The lunar landing 50 years ago was the culmination of numerous factors: pressure, brilliance, perseverance … and some luck. Apollo50
Apollo 11 moon landing celebrated as pioneering milestone, but it was really about winning the space raceA desperate president who set an ambitious deadline to reach the moon. A Cold War rival whose technological edge in space prodded Americans into action. The unsparing ingenuity of U.S. scientists and industry to overcome long odds.
It seemed an impossible goal on May 25,1961, the day Kennedy issued his challenge in an address to Congress to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade – and bring him back safely. Trump's call comes nearly 47 years after the last human – Apollo XVII astronaut Gene Cernan – took the last steps on the moon and amid concerns today that foreign powers, chiefly China, are gearing up to inhabit the lunar surface.
Sputnik 2, much larger and carrying a passenger – a female part-Samoyed terrier named Laika – rocketed into orbit a month later. “Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by putting a laboratory in space, or by a trip around the moon, or by a rocket to land on the moon, or by a rocket to go to the moon and back with a man,” he wrote. “Is there any … space program which promises dramatic results in which we could win?”Kennedy might not have given his speech to Congress had Alan Shepard not completed a short, suborbital flight in a Mercury spacecraft in early May 1961 that made him the first American in space.
Apollo 11 was launched by a Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Fla, on July 16, 1969. The Saturn V is 363-feet tall, 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. Fully fueled for liftoff, the Saturn V weighed 6.2 million pounds.Borman, whose lunar orbiting mission in December 1968 paved the way for the Apollo 11 moonwalk seven months later, believes winning the race changed history on Earth.
But public backing for a moon landing in the mid-‘60s was hardly universal. Polls showed support above 50% only at the time of the moon landing itself. The Apollo Program won support from key policy makers because it was viewed as strategically important in trying to stay ahead of the Soviet Union.
Brasil Últimas Notícias, Brasil Manchetes
Similar News:Você também pode ler notícias semelhantes a esta que coletamos de outras fontes de notícias.
Apollo 11 taught us to dream big, so let's aim for more than MarsCNN News, delivered. Select from our newsletters below and enter your email to subscribe.
Consulte Mais informação »
https://people.com/Get the latest news about celebrities, royals, music, TV, and real people. Find exclusive content, including photos and videos, on PEOPLE.com.
Consulte Mais informação »
Apollo 11 moon landingA renaissance of space? Episode 5 of AP’s “Lunar Muse” mini-doc looks at how tech titans like Richard Branson are trying to send civilians to space. Follow AP’s moon landing anniversary coverage here:
Consulte Mais informação »
See Duran Duran Pay Tribute to Apollo 11 Mission at Kennedy Space Center“The indelible impact of the moon landing has been one of Duran Duran’s main sources of inspiration,” keyboardist Nick Rhodes says
Consulte Mais informação »