Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Jan 30, 2020 17:58:35 GMT 2
(.#361).- Departure to the Moon, 50 years ago.
Departure to the Moon, 50 years ago.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
The festivities surrounding Apollo 11 revive the debate on the return of inhabited missions to the lunar body.
CAP CANAVERAL, Florida - (AFP) It was 50 years ago to the day: July 16, 1969, the three American astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, took off for the Moon since the Florida, they were going to mark history and change the vision that humanity has of its place in the universe.
"We, the crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, we knew we would be watched by everyone, friends and foes," said 88-year-old Michael Collins yesterday on the legendary 39A launch of the center Kennedy Space to launch the festivities.
The driver of the control module was invited by NASA, which organizes a series of events throughout the week to revive this historic round trip.
The crew took four days to reach the moon. The lunar module, Eagle, with Armstrong and Aldrin on board, arrived on July 20, 1969, and Armstrong came out a few hours later, setting foot on the moon on July 21, 1969.
Michael Collins was alone in lunar orbit in the main capsule, Columbia, the only means of transport to return to Earth.
"I've always been asked if I was not the loneliest person in the solar system when I was alone in orbit," he said yesterday. And the answer is no, I felt good! ".
COFFEE AND MUSIC
"I was very happy to be where I was and to see this mission very difficult to complete," he added. I enjoyed a good coffee, and I had music if I wanted (...). I really enjoyed all this time alone.
NASA offered him to be the commander of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, but he refused, so as not to spend three more years away from his family, he explained.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is becoming rarer, but he participated in a few events, such as a gala last Saturday in California where the cheapest ticket cost 1000 dollars.
Even though he had to participate in the celebrations, he did not appear yesterday, without any explanation being given.
The 89-year-old man, active on Twitter and still eccentric with his socks in the colors of the American flag, experienced health and family concerns, culminating in a court dispute with his children over his finances, which was settled by a truce last March.
Commander Armstrong died in 2012. Only four of the 12 men on the lunar surface are still alive.
TURBULENCES AT NASA
But these festivities tinged with nostalgia reveal a cruel reality: the United States, nor any other country, have never sent humans back to the moon since 1972, date of the last Apollo mission. Only robots have returned.
Presidents Bush Sr., in 1989, and sons in 2004, had promised that the Americans would return there, before going to march on Mars ... But each time, the speeches ran up against a Congress and a public opinion little inclined to engulf the same fortunes as in the 1960s.
In turn, Donald Trump relaunched the conquest of the Moon (and Mars) in 2017. But the immediate effect of this injunction was to create strong turbulence within the space agency.
Last Wednesday, the agency's boss, Jim Bridenstine, a former parliamentarian appointed by President Trump, removed from office a NASA figure, Bill Gerstenmaier, who was responsible for all human spaceflight programs.
The probable reason for his mutation: disagreements on the ultimatum set by the Trump government, 2024, for the return of Americans, including the first woman, on the lunar soil. Five years seem a much too short delay whereas neither the rocket, the capsule, nor the buffer are ready, even defined.
F I N.
Departure to the Moon, 50 years ago.
Wednesday, July 17, 2019.
The festivities surrounding Apollo 11 revive the debate on the return of inhabited missions to the lunar body.
CAP CANAVERAL, Florida - (AFP) It was 50 years ago to the day: July 16, 1969, the three American astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, took off for the Moon since the Florida, they were going to mark history and change the vision that humanity has of its place in the universe.
"We, the crew, felt the weight of the world on our shoulders, we knew we would be watched by everyone, friends and foes," said 88-year-old Michael Collins yesterday on the legendary 39A launch of the center Kennedy Space to launch the festivities.
The driver of the control module was invited by NASA, which organizes a series of events throughout the week to revive this historic round trip.
The crew took four days to reach the moon. The lunar module, Eagle, with Armstrong and Aldrin on board, arrived on July 20, 1969, and Armstrong came out a few hours later, setting foot on the moon on July 21, 1969.
Michael Collins was alone in lunar orbit in the main capsule, Columbia, the only means of transport to return to Earth.
"I've always been asked if I was not the loneliest person in the solar system when I was alone in orbit," he said yesterday. And the answer is no, I felt good! ".
COFFEE AND MUSIC
"I was very happy to be where I was and to see this mission very difficult to complete," he added. I enjoyed a good coffee, and I had music if I wanted (...). I really enjoyed all this time alone.
NASA offered him to be the commander of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, but he refused, so as not to spend three more years away from his family, he explained.
Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is becoming rarer, but he participated in a few events, such as a gala last Saturday in California where the cheapest ticket cost 1000 dollars.
Even though he had to participate in the celebrations, he did not appear yesterday, without any explanation being given.
The 89-year-old man, active on Twitter and still eccentric with his socks in the colors of the American flag, experienced health and family concerns, culminating in a court dispute with his children over his finances, which was settled by a truce last March.
Commander Armstrong died in 2012. Only four of the 12 men on the lunar surface are still alive.
TURBULENCES AT NASA
But these festivities tinged with nostalgia reveal a cruel reality: the United States, nor any other country, have never sent humans back to the moon since 1972, date of the last Apollo mission. Only robots have returned.
Presidents Bush Sr., in 1989, and sons in 2004, had promised that the Americans would return there, before going to march on Mars ... But each time, the speeches ran up against a Congress and a public opinion little inclined to engulf the same fortunes as in the 1960s.
In turn, Donald Trump relaunched the conquest of the Moon (and Mars) in 2017. But the immediate effect of this injunction was to create strong turbulence within the space agency.
Last Wednesday, the agency's boss, Jim Bridenstine, a former parliamentarian appointed by President Trump, removed from office a NASA figure, Bill Gerstenmaier, who was responsible for all human spaceflight programs.
The probable reason for his mutation: disagreements on the ultimatum set by the Trump government, 2024, for the return of Americans, including the first woman, on the lunar soil. Five years seem a much too short delay whereas neither the rocket, the capsule, nor the buffer are ready, even defined.
F I N.
