However, among all the things that stand out of the Moon, the most important one occurred in the late ’60s. The Apollo 11 mission landed on July 20th in 1969, and it turned the Moon into the first place outside the Earth in where humanity could put a foot on the ground. The astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, were less than two hours on this surface, in the area called “mare tranquillitatis” (“sea of tranquility”). There, they installed some mirrors, still in use today to measure the exact distance to the Moon, they took walks, did some experiments, and gathered samples. They brought around 22 kg in stones! The third astronaut, who could not get off since someone had to fly the spaceship to come back to Earth, was Michael Collins.
That was the first time out of the six missions of the Apollo program that carry astronauts who landed successfully on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. The achievement obtained by the different spatial agencies, particularly from the United States and the former Soviet Union, marked a milestone in human history, such was the case that it had been mentioned on multiple occasions that today we are living in the Spatial Era or Spatial Age.
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
...the Lunar Orbiter Reconnaissance, a survey for lunar exploration, could record in a video the traces left by Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17, besides capturing images from other satellites such as Chang’e 3 from China?
You can watch the rest of the descent stage of Apollo 11, 12, and 14, the footprints or traces of the Apollo 14’s astronauts, and the vehicle that Apollo 17 left, besides the many instruments used in the mentioned missions.
Watch the video, following https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/128/lro-explores-the-apollo-11-landing-site/ or scan the following QR code with your phone.
