In fact, hundreds of experts and engineers have been preparing for the launch day and night since July 1 1. The counter has started to "count down", and doctors have taken the strictest isolation measures for three outstanding people selected from 52 qualified people-Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and six people in the second and third echelons. Since July 2, 9 people have been isolated from the world in a sterile environment.
On July 16 at 4 am (EST, the same below), the doctor gave them the last check-up and then ate the last meal for the next nine days. At 6: 30, they arrived at the launch center on time and were greeted by 500 staff. Accompanied by the blessing of "bon voyage", three astronauts entered the Apollo cabin with bright smiles, when the 4000 people on duty finally checked all the instruments and communication equipment.
At 9: 30, the astronauts reported that everything was ready, and hundreds of controllers sat in front of rows of fluorescent screens in turn, silently counting the time of fast movement. Thousands of viewers from more than 80 countries and 1 10,000 Americans suddenly became quiet. They held their breath and looked nervously at the high launch tower 5 kilometers away. At the same time, almost all the TVs in the world turned on their screens. ...
"10-9-8 ...3-2- 1, lift off! "The rocket roared like a giant thunder, and the yellow flame stirred up a huge cloud of smoke. The powerful airflow shook everything and even the earth trembled! The crowd waiting all night was even more excited. Thousands of hats, walking sticks, glasses and pens were thrown into the sky. They jumped wildly, cheered, embraced warmly and shouted excitedly, "Go up, go up!" " The wishes of "all goes well" and "bon voyage" are one after another, which is deafening. By the TV in Washington, President Nixon happily announced that the National Lunar Exploration Day would be celebrated in four days, and suggested that there should be a national holiday on that day.
At an altitude of 64 km above the ground, the spacecraft with a speed of 2.7 km/s got rid of the first-stage rocket whose fuel had been burnt out, and the second-stage rocket accelerated it to a height of 6.7 km/s, 160 km, and then they reached the orbit around the earth. Three astronauts checked the orbit of the spacecraft and adjusted it to the direction of running to the moon. This requires complicated and accurate calculation. A little mistake, you may never reach the moon or even return to the earth. Then, the ground command center issued the command of "going to the moon", so the engine started for a whole second according to strict time, making it fly to the orbit entering the moon at the second cosmic speed 1 1.2 km/s!
Three days later, on the afternoon of July 19, the spacecraft arrived at the moon on time. In the 25 minutes above the back of the moon, Armstrong and others independently completed the final orbit adjustment without any deviation (at this time, they were separated from the ground by the moon, and the ground could not "command"), making them really rotate around the moon at 15 km above the moon. As soon as the spacecraft flew out of the back of the moon, Aldrin issued a report that "everything is all right", which made thousands of people on the ground breathe a sigh of relief. July 20th is Sunday in America (GMT is 2 1). Armstrong and Aldrin have entered the lunar module and woke up after a night's sleep. At this time, the spacecraft has already flown around the moon 13 times. The real "landing on the moon" began, and Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins warmly bid farewell.
"Goodbye, wait for us, don't go!" Aldrin likes joking. Collins loudly replied, "Goodbye and good luck!" " The lunar landing system named "Eagle" was separated from the spacecraft, and Armstrong started the braking deceleration rocket to make the lunar module slowly slide down along the curved track. They avoided a big pit surrounded by huge stones. Fly smoothly over the flat ground 100 meters, and land slowly again. This is the last key. If the landing speed is too fast or the angle is wrong, the support will be damaged or toppled because of uneven stress, and two astronauts will never get out of the moon, which is really life-threatening!
The two astronauts were so absorbed that they didn't dare to relax. While carefully manipulating the lunar module, they kept reporting to the ground: "75 feet ... 50 feet ... 30 feet ... we started to encounter some dust ..." Then, a light in the module flashed a pleasant green light: "It touched the moon!" Armstrong turned off the engine and reported, "Houston, the eagle has landed!" " "Millions of people all over the world have heard this exciting report." Victory! ""it worked! "The world suddenly became a sensation. Congratulations and letters flew to the White House like snowflakes, and Aldrin's wife shed tears of joy.
The ground command center immediately congratulated them and told them, "Everyone is smiling in this room!" " The two people in "Eagle" immediately replied, "The two people on the moon are laughing!" Collins, who was alone on the mother ship, heard their conversation through headphones. He was even a little jealous, because during this time, he was really the loneliest "poor man" in the world, so he shouted.
