Apollo 11 Space Program:
The tensions of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s were so intense that it started a space competition between the two countries.
When Russia sent its first satellite, Sputnik 1,into space on October 4, 1957 to show its superiority, power and technology to the United States, the President of the United States,Dwight Eisenhower, in response to this Russian move, established NASA,which The entire National Aeronautics and Space Administration of America.
The Americans carried out the first NASA project,which was the Mercury space program, with the aim of sending humans into Earth orbit, but they failed because Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Astronaut, was the first human to go into space and return safely to Earth on April 12, 1961.
American astronaut Alan Shepard was the first American astronaut who was able to go into Earth’s orbit on May 5, 1961, about a month after Gagarin.The step after which the dream of conquering the moon became a reality with the Apollo 11 mission.
Competition For The Moon:
Since the United States had completely failed at the beginning of the space race. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced an ambitious plan to defeat the Soviet Union: America would land the first man on the moon.
In a speech on September 12, 1962, John F. Kennedy requested more funding for NASA to carry out the largest space project to send humans to the moon and return humans to Earth.
We have decided to go to the moon during this decade, and of course to do other things,not because they are easy things, but because they are difficult.
Saturn V Rocket:
The multi-stage rocket that was supposed to take Apollo 11 to the Moon was called Saturn V. This rocket consisted of 3 stages.The first 2 stages were auxiliary,these stages launched the spacecraft and took it out of the Earth’s gravitational field.
Each stage that ran out of fuel was separated from the spacecraft and left in space.The third stage of the power necessary to propel the spacecraft,including The Command Module,The Service Module and The Lunar Module,was first placed in the Earth’s orbit and then on the way to the Moon.After that this stage was also separated from the Spacecraft.
The Command Module was the place where the astronauts stayed,The Service Module housed the necessary equipment,fuel and spacecraft engines.
When the spacecraft was approaching the Moon,The Lunar Module was separated from it and sat on the surface of the Moon.After that was connected to the Command and Service Module and the astronauts returned to Earth.
Apollo 1 incident:
Apollo 1 and its astronauts Gus Grissom,Ed White and Roger Chaffee tested the Apollo 1 space capsule in February 1967,But something tragic happened during the test on the ground.The Command Module caught fire and all 3 astronauts were killed.
This incident dealt a big blow to the Apollo program and the work on this program was completely stopped.
it took NASA a year and a half to completely redesign the Command Module.
Cause And Solution:
Until now,NASA used pure Oxygen in space capsules.Pure Oxygen causes the fire temperature to rise very
high and everything burns at a very high speed.
After this incident,NASA decided to use a mixture of gases.In Addition,it was previously assumed that it
would take 90 seconds to open the hatch of the Command Module,but it was difficult to do this even under
normal conditions.
in later Apollo Missions,the astronauts could open the hatch from the inside in seconds.
Returning Missions:
Finally,on October 11,1968 Apollo 7 was launched into space.The space program was back on track.In this
mission and in the next 3 missions,the equipment was tasted and the information necessary to sit on the
surface of the moon was prepared.
What Was Apollo 11:
Apollo 11 was NASA‘s space mission in which humans were able to walk on the moon for the first time.Neil Armstrong,Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were the 3 astronauts who were selected to sit in the spacecraft mounted on the tip of the 109-meter Saturn V Rocket make this historical moment.
This Mission lasted 8 days and is the biggest space event in history.
Apollo 11 Mission Badge:
Michael Collins designed the logo for the Apollo 11 mission,he was looking for a design that would best represent the peaceful landing of the United States on the moon.He used a eagle,the national bird of the United States, holding an olive branch in its talons.
Collins used olive because it is a symbol of peace.Two blue and gold circles are also seen in the border of this design.
They used 11 as number so that non-English speaking people can understand it.The name of these astronauts in Apollo 11 badge was not written so that this badge is a symbol of all those who worked for the success of this mission.
The Beginning Of The Apollo 11 Mission:
At 9:30 am on July 16,1969 Pad A of launch complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center witnessed the first stage of the gigantic S-IC come to life.it formed the lowest part of the massive Saturn V launcher.
The five F-1 engines,which slowly reached their final power,swallowed 13 thousand liters of Hydrogen and Liquid Oxygen every second.With the activation of the explosive screws,the launcher was separated from its support structures and the Saturn V rose slowly into the sky.
A Million People had gathered on the nearby highways and beaches,and when they saw the rocket
flying in the sky,its speed was increasing every moment,they screamed with joy.
600 Million television viewers around the world watched this historic launch live.12minutes later,Apollo 11 was in orbit.Ever since NASA decided to send Apollo 8 to orbit the moon,it was clear that the first landing on the moon would go to the crew of Apollo 11,including commander Neil Armstrong,lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin and command module pilot Mike Collins.
When the astronauts stepped onto the launch pad that historic morning,they were ready to face anything.After one and half orbits around the Earth,the S-IVB upper stage ignited and put the spacecraft on its way from the Earth to the Moon.
Once Apollo 11 was safely on track,the Columbia command and service module was released from the last stage of the launcher,turned 180 degrees and attached to the Eagle lunar module,which had been embedded below the CSM during launch.
Apollo 11 separated from the launcher without any problems and quickly went to the lunar lander.
Landing On The Moon:
4 days later,On July 20,half a billion people of the world saw on the television screen that Neil Armstrong came out of the Lunar Module and stepped on the surface of the moon.
from a distance of 384 thousand kilometers,his voice was heard saying:”Small Step For Man But A Giant Leap For Mankind.”
About 20 minutes later,Buzz Aldrin joined Neil Armstrong.in the next 21 hours,the astronauts collected about 24 kilograms of rock.They conducted experiments that helped detect earthquakes that occur on the Moon(moon quakes).
These astronauts also obtained information about the internal structure of the moon,they installed a laser reflector on surface of the moon,which was used to accurately measure the distance between the Earth on the Moon.
The space race between The United States Of America and The Soviet Union ended with the launch of Apollo 11,the race was won by The United States.
Installing A License Plaque On The Moon:
Astronauts installed a plaque on the moon,on this plaque it was written:
“Here For The First Time,In July 1969,Men Set Foot On Planet Earth.We Came Here For Peace For All Mankind.”
Triumphant Return:
Re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere went without a hitch, and on July 24, Apollo 11 landed in the Pacific Ocean,just 15 miles (24 km) from the carrier, where President Nixon awaited their return.Of course, the mission was not completely over yet, because the astronauts had to spend another 3 weeks in quarantine.
After the quarantine ended on August 13, 1969, a huge crowd gathered in the streets of New York to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts. In the following hours,a similar reception took place in Chicago and Los Angeles.
In this celebration, US President Nixon and her vice president presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 astronauts.This was the beginning of the 45-day tours of the astronauts to 25 countries of the world to commemorate the great leap of humanity.
