8A | SATURDAY, JULY 20, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
IMAGES COURTESY OF NASA
(Above) Astronaut Buzz
Aldrin walks on the sur-
face of the moon near
the flag planted during
the Apollo 11 moon land-
ing mission. Astronaut Neil
Armstrong (left), commander,
took this photograph with a 70mm lunar
surface camera. Astronaut Michael Collins
was the third member of the mission.
MOON from page 1A
dedicate their lives to the
goal of making the dream
of walking on the moon a
reality.
“The biggest benefit of
Apollo was the inspiration
it gave to a growing gen-
eration to get into science
and aerospace,” said Buzz
Aldrin, pilot of the lunar
module on the Apollo 11
mission.
On July 20, Commander
Neil Armstrong was the first
human being to walk on the
moon, followed by Aldrin.
Command module pilot
Michael Collins, the third
member of the crew, flew
the command module Co-
lumbia in lunar orbit while
his crewmates made history
on the moon’s surface.
Armstrong has become
an iconic figure since that
day. His observation, “That’s
one small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind,” has
come to represent the vi-
son and desire of humanity
to explore the solar system
and develop a better under-
standing of the universe we
inhabit.
Armstrong and Aldrin
spent 21.5 hours on the lu-
nar surface at a site they
named Tranquility Base.
They also laid a plaque on
the lunar surface which
read: “Here men from the
planet Earth first set foot
upon the Moon July 1969,
A.D. We came in peace for
all mankind.”
The plaque had signa-
tures from the three-mem-
ber Apollo 11 crew and that
of U.S. President Richard
Nixon.
During the time the as-
tronauts were on the moon
they spoke with Nixon, who
later said the conversation
was the most significant call
ever made from the White
House.
The steps taken by Arm-
strong and Aldrin were mo-
mentous and shared around
the world.
Estimates put live view-
ership of the landing at 600
million worldwide, with
94 percent of televisions
in America tuned into the
event.
In 1999, historian Arthur
Schlesinger Jr. wrote, “In
500 years Pearl Harbor will
be as remote as the War of
the Roses, but the Apollo
11 moon landing may well
be remembered as the most
significant event of the 20th
century. And that includes
two world wars, the devel-
opment of Einstein’s theory
of relativity, quantum phys-
ics and nuclear weapons.”
The images of the astro-
nauts planting the flag on
the lunar surface have be-
come iconic and continue
to symbolize the spirit and
determination of NASA and
the American people, and,
in a broader sense, the as-
pirations of many people on
the planet.
The crew patch for the
A weekly roundup of shopping,
savings and doings around town.
Apollo 11 Mission was de-
signed by astronauts. Ac-
cording to the NASA web-
site, the inclusion of the
elements of the patch were
well considered and dis-
cussed in detail.
“We wanted to keep our
three names off it because
we wanted the design to be
representative of everyone
who had worked toward a
lunar landing,” Collins said.
“There were thousands who
could take a proprietary in-
terest in it, yet who would
never see their names wo-
ven into the fabric of a
patch. Further, we wanted
the design to be symbolic
rather than explicit.”
The Apollo Program in-
volved an estimated 400,000
engineers, technicians and
scientists, and cost $24 bil-
lion. However, the resulting
scientific knowledge was
used to create many new
and innovative products
which include LED lights,
scratch resistant lenses,
heart monitors, solar pan-
els, Hazmat suits and digital
image analyzers, to name
just a few.
Eventually, 12 individuals
from the Apollo Program
would land and walk on
the lunar surface while con-
ducting six crewed landings
between 1969 and 1972.
The hundreds of mil-
lions that watched the ini-
tial moon landing and the
extensive news coverage of
the program united viewers
across the globe in a way
that has not been replicated
to this day.
The backdrop on earth
for the moon landing was
tumultuous to say the least.
The war in Vietnam was a
subject of protest on col-
lege campuses across the
country and the battle for
civil rights were still major
points of contention among
the population. The short
walk made by these space
pioneers came during this
period of division and dis-
trust, serving for a time as
an endeavor that brought
together not only Ameri-
cans, but also the world.
The moon landing oc-
curred at a time when
there was a need for a re-
affirmation of basic Amer-
ican values, and the literal
otherworldly nature of the
accomplishment filled that
bill.
This public interest and
support were not just a
recognition of the amaz-
ing accomplishments of
NASA, but also a reminder
to Americans and the rest
of the world what humanity
ultimately stands for: team-
work, determination and
the quest for knowledge.
The 50th anniversary of
the Apollo 11 moon land-
ing has prompted a reex-
amination of the event it-
self and of its cultural and
historic importance.
This week, celebrations
at the Kennedy Space Cen-
ter can be viewed live on-
line. In addition, there is
a wealth of archived ma-
terials available, as well as
numerous television retro-
spectives that provide un-
precedented access to the
thousands of photographs
taken by astronauts during
their moon missions.
There is also an impres-
sive collection of video
footage now available that
provides new and astound-
ing details of the trip to the
lunar surface and during
space flights to and from
the moon. Many of these
new documents can be
viewed through NASA, PBS
and The History Channel.
Locally, the Siuslaw Pub-
lic Library will be present-
ing a celebration of the
Apollo 11 landing today
at 1 p.m. Jeff Phillips from
the Eugene Astronomical
Society will lecture on the
Apollo Program and pro-
vide unique insight, as his
family was involved in the
program.
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