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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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One small step for man... To the moon and beyond
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Those historic words by Commander Neil Armstrong 35 years ago, as he placed his foot on the grey dust of the lunar soil held a world spellbound as its populace watched and listened to history unfold. Man had conquered the final frontier of space. It was on July 20 1969 that Armstrong, followed by lunar module pilot Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, landed on the moon. Michael Collins, the command module pilot who manned the main craft continued orbiting till his colleagues returned after about two and a half hours of lunar exploration. It could be correct to say that it was the cold war between America and the USSR and competition to establish territory that sent a human to the moon. For J.F. Kennedy then President of USA, challenged authorities to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.
As a result Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre on July 16, 1969 with the Lunar Module 'Eagle'. And on July 20, 1969, just 30 seconds before its fuel storage was over the Eagle landed on the moon. With two separate parts for descent and ascent, the Eagle had four legs, a storage area for experimental gear, and a ladder for the crew to climb down to the moon's surface. The descent module also served as the launch platform for the ascent module for departure. It was a historic moment for mankind, when Commander Neil Armstrong stepped on to the surface of the moon. With one sixth of earth's gravity, the atmospheric conditions were totally different from the earth. The astronauts needed to get used to the moon's conditions. Dressed in space suits with portable life support systems controlling temperature, oxygen and pressure inside the suits, they performed a variety of experiments and collected soil and rock samples to bring back to earth. While 46 kg of soil and rock were brought back, instruments that send various measurements and messages to the earth were left on the moon. The Apollo 11 crew, landed on the Pacific Ocean on July 24 and were picked up by helicopter and recovery ship USS Hornet. The lunar samples and the crew were placed in quarantine until their health and safety could be confirmed. Since then, many missions have landed on the moon. More experiments and more instruments were developed. Lunar Rover is one such vehicle developed to traverse the moon surface. However, 35 years after the moon landing one instrument left by the Apollo 11 mission, the 'lunar laser ranging retro-reflector array' a 60 cm wide panel studded with 100 mirrors pointing to the earth, still performs its duty sending information to earth. The only Apollo science experiment still running, the retro-reflector, helps determine the earth-moon distance very precisely to a few centimetre accuracy. Through the data obtained scientists in NASA continues to learn about the moon's orbit and test theories of gravity. It is leaned that the moon is spiralling away from earth at a rate of 3.8 cm. per year and the moon probably has a liquid core. US President George W. Bush's statement in January that the moon will be used as the base for future space missions activity, has triggered a lunar challenge of sorts not only in the US, but in other countries as well. The European Space Agency's (ESA) space craft SMART-1 launched in September 2003, will reach moon in November 2004. It plans to scan the moon's south pole for possible water-ice. Such a find would be considered invaluable convertible currency for it can be broken down in to its basic elements - oxygen and hydrogen, which can be used to make rocket fuel, breathable air and drinkable water. Japan with its technological knowledge has planned two lunar missions Lunar-A and Selene to be sent to the moon before 2006. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) preparing Chandrayaan-1 for liftoff by 2007-2008, devotes the craft to high-resolution remote sensing of the lunar surface. China in a three phase effort to reach the moon, plans Chang'e 1 a lunar orbiter to map the moon in three dimensions and identify mineralogical elements including Helium-3. Stretching from 2006 to 1017, the last phase would involve a robotic craft landing on the moon, to snag and return selected lunar samples to earth. China expects to send a manned mission to the moon after this project. The last man on the moon was, American astronaut Schmitt on Apollo 17, who landed on the moon on December 11, 1972. The last purely scientific shuttle flight, devoted to astronomy, life sciences and materials was on the Discovery, which carried the oldest man to fly in space, John Glenn a 77 year old American. Though many missions had been launched since then, manned missions have taken a back seat due to the unfortunate incident of losing the crew. NASA's human space flight programme has been grounded since the shuttle Columbia disintegrated on Feb 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts. Meanwhile scientists and astronauts worldwide are engaged in experiments that would enable man to conquer space - permanently. Leading is the US moon-mars mission which plans to develop a new spacecraft capable of travelling to the moon, and then possibly to Mars, by 2015. According to Reuters the moon landing pioneers want to see people actually populating Mars. Going back to the moon first is seen as an evolutionary process, that would ultimately result in Mars mission. - VSF Significant events leading to moon landing October 4, 1957 - Sputnik 1, the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until January 4, 1958. November 3, 1957 - Sputnik 2, carrying the dog Laika for 7 days in orbit, is launched by the U.S.S.R., and remains in orbit until April 13, 1958. October 1, 1958 - N.A.S.A. is founded, taking over existing National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics January 2, 1959 - Luna 1, first man-made satellite to orbit the sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R. September 12, 1959 - Luna 2 is launched, impacting on the moon on September 13 carrying a copy of the Soviet Coat of Arms, and becoming the first man-made object to hit the moon. April 12, 1961 - Vostok 1 is launched by the U.S.S.R., carrying Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gargarin, the first man in space. He orbits the Earth once. July 10, 1962 - Telstar 1, U.S. satellite, beams the first live transatlantic telecast. June 16, 1963 - Vostok 6 carries Soviet Cosmonaut Valentia Tereshkova, the first woman in space and orbits the Earth 48 times. July 31, 1964 - U.S. Ranger 7 relays the first close-range photographs of the Moon. March 18, 1965 - The first space walk is made from Soviet Voskhod 2 by Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov. Duration is 12 minutes. July 14, 1965 - U.S. Mariner 4 returns the first close-range images about Mars. February 3, 1966 - Soviet Luna 9 is the first spacecraft to soft-land on the moon. August 14, 1966 - U.S. Lunar Orbiter 1 enters moon orbit, and takes the first picture of the Earth from the distance of the moon April 23, 1967 - Soviet Soyuz 1 is launched, carrying Vladimir M. Komarov. On April 24 it crashed, killing Komarov, the first spaceflight fatality. July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the Moon, and the first moonwalk, using Apollo 11. |
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