The First Moon Landing

Have you ever looked at a full moon on a clear night and thought you could see a face? If you have and you found the left eye, you're looking at the spot where the first men landed on the moon.

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first humans to walk on the moon July 20, 1969. While they were busy exploring, Michael Collins, the third astronaut of the party, stayed in the space craft, Columbia.

The three astronauts left earth on July 16, 1969 in their Apollo 11 space craft Columbia, which was named after the famous explorer, Christopher Columbus.

As Columbia circled the moon the astronauts had a clear view of the moon, for there are no clouds surrounding the moon. The moon is full of craters and when the sun is overhead looks rose-colored. Neil Armstrong said, "It's a view worth the price of the trip."

It has been all planned out in advance where they would land on the moon and when. The spot that had been chosen for the landing was called the Sea of Tranquility.

Because the area of the moon where they would be landing would be hot, Neil and Buzz wore special long underwear to keep them cool. Their underwear had woven into the material very thin plastic tubes through which water was pumped from their back packs.

A lunar module, the Eagle, was attached to the space craft. This was the vehicle Neil and Buzz used to get from the Columbia to the moon..

The computers had control of the descent of the Eagle, but when they got closer to the moon surface the astronauts saw they were headed into huge boulders. Neil had to take control of the lunar modular and manually land it himself or they surely would have crashed. Everyone in the Houston Space Center breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Neil say, "The Eagle has landed."

Neil Armstrong was the first to exit the Eagle and speak the now famous words as he stepped on the surface of the moon. "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

On the moon everything weighs one-sixth of earth weight. The astronauts had to take big floating steps, called kangaroo hops to get around. Wouldn't it be great if you could walk that effortlessly? And be able to jump twenty feet high?

Neil and Buzz set up an American flag to mark the spot of the landing. It was a specially made flag with thin wires in it so it would look like the flag was flowing in the wind, which of course really couldn't happen because there is no wind on the moon.

Near the flag they also left a plaque that had inscribed on it, "Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." It had been signed by the crew and the President of the United States, Richard Nixon.

Before leaving the moon the astronauts collected dust and rock samples that would be studied later back on earth. They also set up instruments that would transmit information back to earth for many years.

When it came time for them to go back to the Columbia, everyone had their fingers crossed that the Eagle would lift off properly. For if the Eagle failed, the astronauts were doomed. They would be stuck on the moon with only the oxygen in the tanks on their back. Rescuing them would be impossible.

Fortunately, everything went as planned and Neil and Buzz made it back to the command module with no problems.

The Columbia splashed down in the South Pacific and the astronauts were picked up by the waiting aircraft carrier, the Hornet. They were immediately placed in quarantine to make sure they hadn't brought back any germs.

Laboratory mice were exposed to the moon rocks. If after two weeks the mice didn't get sick, the astronauts would be let out of quarantine.

On August 10, 1969, the astronauts were declared healthy and the Apollo 11 space flight was over.