Six hours after the eagle landed on the moon, the ground command center agreed to their multiple requests for leaving the cabin. They ate their first meal on the moon in the cabin: eight square-legged dried bacon, four homemade biscuits, a can of peach juice, coffee, pineapple, grapes and other fruit drinks, put on special "spacesuits", carried scientific instruments and oxygen bottles, opened the hatch and TV cameras, and came to a platform up to 5 meters. Suddenly, a wonderful world caught the eyes of more than 600 million viewers around the world at the same time: a clear moon, full of rocks and dust. Except for two astronauts, there is no other life and there is no subtle sound. Armstrong has not adapted to this new environment, and his limbs have lost their usual sense of touch. On the contrary, his light body makes him look so clumsy that he can hardly walk down the ramp. After several attempts, I walked down step by step under the "guidance" of Aldrin behind me. Even so, these nine steps took 20 minutes!
1on the evening of July 20th, 969, 10: 56 (July 20th, Beijing time 2 12: 56, 2 12: 56), Armstrong's left foot finally set foot on the surface of the moon, leaving the first human footprint on the surface. At this time, the whole world heard his philosophical words: "This is a small step for man, but a big step for mankind!" " "Indeed, this is a big step across 380,000 kilometers and a big step across 5,000 years! He set foot in the southwest of Jinghai, and the position of the moon surface was 0 41'north latitude and 23 26' east longitude-which was later named "Jinghai base".
19 minutes later, Aldrin also set foot on the moon. Their activities instantly appear on the TV set on the ground, because it only takes 1.3 seconds for electric waves to cross the 380,000-kilometer moon. The two of them jumped up and down the gangway, which was simply regarded as a frightening road. They couldn't help shouting, "Ah, beauty!" " "Great, great, beautiful!"
They began to stroll. At first, the two of them could hardly walk and staggered like two drunkards. In Aldrin's words: "You have to be very careful to remember where your center of mass is. Sometimes it takes two or three steps to find that there are still two feet under your feet." Coupled with the strong black-and-white contrast on the moon, the people in front of the TV look like two robots instead of real ones. But it didn't take long for them to get used to it, and they began to walk by jumping, jumping forward like kangaroos.
They began to work. First, they planted an American star-spangled banner on the moon. It is 3 feet wide and 5 feet long, and it is straightened with thin wire (because there is no wind on the moon, otherwise the flag cannot be unfolded). There is also a stainless steel sign on the shell of the lunar module, which reads in English: "1In July 1969, people came to the moon from the earth and set foot on the moon for the first time. We came here peacefully on behalf of all mankind. " After the mission to the moon was completed, the sign was left on the moon forever with the shell. In addition, the souvenirs they brought to the moon included personal letters from 73 heads of state and badges commemorating the unfortunate martyrdom of astronauts.
The two men did several scientific experiments on the moon. Two hours and 47 minutes later, they returned to the cabin with 22 kilograms of moon rock. I ate a meal and slept on July 22nd. After staying on the surface of the moon for 2 1 hour and 37 minutes, they regretfully abandoned the lunar module that had completed its historical mission and returned to Collins on its upper part. In addition to the shell part of the eagle with four slender legs, they also left several cameras, heavy boots when walking, packing boxes for some instruments, an aluminum pole, two backpacks and some unnecessary sundries to minimize the load. After they joined Collins, even this small rocket (the last part of the lunar module) was thrown out of the spacecraft and became a piece of waste in space.
The return to earth was very smooth. After 60 hours, the spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere and finally splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, only 10 second away from the original splashing time. You know, flying 1 10,000 kilometers, only 10 seconds. How difficult it is! When the spacecraft fell into the water, it was less than 20 kilometers away from the aircraft carrier Hornet. President Nixon also attended the grand ceremony to welcome them back to the ship.
Nine months later, Apollo 12 landed in the southeast of the moon storm ocean, only 180 meters away from the landing site of surveyor 3 on April 1967. So the two astronauts also removed a camera from this old detector-later, the bacteria on the ground were cultivated from it. This shows that some bacteria on the earth can survive for at least two years under the harsh natural conditions of the moon. It also created an experiment in which an artificial meteorite hit the moon, causing a "lunar earthquake" lasting for 55 minutes.
The "Apollo" project created 24 "moon people", and 24 people visited the Guanghan Palace, of which 12 people set foot on the moon. At the same time, four "lunar rover" were transported to the moon. Among them, Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 each launched an artificial moon satellite orbiting the moon. 17 astronauts dug three "wells" about 3 meters deep on the surface of the moon (of course, there will be no dry wells for water to seep out). 12 astronauts * * * conducted dozens of scientific experiments and investigations, took over15,000 clear close-up photos of the moon and12km of film, brought back 380kg of moon rocks and a lot of moon soil, and achieved extremely fruitful results. Moreover, many advanced technologies for landing on the moon have been transplanted to industry, agriculture and medical care, and great economic benefits have been achieved.
