Today marks 49 years since the first crewed landing on the Moon – the mission of Apollo 11.
For fans of space stuff, today is kind of the top day in the history of things, much like October 4th and April 12th. These are days we celebrate for their importance to humanity – the days we took major steps towards leaving the planet. Steps in the right direction, under the right methodology, something that is another discussion for another time and place.
Normally I would take a day like this to write something deep on the subject, but this year is not the case. The reason should be obvious – next year is the 50th anniversary of what I feel, quite simply, is the greatest accomplishment in human history.
Let’s look back 50 years, to the Summer of 1968. The United States was still recovering from the Apollo 1 fire, as was the Soviet Union from the Soyuz 1 disaster. The Space Race was still alive and well, though, with neither nation giving up. The Soviets had developed a massive moon rocket of their own, the N-1 and were planning to test it in the upcoming year.
Of course, we had successfully flown the Saturn V rocket twice – the missions of Apollo 4 and Apollo 6. Apollo 5 tested the Lunar Module, the critical machine that would actually land on the moon, and on both Apollo 4 and 6 safety improvements to the Command Module design had been tested. NASA was set to fly people again, and the next mission, Apollo 7, scheduled for October 1968, would put the revised Block 2 Command / Service Module through its paces, for 2 weeks, with a crew. If it proved up to the task of safely carrying a crew for 2 week, then it would be able to do its role in a Lunar landing.
Following the success of Apollo 7, Apollo’s 8, 9, 10, and onward would follow their own flight plans, testing components as they went, each mission building on that of the last. Or so, that was the plan – reality would flow differently, due to equipment readiness and pressure from the Soviet Union. The later half of 1968 and all of1969 would be an incredible time period for space, one that we’ll certainly be taking a very solid look at in the upcoming months.
For now, though? I’m going to relax. I’ll probably step out after finishing this article, and take a look at the Moon, thinking about something I do often, but a wonder that’s more relevant today than most other days… what is it really like to be up there…
(edit: The Moon wasn’t visible when I stepped out. I had failed to check ahead to see if it was visible at this time of night right now – it isn’t. Go figure.)
More to come, as always.
