Spectrum Scientifics Blog

July 20th of this year will mark the 40th anniversary of one of humanity’s most impressive steps: Getting a man to walk on the Moon. Apollo 11 was the fifth actual manned Apollo mission: Apollo 1-6 were either unmanned or just rocket tests, and Apollo 7-10 were crew tests that set the stage for the Apollo 11 landing.

July 16th, 1969 was the launch date for Apollo 11, it reached the Moon by the 19th. On the 20th, the Lunar Module, carrying Neil Armstrong and ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, separated from the Command Module . With a bit of finagling, Armstrong and Aldrin landed the lunar module with 25 seconds of fuel to spare and the famous phrase: “The Eagle has landed”.

Very shortly, Neil Armstrong prepped himself for EVA, and at 10:56 EST he stepped onto the Moon with the famous and possibly flubbed line of ‘One Small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind’.

Several other Lunar missions would follow, albeit one with a near disaster (Apollo 13), but the program was soon scrapped by the Nixon administration as it was unhappy with the success being credited to a Democratic administration. Public interest also waned with further Apollo missions, as the political goals of beating the Soviet Union to the Moon had been accomplished. The financial cost was also very high. The final Apollo mission, Apollo 17, landed on the Moon in December of 1972.

We have not returned since. Although plans are in the works for the first time in decades.

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Filed under: Astronomy, NASA