by David Kubicek
The touchdown at Tranquility base in July, 1969, the first Moon landing by men from the planet Earth, demonstrated that humanity has the potential for miraculous achievements when we are all united.
The plaque Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left in the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface on this day fifty years ago reads: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.”
We had achieved the goal President John F. Kennedy had set for us on May 25, 1961, when he declared that the United States, before the end of the decade, would land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth.
Few people understand what a gutsy, ambitious goal that was. This declaration came only 20 days after Alan Shepard became the first American in space with a 15-minute suborbital flight. To reach the moon we had to develop lots of new technology, and we had less than a decade in which to do it.
The Cold War Drove the Space Race
A few years earlier, the Soviet Union had been first to put a satellite (Sputnik) into orbit, and nearly three weeks before Shepard’s flight the Soviets had launched a man (Yuri Gagarin) into orbit. So far the Soviets had been ahead of the U.S. every step of the way, and that could not be tolerated. What if they established a base on the moon and aimed nuclear missiles at America? [Spoiler alert: This presumed danger was a paper dragon because the Soviets had little hope of competing with the U.S. to land on the moon–David Dvorkin explains why in his short memoir, When We Landed on the Moon].
I don’t know if anyone pointed out what a crazy idea it was to establish a base 240,000 miles away where it would take three days for a missile to reach its target. But people were afraid that would happen, and that fear helped fuel the space race.
The Action Plan
NASA created a plan and followed it step by step. A publicity campaign was launched. The government gave NASA the money, and the media went wild reporting on the space program. There were articles, there were commercials (remember Tang, the drink of the astronauts?), there was TV coverage of every space launch, splashdown and activity in between.
The U.S. left the Soviets behind and made President Kennedy’s vision a reality–with more than five months to spare.
Moon Landing: A Dividing Line in History
I was in high school when the Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility. After I watched the moonwalk on TV, I went outside and looked up at the stars (I honestly can’t remember if the moon was out). It felt strange that men were up there. When I’d gotten out of bed that morning, there were no men on the surface of the moon. Now, as I was preparing to go to sleep, two men were also preparing for sleep on the surface of an alien world.
I was acutely aware that a dividing line had been drawn in the sands of history–on one side of the line, humans had not walked on the moon; on the other side they had.
The moon landing was a national goal which took a nation united to reach. It demonstrated that we have the ability to do miraculous things if we all pull together in the same direction–this doesn’t apply only to space travel, but to everything, to every seemingly insurmountable problem.
After five decades, it’s time to come together to pull off another miracle, don’t you think?
Recommended Reading and Viewing
Apollo 11 Documentary (2019): Todd Douglas Miller’s film chronicling the moon landing from lift-off to splashdown in film clips taken at the time, much of it newly-found footage. A great way to experience the event as it unfolded in mid-July 50 years ago.
When We Landed On The Moon (2019), a memoir by David Dvorkin: This little gem was written by a scientist who worked on the Apollo program at the time of the moon landing. Lots of behind-the-scenes stories and little-known information make this a fascinating read.
The Right Stuff (the movie, 1983): Philip Kaufman’s movie about the Mercury Program, based on Tom Wolfe’s book.
The Right Stuff (the book, 1979), by Tom Wolfe: The book is about the early days of the space program and covers a lot more ground than the movie, which focuses mainly on the Mercury 7 astronauts. Read the book and watch the movie; both are riveting.
Photo Courtesy of NASA
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