MAN ON THE MOON

The following is an extract of an article about the first lunar landing.

MONDAY 21ST JULY, 1969

At 10.56 pm last night, millions of people throughout the world watched on television as Neil
Armstrong slowly climbed down the ladder of the lunar landing module to become the first human
to set foot on the Moon. As his first foot touched the surface, he said, ‘That’s one small step for
man’. Less than a second later, when his second foot touched the surface, he added, ‘One giant
leap for mankind’.

Armstrong described the surface as fine and powdery as he kicked it, sending a cloud of dust
upwards. It fell slowly, but straight down – not a sign of wind. He also described the surface as
being covered with lots of ‘little impact craters.’ About 20 minutes later, Buzz Aldrin climbed down
the ladder to join his fellow astronaut on the surface. They spent over two hours collecting rocks
and setting up scientific experiments before returning to the landing module for a rest.

Both astronauts took quite a while to get used to the smaller pull of gravity on the Moon. It is about
one-sixth as much as it is here on Earth. In fact, they had to lean forward to balance and had to
walk slowly so that they could stop quickly if they needed to.
 MAN ON THE MOON

While Armstrong and Aldrin were ‘moon-walking’, the third astronaut of the Apollo 11 team,
Michael Collins, was in orbit about 100 km above the surface. Even though he was closer to the
Moon than the millions of people on Earth watching television, he did not see his companions on
the surface. He had no video monitor and could only listen by radio.

After some well-earned rest and a chat to President Nixon, Armstrong and Aldrin will climb down
the ladder again to set up some more experiments. They’ll also begin collecting samples of soil
and rocks to bring back to Earth with them for analysis.

CHECKING FOR EARTHQUAKES

One of the experiments the astronauts are setting up will detect movements on both the Earth and
the Moon. The experiment uses an earth-tremor recorder to detect small earthquakes on the
Earth. The recorder receives a narrow laser beam coming from Earth. Because of the huge
distance between the Earth and the Moon, even a tiny movement on Earth causes a large
movement in the laser beam by the time it reaches the moon.
 MAN ON THE MOON

FOOTSTEP RECORD OF HISTORY

According to space scientists, the first footprint ever made on the Moon will last for millions of
years. Buzz Aldrin will photograph many footprints left by himself and Neil Armstrong before the
lunar module returns to the command module and then heads back to Earth. The photographs are
part of an experiment to find out how the dust on the Moon behaves when it is put under pressure.

PROBING THE MOON: SOME IMPORTANT EVENTS

YEAR EVENT

1610 Galileo Galilei used a telescope to observe the moon.

1850s Astronomers took the first photographs of features of the moon.

1959 Luna 2 (USSR) became the first space probe to reach the moon when it
crashed into the surface.
1959 Space probe Luna 3 (USSR) provided the first pictures of the previously
unseen far side of the moon.

1964 Space probe Ranger 7 (USA) took the first close-up pictures of the moon.

1966 Luna 9 (USSR) became the first space probe to make a soft landing on the
moon and take pictures from the surface.
1969 Apollo 11 (USA) carried three astronauts and the lunar lander Eagle to and
from the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first
humans to walk on the moon. They spent three hours collecting soil and rocks,
performing experiments and setting up equipment for further experiments.
1969 – Apollo missions 12 and 14 – 17 (USA) successfully reached the moon,
1972 enabling more experiments to be completed. Apollo 13 failed, stranding three
astronauts in space. The astronauts were able to return safely to Earth by
using the fuel and oxygen stored in their lunar landing.

THINKING CAPS ON
 MAN ON THE MOON

1. Describe the surface of the moon.

Fine and powdery

2. Why is it so easy to detect a tiny movement on Earth with a laser beam pointed at the Moon?

Because of the huge distance between the Earth and the Moon, even a tiny movement on Earth
causes a large movement in the laser beam by the time it reaches the moon.

3. What do you think Neil Armstrong meant when he said, ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant
leap for mankind’?

Its used to exaggerate the accomplishment he has just done

4. The first footprint on the Moon will remain there for millions of years. How can it last that long?

There is no wind on the Moon

5. Photographs of footprints are part of an experiment to find out how dust on the Moon behaves
when it is put under pressure. How could the results of this experiment be useful?

To determine whether colonising on the Moon is possible

6. Why do you think so much money was spent sending humans to the Moon?

For scientific research in hopes of colonising on another land other than Earth

7. Imagine that a small colony is set up on the Moon. Up to 50 people at a time are allowed to live
and work on the Moon for one year. Think of one way of making it easier for people to adjust to the
gravity on the Moon. Describe some of the difficulties that would have to be solved to allow the
colony to be set up.

Oxygen.

MORE MOON STUFF

The moon is by far the brightest object in the night sky. Its presence and changing appearance
when viewed from Earth have raised questions, inspired myths and legends, shaped our calendar
and even determined the dates of some religious holidays.

The ancient Romans thought the moon was a goddess. Name Luna, she drove across the sky at
night in a chariot. When the moon did not appear, Luna had driven her chariot down to Earth to
visit her mortal lover, a shepherd named Endymion.

The word lunatic arises from an old superstition that sleeping in the moonlight could cause insanity.

The moon takes the same time to complete one full turn about its own axis as it takes to orbit the
Earth. For this reason, only one face of the moon can be seen from the Earth. The face seen from
the Earth is much less mountainous and rugged than the other side. Because the moon wobbles a
little during its orbit around Earth, we sometimes get a view of the edges of the far side. However,
41 percent of the moon’s surface is never visible from the Earth.

Unlike the Earth, the moon has no atmosphere. There is no air, no wind and no rain. This means
there is no erosion.