extravehicular activity, planting the American flag, shooting photographs, and collecting nearly 50lbs of lunar rock samples. During this time, astronaut Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the mission’s command module, Columbia, waiting patiently to bring them safely back to Earth.

The event was televised and watched worldwide and is considered one of the defining moments of human history.

FURTHER INFO
More on the first moon landing
More on Armstrong’s misquoted statement

Tags : moon, space exploration, Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins,

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The start of Apollo 11's historic adventure: Images courtesy NASA via Wikimedia Commons.On this date (July 16) 38 years ago, a Saturn V rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning the most extraordinary and historic adventure in human history: the first manned mission to land on the moon.

The Apollo 11 crew included commander Neil Armstrong, lunar module pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and command module pilot Michael Collins. The rocket reached Earth orbit in twelve minutes and made one and a half orbits. Not long after, the command service module and lunar module were docked together and sent on a trajectory toward the moon. The trip across the 225,000 miles of space would take slightly more than 3 days.

Tags : space, spacecraft, space exploration, Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, US space program

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