Apollo 11: First Men to Walk the Moon - Part 1
One of the most important events in the history of humanity - the launch of Apollo 11 (Mission Overview at NASA), which have brought two astronauts on the Moon for the first time ever. The whole world was tied to the TVs to become a part of this incredible moment.
The astronauts
Apollo 11 consisted of the astronauts that have been in a space before and were very professional. Every astronaut out of three had been in space before the Apollo 11 mission.
Neil Armstrong was 38 years old and used to be a pilot in Gemini 8, the first spaceship to be docked with another one in space. Neil was born in 1930, and in his early 40s he had been the first man to command two American space operations.
Edwin Eugene Aldrin, he was 39 years old and he was the most educated man to fly to the Moon and back. His nickname is "Buzz" and he served as an inspiration for Buzz Lightyear, an animation character-astronaut. He used to be a pilot in Gemini 12. Aldrin made a 2-hours walk and showed that the astronaut can work in an open space. He was a lunar module pilot in the Apollo 11 mission.
The command module pilot - Michael Collins, was 38 years old and originated from Italy. The steered Gemini 10, and was 1.5 hour walking in the outer space. He was the first person to ever meet the spacecraft on the orbit.
To the Moon and Back
Professionals from NASA had been studying the soil of the Moon for a few years by the time of Apollo 11 landing. With the help of HD photos from the Lunar Orbiter satellite and close pictures taken by Surveyor spaceship they managed to choose three places for landing out of thirty. The filter criteria were the amount of craters and cobbles, presence of hills and abruptness and the flatness of the surface. Also, the amount of sunlight in a certain period helped to set a time of landing.
Kennedy Space Center in Florida was the place of Apollo 11 shoot. It happened on July, 16, 1969 at 9:32 EDT. On the board, the astronauts made two online broadcasts inside of the spaceship. The third broadcast was on about closer look at the Moon, showing its appearance and how they were going to fly there. On the 20th of July, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin approached to the lunar module - "Eagle" and left the "Columbia" lunar module, so they can move forward to the surface of the Moon.