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Apollo Moon Landing
It is interesting that when a researcher types in "Apollo Moon Landing" on Google, the second link that comes up is "Moon landing conspiracy theories"; and entering the site the shocking revelation is that up to 20% of Americans surveyed believed that the moon landings were faked. The Fox News TV network even ran a documentary with a conspiracy theory as its editorial backbone ("Did We Land on The Moon?"). Of course such a huge undertaking would be very difficult to fake, and in this case there was no fakery. Notwithstanding assertions to the contrary by Fox News and others, American astronauts did in fact land on the moon on six occasions; this paper delves into the first landing by Apollo 11.
John F. Kennedy's Vision for a Moon Landing -- How it got Started
Only a few months after entering the White House (on April 20, 1961) President Kennedy sent a memo to Vice President Lyndon Johnson asking if the U.S. has the technology to put a laboratory in space, or fly around the moon, "…or by a rocket to land on the moon, or by a rocket to go the moon and back with a man?" (NASA / Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis). Kennedy wanted to know if the space programs was "working 24 hours a day on existing programs" and "if not, why not?" Clearly the president was responding to the surprising orbit around the world that Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took on April 12, 1961. The president knew there was to be a space race and he wanted America to be first to land on the moon. Gagarin's flight in earth orbit took only 1 hour and 48 minutes, but that shook the foundations of American technology and pride, and moved Kennedy to action.
Lyndon Johnson sent a memo to Wernher von Braun, who...
In Johnson's memo the vice president asked von Braun if the U.S. had a chance of beating the Soviets to the moon; von Braun replied that "…we have an excellent chance of beating the Soviets to the first landing of a crew on the moon (including return capability, of course)…with an all-out crash program I think we could accomplish this objective in 1967/68," von Braun replied to Johnson on April 29, 1961 (NASA).
After Johnson reported his findings to Kennedy, the president spoke to a joint session of Congress, saying "…We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share." He went on to say that American must meet a goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." He pointed out how impressive this achievement will be "to mankind," and it will be hugely important for "the long-range exploration of space" (NASA).
The Moon Mission Preliminaries
Leading up to the Apollo 11 flight to the moon and back were several important steps. One was the Mercury project, including flights that lasted 15 minutes in "near-orbit" in May and July, 1961. In February, 1962, John Glenn orbited the earth three times and that flight was duplicated by Scott Carpenter in May, 1962. Other Mercury flights lasted up to 34 hours, concluding in May 1963 (Gordon Cooper was the astronaut).
Next was the Gemini program, which featured 10 flights to test equipment and Gemini IV featured a space walk by Edward White. The Apollo program started with Apollo 8, which went to the moon, circled the…
Works Cited
Apollo: A Retrospective Analysis. "John F. Kennedy, Wernher von Braun, Lyndon
Johnson" Memoranda. Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://history.nasa.gov/.
Lunar and Planetary Institute. "Apollo 11 Mission." Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://www.lpi.usra.edu. 2009.
NASA. "Benefits from Apollo: Giant Leaps in Technology." Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://www.nasa.gov. 2004.
NASA. "Gemini" / "Mercury" "The Manned Flights." Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov. 2004.
Before a Joint Session of Congress." Retrieved February 23, 2013, from http://history.nasa.gov/moondec.html. 1961.
There were arguments that the U.S. had vital interests in maintaining control over the canal due to the need to move warships and submarines through the locks during world crises. Others cited the Soviet nuclear threat and wondered if giving the canal back to Panama would open the door for Soviet influence in the region. And there was the "psychological penalty of a pull-out" (147); giving the canal back
This was done so that the flag would stand out from the flagpole... The bar was also not quite the full width of the flag, so that it was slightly furled to give a 'wave look' to it." (Red Zero, 2003) Other complaints, such as mismatched shadows in the moon-landing photographs also seem to have simpler explanations. While having a photo being faked does seem to simply explain multi-angled
The first successful lunar attempt by the Soviets was Luna 1 which made a lunar flyby in 1959, followed by Luna 2 and 3; Luna 4 in 1962 failed and in 1965, the Soviets created the Zond program with Zond 3 reaching the dark side of the moon for the first time. This was followed by Luna 9 which soft-landed on the moon and then Luna 10 which orbited the
" The spectacular effect achieved by the Russians therefore had a significant effect upon the minds of citizens around the globe (Dick, March 24). The financial and political implications of the Apollo program became significant once the president made the decision to commit the United States to a Lunar landing. It was important to the president to set a goal that his country had a good chance of achieving before the
nation-altering event of the 1960s. Specifically it will discuss man's first walk on the moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren, and how it stimulated the nation's growth, made an indelibly positive impression upon America's institutions, and if it/they provide sufficient substance to be incorporated into the future study of America during the 1960s. MAN ON THE MOON One of the most important and nation altering events to occur in
Conclusion: The Mars exploration program announced by President Bush in 2004 relies on first establishing a prolonged human presence on the Moon, in conjunction with completion of the International Space Station by 2015. The President envisions returning to the Moon by 2020 at the latest, for the purpose of being able to launch robotic missions to Mars (Whitehouse, 2004). According to the American Physical Society and many independent scientists, the President's