Moon Landing 50th Anniversary: Neil Armstrong photographed on the Moon in 1969. (Image source: NASA)Apollo 11 Moon Landing 50th Anniversary 2019: On July 20, 2019, the world will complete 50 years since mankind first stepped foot on the Moon. It was back in 1969 when NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of two human beings to walk on the lunar surface.
The achievement is often fondly remembered with Armstrong’s famous quote “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind,”. The feat, which is till date considered as one of the greatest achievements of the human race in the midst of a Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US, established the US as a winner among the two.
But beyond the geopolitical conflicts, the Apollo 11 mission is also considered to be a turning point for space exploration for mankind. With the golden jubilee of the Moon landing barely a week away, we take a look at the journey to the first step of mankind on the lunar surface.
On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 was launched by Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. The Apollo 11 spacecraft consisted of three parts – command module, a service module and lunar module. On July 20, 1969, reportedly 110 hours after departing from the Earth, Armstrong became the first ever human being to step foot on the surface of the Moon. He was then followed by Buzz Aldrin after 20 minutes.
Both Armstrong and Aldrin then reportedly spent over 21 hours on the Moon’s surface during which they collected the surface samples, took photographs, and performed some experiments. After completing the exploration of the Moon, the two astronauts went back to the command and service module. They returned to Earth and splashed into the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969, spending more than eight days in space.
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Back home, India is set to launch the Chandrayaan-2 on July 15 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. This will be India’s second Moon mission and one of the most ambitious space expedition. Chandrayaan 2 has a rover that will move around on the lunar surface. It will be launched onboard a GSLV Mk-III rocket and is expected to land on the Moon around September 6. The launch will take place on July 15 at 2:51 am. Here is how you can watch the Chandrayaan 2 launch live.
