World Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Man’s First Conquest of the Moon

On July 20th, 1969, NASA’s Apollo 11 Space Mission carrying Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin first landed on the surface of the Moon on a vehicle called the ‘Sea of Tranquility’, creating history. On this day 50 years ago, Armstrong thus became the first man to step on the Moon were he declared, “That’s one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind”.

Google marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission with a video doodle. The video doodle is accompanied with narration by astronaut Michael Collins, as the video traces the historic events that led up to man’s first Moon landing. Collin says, “Neil, Buzz and I felt the weight of the world on our shoulders”.

Further, Collins says in the video “The first time we saw the Moon up close, it was a magnificent spectacle. It was huge. The sun was coming around it, cascading and making a golden halo, and filled our entire window. It was as impressive as the view was of this alien Moon seen up from close, it was nothing compared to the sight of the tiny Earth. The Earth was the main show.”

It was on July 16, 1969, the US launched the Saturn V rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida carrying three astronauts namely Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins. After orbiting around the Moon for sometime, the lunar module named ‘the Eagle’ separated for a 13-minute journey to the land on the surface of the Moon. Collins remained in the command module as Armstrong and Aldrin made their way to the surface of the Moon.

On July 20th, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the surface of the Moon with the use of a vehicle called the ‘Sea of Tranquility’. Their journey to the space was as much as challenging, adventurous and also was full of complications as they initially lost contact with the Earth station, experienced unfamiliar error codes on their computer onboard and to everyone’s horror at one point of time, they ran short of fuel. 

But they did overcome everything and on this day 50 years ago, the team of trio succeeded in their mission. Armstrong became the first man to step on the Moon as he first remarked,  “That’s one small step for man, but one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong and Aldrin then hoisted a plaque on the Moon that read, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind.”

Michael Collins says. “Behind the Moon, I was by myself. All alone, but not lonesome. If you count, there were three billion plus two people on one side, and I on the other. I felt very comfortable back there, I even had hot coffee.” The three astronauts then returned to the Earth successfully on July 24, 1969. They landed in the Pacific Ocean.

The whole US Apollo mission then involved around 40,000 people from across the world, which includes scientists, engineers and factory workers.