Things have changed, and so has life. If the astronaut is one in a million, then 12 should be a real "man". Their fearless spirit, tenacious perseverance, infinite wisdom and hard work on the moon left a very deep impression on people. When they returned home triumphantly from the Moon Palace, they all received a grand reception, but in front of flowers and honors, 12 people took a different path.
Neil armstrong, who left the first human footprint on the moon, was smart and eager to learn from an early age. In middle school, he replaced a teacher who was temporarily absent due to illness, and later became an excellent pilot. However, he has always been indifferent to fame and fortune. Although he is fearless when traveling in space and has the talent to turn the tide, he has always been modest, always saying that he is "an ordinary person" and "I hope everyone will forget me as soon as possible". After landing on the moon, he resigned and lived in seclusion in the suburbs of a small town in Ohio. He usually leads a rural life of Tao Yuanming's style, only appearing occasionally when the president is invited. Challenger participated in the investigation at the invitation of Reagan after the tragic disaster in 1986. Now he still lives a quiet life on his farm.
Edwin Aldrin, who went to the moon with him, had a similar early experience, but the honor of "the second man who walked on the moon" became his mental burden, and his father, as an air force colonel, was always worried about being late 19 minutes. Worried about this, Aldrin was once sent to the mental ward of the Air Force Hospital, so his wife left him and his second marriage broke up because of his drinking. Until 1980, when he was 50 years old, he was persuaded by his doctor friend to give up drinking and get married for the third time. Now that the couple live in California, he began to cheer up, publishing two books and a science fiction novel, and rushing about for future "space tourism". Looking back, he sighed infinitely: "In those days, the excessive exaggeration of the media made us become great men overnight, which made me confused and unable to adapt. Now I understand that I am just an ordinary person. "
John young, who has been in space for six times, is the only full-time scientist who still works in NASA and served as technical director. He was only 35 when he first went to heaven. Landing on the moon is his fourth space trip. Although "Apollo 16" is called "the most successful space flight so far", it is actually full of accidents: first, a cable broke, which made some scientific experimental instruments unable to operate, then the photographic equipment on the mother ship around the moon broke down, and after returning to the mother ship, a switch appeared. So far, only one person has tied his record six times.
Jack schmitt, a geologist, embarked on the road of politics, and once became a senator and Republican in New Mexico. Although he has already left office, he is still engaged in consulting work in science and technology and politics. Allen Bean has become an artist. He is now the only painter in the world who has returned from the moon and painted on the theme of the moon. He is determined to create 200 works in 10 ~ 15. It is said that his paintings are painted with "primitive moon dust", so the price is above 50 thousand dollars.
Eugene cernan, who finally left the moon, first worked in an oil company after returning from the moon, but what the boss needed was to use his legendary moon landing experience to attract business, ignoring his talents. Even a wealthy businessman, Gencel Nan, wrote "Aviation Brand Cars" for his light truck ... Cernan, who couldn't stand the bourgeois atmosphere, finally left. He is now the chairman of Houston Aerospace Consulting Company, and he often comments on space activities on TV, becoming one of the most popular people of ABC. He repeatedly stressed "the honor of being the last man to land on the moon, hoping to be replaced as soon as possible". 1994, 10 year 10 month, invited to Shanghai to participate in "Our Space Age Exhibition". He was deeply moved by the sincerity and enthusiasm of the people of China. He said: "Man is a miracle created by God, and the miracle of the world will be created by himself."
Two of the people who landed on the moon became religious believers inexplicably, and one of them was removed from the list by NASA because of a slip of the tongue.
Incredibly, for the spectacular feat of landing on the moon, the allowance for the people who landed on the moon was pitiful, only $27 a day, and $22.5 was deducted from it (because they had their original salary), which was in sharp contrast to their reputation. David Scott couldn't control himself before the test. His aerospace qualifications are equivalent to Armstrong's. That year, they all made their first space flight with Gemini 8. 1969, he was one of the three men of Apollo 9, testing the performance of the lunar module around the earth. 197 1 year landing on the moon was his third space activity. He printed 398 first day covers in advance, with designs of Apollo spacecraft and lunar module painted on them, and affixed commemorative stamps related to this activity. When he landed on the moon, he took them to the moon. After returning to the salvage ship on August 7, he stamped them with a special postmark. In this way, these special first-day covers were immediately worth a hundred times and became rare "space first-day covers". Scott is still a rare commodity, raise its price to 2000 dollars a piece! However, it didn't take long for him to become notorious for "stealing chickens and rice" ... Then after many twists and turns, he got a position in a small space transportation consulting company.
There are many stories, but we can learn a lot from them and learn how to treat work and honor.