Reflections on the Moon: 50th anniversary of Apollo 11

Fifty years ago Man first set foot on the Moon and things haven’t been the same since.

Technology and scientific aspirations have developed considerably since that first small step for man but giant leap for mankind happened in 1969. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon 50 years ago there were no personal computers, internet or smartphones, or even colour television. Instead, we had our ears glued to our transistor radios and later our eyes followed the Apollo 11 astronauts via a delayed visual broadcast on TVNZ (BCNZ) of the Moon Landing.

The Apollo series of lunar flights ended in 1972 with Apollo 17 but the moon remains of interest to scientists and the public alike. In many ways, we have all benefited from the boost to technological advances that challenges of getting to the moon and back safely demanded. Many people still remember where they were and what they were doing when the event happened. Many others have been born since and are working with new technologies in astronomy or physics, that could one day manifest in new explorations beyond Earth orbit and the Moon.

The following reflections have been collected from past and present University of Canterbury staff and students.This year will mark 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon 20 July 1969. Many universities and research centres are marking the anniversary. The University of Canterbury has a strong history in engineering, astronomy and physics and is currently developing a space research cluster, along with many space-related projects.


The first Moon landing
At the time of the NASA Mercury and Apollo Space programmes, there was a battle of ideologies and national political egos between the US and the USSR. It was the Cold War and who would dominate Space? After Sputnik was launched by the Russians in 1957, and the first man (Yuri Gagarin) went into orbit in 1961, it seemed the USSR had won and was capable of dropping weapons on anyone, from space. This was enough for President Kennedy to up the ante and announce the Moon Landing programme in 1962. 

After Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, took photographs and brought back Moon rocks, the US had won that race so space exploration stopped being political and became scientific. The last Apollo landing (Apollo 17 in 1972) included the first scientist, a geologist, to set foot on the Moon.

“Society came together to witness a major milestone. It was impressive. The first publications I remember in my parents’ home were of the Moon Landing. I have been steeped in the stories and watching it on television. I’m into the Moon,” says UC research engineer and Associate Professor Allan Scott. 


“I’m a geologist by training,” says another UC research engineer Dr Matthew Hughes. “My dream would be to provide science and engineering that enables people to live elsewhere than Earth. From the Moon we can trial technologies to go to Mars.” 
Watch this cool video that explains the rocket experience of the launch as you've never seen before -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDtE8RaEI6Q

Alan Gilmore, retired Mt John Observatory superintendent and star observer, remembers that he heard that the Eagle had landed just before he went to work that day. 

"After the landing there was a comment from Mission Control that the guys there were turning blue from holding their breaths as the lander used most of its fuel seeking a suitable landing site. There was a quip that the astronauts having to climb into space suits in the tiny lander was like two women getting into ball gowns in a telephone box."

“It was hours after the landing that we finally got to see film of it via television. The pictures we saw on TV of the Moon Landing were recorded on film at the Parkes Radio telescope in Australia. A Canberra Bomber flew the film to New Zealand for the TV News,” says Gilmore. 

Video of the components of the craft and rocket needed to get men to the Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dpkmUjJ8xU

Bringing back large quantities of Moon rocks during each Apollo mission was extremely useful to scientists as it provided a chronology of Moon activity and increased understanding of the planet Earth.
 
“There was a Great Bombardment of the Moon, which ended 3.8 billion years ago, followed by magma eruptions that created the ‘seas’ we see on the surface of the moon today. Those seas are craters that have been filled with lava. The rocks are remarkably similar to the Earth’s crust so we know there was a common origin, which lead to the idea that the Moon is the result of an impact from a Mars-sized planet that knocked a chunk off the earth. Minerals in the Moon rocks are extremely dry which indicates they are the results of minerals reforming from the impact, from a lot of vaporised rocks,” Gilmore says. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGTBJHFNywI  Birth of the Moon

Scientific advances through solving epic technological challenges put the rocket under the development of guidance and navigation systems, calculating trajectories, moving from transistors to integrated circuits, developing special smooth coatings. UC staff and students respect but don’t dwell on the past; they are busy working on new challenges that follow on from what has gone before. 

How the Saturn V and the Space Race were born https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a26013658/saturn-v-rocket-wernher-von-braun/

Evolution of The Moon (good NASA video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIKmSQqp8wY

My own thoughts and context: Naturally, I have been thinking back to my own experiences of that time; watching a delayed broadcast of the landing during science class at high school. Later, in my early twenties, I was seriously into making models of the 3-stage Saturn V rocket, the moon lander, the space shuttle, and even Star Wars planes. In my mid 40s I had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Centre and see actual Saturn V rocket engines up close. Their size and engineering are awe-inspiring. I also saw a Space Shuttle on the launch pad.  The space programme left an indelible impression on me and it has been a privilege to be able to speak with researchers and scientists who are now contributing to what comes next.

So, in my next post I'll be talking to scientists and researchers from the University of Canterbury about what's new and where humanity is heading.

Below: putting things from 1969 into personal context - me in 1969 at Papanui High School, Christchurch NZ first on the front row, and then in costume performing in the Marriage of Figaro.