The Journey Of The Moon Essay

The Apollo Program (1963-1972) was a series of missions with a goal to land humans on the moon. The program’s objective, set by President Kennedy in 1961, was achieved nine short years later (The Apollo Missions). Of the program, six were successful in doing so, Apollo 11 being the first to achieve that goal (Williams). The crew contained Neil Armstrong, Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr. , and Michael Collins.

Millions of people all over the world watched as Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. Two hours after it left Earth, the rocket Lunar Command and Landing Modules separated from the main rocket, and three days later the crew entered lunar orbit. A day later the landing section separated from the Lunar Command Module and landed on the moon.

Planning for the Apollo Space Program began in 1957 and the program ended in 1972. The Apollo Space Missions increased our understanding of the moon. The goal of the missions was to land men on the moon and return them safely to earth. This goal was achieved with Apollo 11. On July 20, 1969 man walked on the moon for the first time. This was a huge step in space exploration and much preparation had gone into it. Apollo 8 orbited the moon, but did not test a lunar lander, and Apollo 9 tested a lunar lander while orbiting earth. After achieving the goal of getting man to the moon, the Apollo program continued to enlarge our understanding of the moon. Apollo missions 12 and 14 installed seismic stations on the moon’s surface. This led us to the discovery of “moonquakes”, which are essentially earthquakes on the moon’s surface.

Although this historical event was in fact a victory over the Russians, the fact that we had the engineering capabilities to put a man on the moon was far more important. Each step of the Apollo missions tested a different aspect of what would be the final mission, putting a man on the moon. The main concern of the mission was getting Armstrong and Aldrin down to the surface and back home safely. Genuine experimentation did not occur until NASA gained confidence in their ability to send astronauts to the moon. Upon contact with the moon’s surface, Armstrong and Aldrin unveiled and read the commemorative plaque on the lunar module’s leg, stuck the U.S. flag in the ground, and then spoke to the current president, Richard Nixon. Most of the science done on the moon included the planting of seismic equipment and a laser ranging reflector, the collection of rock and soil samples, and measuring the trajectory of regolith

On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy paved the way for the world’s first lunar landing when he announced the US’s ambitious goal to place an American on the moon before the end of the decade. This historic announcement was fueled by desires to beat the Soviet Union, and show the United State’s dominance, the need for a uniting cause among the American people, and a desire to lead the world in the scientific field.

Kennedy in 1961 to accomplish one goal; get a man on the moon. National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, were the people behind these projects and conducted the first mission on January 27, 1967. This was the first unmanned mission and launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Sadly, a fire broke out and destroyed the fire rocket while on the testing pad. Even though the mission had many setbacks, NASA continued to push foward to find a way to beat the Russians.

This was it, America's chance to win the space race. The Apollo Lunar Program was then formed. On December 21, 1968 Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders began the first manned journey from the earth to the moon on the Apollo 8. They orbited the moon and returned safely. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, and said the iconic words "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" and placed the American flag on the moon. The Soviet union canceled their lunar program, and the space race was over.

Wow, can you believe it has almost been 50 years since the Space Race. It is just unbelievable, and we still travel to space today. One of the traffic accomplishments we did, was that we were the first to land a man on the moon. It sparked an uprising, and gave our nation great pride. But, in the end, it's thanks to the chivalrous astronauts, the perilous mission, and their legacy, that we succeeded.

The mission was a cold war movement, in which was an achievement that fulfilled the announcement made by president John F. Kennedy. Kennedy proposed that NASA could overtake the pioneering Russian space program and put a man on the moon. Not only was the landing on the moon by the astronauts important but also was the returning of the astronauts safely. But this journey was nothing but easy to conduct. The astronauts and crew members had to deal with certain difficulties that happened within the spacecraft while trying to accomplish the mission.

When Sputnik 1 had launched, many looked upon Dwight D. Eisenhower, the president at the time, to see how he’d oppose. Sputnik allowed Eisenhower to show his leadership as he created NASA and The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to work alongside each other. This along with many achievements following Sputnik showed Eisenhower’s tenacious attitude towards the Space Race, satisfying his nation (Herbert para. 6). On May 5, 1961, John F. Kennedy publicly announced the goal for America to have man landing on the moon by the end of the decade, clearly setting the finish line to the space race (“Space” para. 5). With this bold statement, it shocked many Americans including the ones in the space program as they were months to years behind the Soviet’s space program. With his goal set high, JFK feared that Americans would lose interest in the race, therefore wanting the Soviets to increase their productivity with the program sparking the interest back for Americans. Also fearing the high amounts of funding needed to launch rockets to space, in order to prevent being criticized by the American people thinking it was just a waste of money, he needed the people to believe in the program (Herbert para. 3). Consequently, President Kennedy, at Rice Stadium on September 12, 1962 gave his “We choose to go to the moon” speech.

. . . Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on Earth,”” John F Kennedy remarked on May 1961 in his speech to congress presenting his views on the space race (Jha, Martand). Embarrassed at being behind the Soviet Union, President John F Kennedy made a claim to the congress on May 25,1961 that America would be the first to land a man on the moon, launching the Apollo program (History.com). Project Apollo was a United States human spaceflight program carried by NASA, one of its goals is landing Americans on the moon and returning them safely to Earth (Dunbar, Brian).

In 1961, the United States of America was embroiled in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. This confrontation was taking place not only on land, sea and air, but in space as well. On May 25th, 1961 recently elected US President John F. Kennedy addressed a joint session of Congress, during which he outlined his now famous Man on the Moon challenge. It was through this ambitious dream that the creation of the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) came about, which President Kennedy challenged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Although he didn't live to see the achievement of his dreams, the United States successfully landed Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969 and

The Space Race was between two Cold War rivals, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States (US). The race to space began in 1955. Apollo 11 successfully put the first man on the Moon. The end of the Space Race was in 1975. The Space Race is considered very important because it would show which nation had the best science, technology, and economic system.

1969 – The Apollo 11 was being watched around the world as it performed the first moon landing. Neil Armstrong was the first human to step on another planet.

This federal agency was “responsible for the aerospace research and the civilian space program.”2 The space race heats up, as the soviet unions become the first to put a man in space, “ Yuri Gagarin became the first man to enter earths orbit, in a single- pilot spacecraft called Vostok I,”2 however, America is not far behind; a month later Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Because of back and fourth success, US president John F. Kennedy announces “ the inauguration of the Apollo program, which pledged to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.”2 After years of experiment, test flight, and training “ the Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched into space on July 26, 1969;” 3 in the spacecraft included astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Four days later “The Eagle” landed on the moon; Neil Armstrong stepped outside and became the first man to walk on the moon. The United States had taken a huge lead in the space race with the Apollo programs, and the relations between the Soviet Union began to thaw.