Category Man and the Moon

          Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to take the help of a lunar module, a special landing vehicle to descend to the Moon. This was because the mother ship, the main spacecraft travelled too fast. Once the mother ship entered the lunar orbit, the astronauts got into the lunar module and separated from the main craft. Their lunar module was named Eagle.

          Eagle had spidery legs; they cushioned the landing and could be folded while in flight. They also had footpads that prevented them from sinking into the lunar soil. The body of the Eagle was covered in golden foil. This was done in order to protect it from the Sun’s heat.

         Eagle comprised of two parts; the top, known as the ascent stage carried the astronauts while the descent stage at the bottom carried the scientific equipment. The ascent stage also had navigation control, communications, life support, environmental control, electric power and propulsion system. The additional electric power, water and oxygen for the ascent stage was stored in the descent stage.

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           Even after half a century, Apollo 11 is remembered with great pride not only by the Americans but the whole of humanity. Apollo 11 made it possible for America, to fulfil a dream that it had cherished for years, and a mission that no one had attempted before – to leave human footprints on the Moon.

          It was July 20, 1969. Apollo 11 travelled 3,84,400 kilometres in space carrying three astronauts and landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong was the first to step on the Moon. He was followed by Buzz Aldrin while Michael Collins controlled the system. “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” This was what Neil Armstrong said immediately after setting foot on the Moon.

          With Apollo 11, America succeeded in taking man to the Moon and back safely, thus accomplishing the national goal set by President John F Kennedy. It also conducted the scientific exploration of the lunar surface and deployed a camera to transmit signals to the Earth.

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          Apollo was a three-part spacecraft that consisted of a command module, service module and a lunar module. The command module or the CM contained the crew’s quarters and the flight control section.

          It contained all the necessary commands and instruments to operate the spacecraft and to return to the Earth. The CM was in fact the only part that returned to the Earth and the astronauts were provided with reclining couches, specially fitted for them.

          The Apollo spacecraft’s service module or the SM carried the rocket engine that could be started or stopped whenever needed. The SM held the spacecraft’s electrical power system. It also contained the fuel. The third part known as the lunar module, or the LM, took the crew to the surface of the Moon. This module also provided the astronauts with the necessary support on the Moon and returned them to the command module.

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          Launched in October 1968, Apollo 7 is credited with the first manned flight; it is the first mission in the Apollo programme to carry a crew into space.

          In fact, Apollo 1 was intended to take the first astronauts into space. Unfortunately, its cabin caught fire in one of the test flights, killing the crew. This happened in January 1967. NASA then banned all manned flights until the reason for the fire was found out. Safety measures were improved after the investigations and Apollo 7 was launched after that.

          Commanded by Walter M Schirra, Apollo 7 was a complete success which gave NASA enough confidence to launch Apollo 8.

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          The Apollo programme would not have been the same if not for Saturn V. It is the most powerful rocket ever built; Saturn V is a three-stage rocket that uses high performance liquid hydrogen fuel for propulsion. This launch vehicle was specially developed to support the Apollo programme.

          Saturn V is taller than a 36 storeyed building and holds a cluster of five engines in its first two stages. It was flight tested twice without a crew. In December 1968, the first manned Saturn V sent the Apollo 8 astronauts into the orbit around the Moon. A year later, Saturn V launched the first manned landing on the Moon. This legendary rocket was launched 13 times from the Kennedy Space Centre. It was also used to launch Skylab, America’s first space station.

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          We now know that reaching the Moon is not impossible. But it is not as easy as you may think. For a lunar probe to reach the Moon, it has to first escape Earth’s gravity. For this, the probe has to move at a great speed that can be achieved only by rockets.

         If the lunar probe is to land on the Moon safely, it has to slow down very much. Or else the probe will end up crash landing. In addition to that, returning to the Earth safely is another challenge. Rockets have to be used again to leave the Moon and the original spacecraft has to return to the atmosphere in such a way that it does not catch fire.

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