50th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing
About 5 decades ago, On July 20th 1969, A great declaration happened “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Apollo 11 — first manned mission landed on the moon.
The primary objective of the mission was to complete the national goal set by President John F. Kennedy. Almost 650 million people around the world became part of that piece of history by watching live on television using a camera installed on one of the lander’s legs.
Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and Command module pilot Michael Collins were the crew members of that shuttle. That landing still remains in people’s hearts. Armstrong was soon followed by his crewmate, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. The third astronaut Michael Collins remained in orbit around the moon. On July 24, they splashed down into the Pacific Ocean after re-entering through the atmosphere.
The complete objectives of the missions included scientific exploration by the lunar model, development of a television camera to transmit signals to earth, development of a solar wind composition experiment package and a laser ranging retroreflector. During the Exploration, the two astronauts gathered samples of lunar surface materials for return to earth and extensively photographed the lunar terrain, the developed scientific equipment and the LM spacecraft using still and motion picture cameras.
Over the following years, five more successful Apollo missions followed, delivering 10 more people to the moon. Since 1972, however, no one has returned to the moon.
Almost 50 years after the achievements of Apollo 11 is getting attention, US intentions to return to the moon by 2024 under a mission dubbed Artemis. Numerous milestones will need to be reached, like Space Launch System and Orion module. On July 2nd 2019, an important step for Artemis took place with the successful demonstration of an Orion launch abort system. Further development of Artemis mission and vehicle capabilities is aimed at serving as a bridge to Mars.