![]() ![]() If the landing area were a baseball field and the lunar module came to rest on the pitcher’s mound, Armstrong and Aldrin never made it out of the dirt of the infield - a distance of 95 ft. And for safety’s sake, they would not wander far from their little campsite. The Apollo 11 lunar module would be on the surface less than a full Earth day, and the astronauts would be walking around outside for only two-and-a-half hours - just enough time to get a feel for the place, set out an array of scientific instruments and, critically, collect rocks. ( MORE: Want A Little Piece of Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s Heart?)įor that reason, it was decided that their time on the moon would be brief. Still, it was clear long before the moment Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin opened their hatch and prepared to take their first steps that they would not be the last men passing this way. Crews would land on the moon multiple times-a figure that initially settled out at 10, with Apollos 11 through 20 designated as landing missions, until Apollos 18, 19, and 20 were canceled due to budget cuts and Apollo 13 had its well-documented troubles en route. That first landing, it was soon decided, would not be a one-off. That, however, is what it was-and there’s not a thing wrong with that.Īpollo 11 had been eight years in the making-ever since the day in 1961 that President Kennedy improbably pledged that a nation that hadn’t even put a human being in orbit would somehow have one standing on the moon before 1970. The Nixon Library is open seven days a week, Mondays through Saturdays from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM.Follow has recalled the mission of Apollo 11 in words inspiring, rhapsodic, breathless, even incredulous, but no one has ever described the first lunar landing as the time three men flew a quarter of a million miles to walk 95 feet. Other contributing organizations include the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Discovery Cube, Virginia Tech University and the Columbia Memorial Space Center.Īpollo 11: One Giant Leap for Mankind is included with admission to the Nixon Library. Visitors will sit in a 1969 American living room and watch the moon landing just like people all over the world did on the historic night 50 years ago.Īll subsequent lunar landings happened during the Nixon administration, and Richard Nixon remains the only president with his name on a plaque on the lunar surface.Įxhibit partners include NASA, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, Boeing, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation and Immersive VR Education. A giant, exact recreation of an Apollo mission command module.A 3-D printed, life-sized statue of Neil Armstrong in his space suit, as he climbed down the ladder of the Lunar Module on the moon.Original of President Nixon’s draft speech prepared in the event of a “moon disaster”.Presidential Medal of Freedom Award presented to astronaut Michael Collins by President Nixon.Oval Office telephone that President Nixon used to call Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they explored on the lunar surface.Moon rocks from the lunar surface, acquired during the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 missions.NASA X-15 silver-gleaming pressure suit used to train Neil Armstrong and America’s first astronauts in the 1950s.Buzz Aldrin’s penlight used in the Lunar Module and Apollo 11 patch worn on the surface of the moon. ![]() The exhibit’s originally-created, 360-degree virtual reality experience will transport visitors to the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, to see and hear Neil Armstrong’s “one giant leap for mankind.”Īrtifacts and objects featured in the exhibit include: Museum-goers will take a thrill ride through the Space Race of the 1950s and 1960s, President Kennedy’s famous challenge to go to the moon, and the scientific and technological advancements that were developed -many in Southern California- to ensure success and survival on this inspirational mission. Three days later, President Nixon personally greeted the three astronauts at the splashdown site in the Pacific Ocean, aboard the U.S.S. Just minutes after landing they received a call from President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, with congratulations on behalf of the American people. On July 20, 1969, the eyes of the world watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |