The Greatest feat of the Space age:
The day humans conquered the moon

44 years ago today; on the 20th of July, 1969; spaceflight Apollo 11; carrying astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins; lands on moon at 20:18 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

Apollo 11 crew: (L to R) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins & Buzz Aldrin. (NS)

Apollo 11 crew: (L to R) Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins & Buzz Aldrin. (NS)

Man on the moon

Just over six hours after the rocket lands on the moon, Neil Armstrong sets foot on lunar territory at 02:56 UTC (thus 21st July, 1969), making him the first human to set foot on the moon. Armstrong was heard stating, ‘‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’’, but he actually was supposed to have said, ‘‘That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind’’; making ‘‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’’, one among the few most misquoted lines in history.
Whilst Collins orbited the moon piloting the spacecraft on his own; Armstrong spent about two and a half hours outside the spacecraft; along with Aldrin, collecting lunar material to bring back to earth.

Shortly after returning to earth, Armstrong announced that he did not plan to fly into space again. He was appointed Deputy Associate Administrator for aeronautics for the Office of Advanced Research and Technology, Advanced Research Projects Agency. In 1970, he served on the investigation committee examining the Apollo 13 accident, where the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days into their journey, and shuttle was brought back to earth. In 1971, Armstrong resigned from NASA.

Neil Armstrong passed away last year, on the 25th of August 2012, twenty days after celebrating his 82nd Birthday.

To see my post on the First Man in Space, click on the link below:-

The American Civil War & Yuri Gagarin

Nuwan Sen n’ The Space age
Nuwan Sen’s Historical Sense