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Exactly 50 years ago, man carried out the ambitious task of reaching the Moon. THE Apollo 11 mission, from NASA, left planet Earth on July 16, 1969, arriving on lunar soil 4 days later, on the 20th. The feat, although considered extraordinary and promising, was repeated a few times and is the subject of several conspiracy theories . 4d5d3c
It started with Space race (The Space Race), a rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union to see who would advance and explore space first. Speaking like that, it may seem like a childish competition within the Cold War, but it is responsible for allowing several current advances and technologies.
A Space race started soon after the World War II. The Soviet Union took the first step by putting the satellite into orbit Sputnik in 1957 – it crashed in the Caribbean the following year, but showed the Soviets' rocket-launching capability.
Not to be left behind, a few months after the Sputnik to be launched, in 1958, the United States sent Explorer 1, a satellite that remained in orbit until 1970. The equipment it carried, developed by James van Allen, made it possible to identify a region where some atmospheric phenomena (van Allen belt) occurred .
As late as 1958, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space istration – National Aeronautics and Space istration) was officially created, replacing the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics). Apollo 11 (and several other Apollo missions).
In 1959, the Soviet Union launched the Luna 2, the first space probe to reach the Moon. Two years later, in 1961, Yuri Alekseievitch Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, was the first man to travel through space. A short time later, still in 1961, the American Alan Shepard accomplished the same feat. In the same year, the then President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, stated that he would send humans to the Moon later that decade. Said and done, that's what happened through the mission Apollo 11.
The ambitious Apollo 11 mission 1ml2u
In Greek mythology, the moon goddess is Artemis. However, the mission to land on the Moon was named after Apollo, Artemis' twin brother. Apparently Apollo was a more attractive name for being more popular, as well as following the line of mythological names.
Once the mission was established, efforts began to make it work. despite the Apollo 11 be ed for being a success, there was a lot of effort involved, as well as failed attempts. Between 1961 and 1964, NASA's budget increased approximately 500 times, and the moon trip involved thousands of people.
In 1967 there was a tragedy in which 3 astronauts died when the spacecraft caught fire during a launch simulation. However, the plan to go to the Moon was not aborted. In 1968, a manned spaceflight orbited the Moon. It was the Apollo 8, from United States. Shortly thereafter, on July 16, 1969, the flight Apollo 11 took off carrying the “American heroes” on board Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin e Michael Collins.
Four days after the launch of Apollo 11, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon. Meanwhile, Collins was orbiting the Moon. Armstrong stated: “The Eagle has landed” (the Eagle has landed, in translation). About the moment, he stated that it was:
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"
Neil Armstrong, NASA astronaut and first man to walk on the Moon.
Translating the sentence above: "One small step for a man, one huge leap for humanity".
Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon and Aldrin was the second. Both walked for three hours, performed experiments and collected soil and rock samples. Still, they planted the flag of the United States on the floor (famous and controversial act).
But not everything was as easy as it seems. The astronauts faced several “perrengues”, such as a broken circuit breaker that almost left Aldrin and Armstrong without returning home. Also, the walk is nothing like a trip to the park and must have been extremely exhausting. While it was also exciting, the lunar soil tour was a quick one. After exploration, the two astronauts returned to Collins and the three returned to Earth, arriving on July 24, 1969.
Although it was a great feat, man returned to the Moon only 5 more times after the Apollo 11. All of them took place between 1969 and 1972: Apollo 12 (November 1969), Apollo 14 (February 1971) Apollo 15 (July 1971), Apollo 16 (April 1972) and Apollo 17 (December 1972). In each of them, two astronauts walked the lunar soil. Although the women had already gone to space (the first was the Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963), none had the opportunity to walk on the Moon.
The space race ended on July 17, 1975, when the Apollo 18 e soyuz 19 made a t docking mission in Earth orbit. The first spacecraft contained 3 American astronauts, while the second had two Soviet astronauts. It's almost a dramatic (and happy) ending with "enemies" holding hands.
Conspiracy theories e294p
Of course, if it involves the United States, the Soviet Union, intrigue and drama, a conspiracy theory cannot be missing. There is a theory that the images were filmed in a desert in the United States and that the man did not go to the Moon (and perhaps he did not even leave the Earth). This theory is formed from a few ideas. Check out some of them below (followed by their respective falsification).
1 – In the video, the US flag flutters when it is planted, although there is no atmosphere on the Moon for the air to move it.
In fact, the flag is not moving. It is said to have a curved shape because that's how it was placed on the ground, keeping it that way due to lack of gravity. Still, when it was stuck in place, it was necessary to rotate this way and that to fix it.
2 – You can't see the stars and shadows seen in some photos, seeming to have been caused by artificial lights (like in a movie set).
The Moon's surface reflects sunlight, so it outshines the stars' brightness, which is absent in the photos. Regarding the shadows, they are due, in addition to this reflection, to the irregular surface and the solar incidence, which contribute to their distortion.
3 – You can't see what humans left on the Moon with a telescope like Hubble.
It would be strange if you could see it, since the Moon is too far away for us to see a flag on its surface with Hubble, which doesn't capture this kind of detail. However, the traces can be seen with a probe that is closer, the Lunar Orbiter Recognition. With it you can even see the footprints on the ground.
4 – There is no crater left by the spacecraft.
The landing was very smooth, so the impact was minimal (generally speaking, no one parks a vehicle at high speeds). That is, the intention was exactly not to create a crater (which would raise a cloud of dust that would hinder the astronauts).
5 – The van Allen belt would fry astronauts trying to through it.
Formed by the Earth's magnetic field and hit by highly energized particles from the Sun, the van Allen belt is considered dangerous. However, the launches took place at times when they were at their lowest intensity, so that the radiation received would be as minimal as possible. In addition, the spacecraft was designed to provide protection from this radiation. Even the proof that astronauts left Earth orbit is that several developed vision problems.
6 – If it were true that man walked on the moon, we would be making trips there constantly.
This question deserves a longer answer (and has a part of the text of its own below).
Why aren't trips to the Moon everyday? 6w2d4d
You may be thinking: if man arrived on the moon 50 years ago, it is very likely that, with current technology, it is possible to organize tourist excursions to take a little walk there. But why don't we?
When all corners of the planet saw the news of man walking on the Moon (probably on a black and white television, since color TV only started to spread in the 70's), the emotion was general. The idea that in a few years we could vacation on the Moon was closer to reality. However, fifty years later, we know that this is not so.
The answer to the question is quite simple: it is not worth it (neither time nor money). Basically, there's nothing on the Moon that's so usable. It's not like you're going there to enjoy the scenery or get a tan. There are many more things in space that can be explored, worth investing in and that have greater scientific relevance (such as understanding black holes and looking for a habitable planet when Earth is not able to us).
Also, the Cold War is over. Although the Soviet Union took the lead a few times, the United States “won the game” when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and the contest lost its fun.
On the other hand, in 2017, Donald Trump, President of the United States, ed a directive authorizing the NASA to send manned missions to the Moon. However, for that to happen, you need a budget. Sending someone off Earth is exorbitantly expensive (a figure once estimated to be many billions of dollars). To confirm his wish, Trump spoke again this year and said that trips to the Moon and Mars will return during his istration and that, for that, he will update the budget.
If the moon goddess was not honored in the first series of expeditions, it is her turn: the new attempts at lunar exploration will be the Artemis Quest, intended to take place in 2024. Also, the NASA can send a woman to the moon for the first time.
However, it should be noted that, with current technology, it is much more practical and safer to send probes than to send humans. Current probes can explore the terrain, handle situations that a human could not handle and stay there for years without needing to return to Earth. This is basically what many private companies are investing in, although some have plans that look good SpaceX, Elon Musk.
Celebrating Apollo 50's 11th Anniversary in Class 411u2m
Last year, Universal Pictures, anticipating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, released a film called First Man. He recounts the mission Apollo 11 with a focus on Neil Armstrong.
In April of this year, astronauts gathered to celebrate (in advance) the 50th anniversary of man's walk on the Moon. Among them were Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (both from Apollo 11), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Fred Haise (Apollo 13), Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17), Al Worden (Apollo 15) and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16) . This July, still in celebration of the 50th anniversary, NASA inaugurates a bronze statue of the three crew of Apollo 11.
What the future holds for space travel, whether to the Moon or other locations, is still somewhat unclear (as is research into black holes). After all, each new discovery can make a big difference and change the course of history. It is undeniable to say that human beings' attraction to the unknown – in this case, what we don't know about space – encourages us to explore and search for answers to the millions of unresolved questions. The initial step has already been taken with Apollo 11 (literally).
Sources: NASA, Space.com, Space Center, History.com
