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Reason for the Mission

The Launch Return Trip and Reception on Earth

The Landing

Apollo 11 Mission

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Simon Griggs

In his free time Simon enjoys cheering for the Atlanta Braves, Durham Bulls and the NC State Wolfpack. He enjoys building with LEGO’s and playing outside. He has just moved from Raleigh NC to Apex NC and loves to go to Apex Middle School.

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Apollo 11 Mission

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Background of Apollo

Apollo 11 Mission

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The Launch

Click Here for Video of Launch

APOLLO 11 MUSEUM

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The Landing

Apollo 11 Mission

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Return Trip and Reception on Earth

Apollo 11 Mission

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Apollo 11 brought back many rock samples from Tranquility Base to give to scientists to study.

The NASA scientists distributed the samples among the lead scientists in many nations.

These samples gave scientists an idea of what the Tranquility Base area of the Moon was like.

Some samples of identical rocks have been found in Antarctica which leads scientists to believe that parts of the Moon have crashed back to Earth.

Apollo 11 Rock Samples

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JFK: We Will Go to the Moon

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On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy said that he wanted to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.

He gave his speech before Congress telling them about his idea which sparked the Apollo missions to get to the Moon.

The quote that he said was as follows: “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

This goal was achieved July 20, 1969 by Neal Armstrong when he said “That’s one small step for man, giant leap for man kind” and he stepped onto the Moon.

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The Apollo 1 rocket was tragically burnt in a fire on January 27, 1967 in a test to see if the rocket could work on its own power supply.

This caused a 20 month delay in launches to correct the possible problem and Apollo missions 2-6 were unmanned flights.

The fire was a cause for concern because NASA did not want to be constantly burning their astronauts.

Revisions to the rocket in reaction to the fire made following Apollo flights much safer for the astronauts.

Image of Apollo 1 Fire

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The Apollo 10 mission was used as a dress rehearsal for the type of rocket systems for the Saturn V (five) rocket that would take Neal Armstrong and his crew to the moon.

The success of the mission was one of the final things that needed to happen before men could be set to the moon.

The only part of the Apollo 11 mission that did not happen on Apollo 10 was the actual moon landing. which was piloted by Neal Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission.

Apollo 10 was the first space mission to carry a color television camera to document their trip.

Apollo 10 Launch

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This is one of the videos of the launch of the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

Click Here to go to the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSLRMdYSA9M

The bulky suits that they were wearing were pressurized so the astronauts’ bodies did not have many effects when they were in space or on the Moon.

The flashes in the air after the Saturn V cleared the tower were the first and second stages separating from the command module.

The people at the end of the video were the politicians and VIP’s that got excellent seats.

Video of Launch

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This picture was taken on July 16, 1969 as the Saturn V rocket passed the launch tower.

This was a very important day for NASA because they sent their first astronauts to the Moon.

It took the rocket only 12 minutes from this picture to go into orbit around Earth.

This was only the start of a long journey for the astronauts Neal Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michal Collins (Collins stayed on the command module during the lunar landing).

Launch From the Top of the Tower

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This is a picture of Neal Armstrong getting suited up so he could go sit atop the mighty Saturn V rocket and travel to the Moon.

This shows that being an astronaut was not an entirely glorious task because you had to be suited up in huge suits.

This task had to be done in a virtually germ free room so the assistants had to wear the masks and the air had to be filtered before it could enter the room.

The microphones and headsets allowed Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins to communicate with each other and Mission Control in Houston.

Neal Armstrong Getting Suited Up

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Upon landing on the Moon Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin put up an American flag on the Moon.

The flag had to be held up by wires because there is no wind on the Moon; without the wires the flag would always be drooping.

The flag symbolizes that the Americans won the space race with the Soviet Union.

The US and the USSR were competing to see who would get to the Moon first and the American flag in the dusty soil shows the victory for the USA.

American Flag on Moon

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This is the headline for a small town in Ohio celebrating Neal Armstrong walking on the Moon.

Most people on Earth were captivated by the landing of the first human on another celestial body.

The sub-headline “Armstrong, Aldrin set for hazardous return” shows that the landing was only part of the mission; they still had to launch from the Moon and re-dock with Collins in the command module.

This leaves the last part of Kennedy’s wish, returning the men safely to Earth, still to be accomplished.

Newspaper Headline

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Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had little time on the surface of the Moon so NASA had to make an easy way to do experiments. What they created is what you see Armstrong operating (EASEP, or Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package).

This package was a small object that could fit easily inside the Lunar Lander.

To the left and back of Armstrong is a mirror which allows scientists to measure the distance between the Earth and Moon to this day.

They also picked up rock samples from the surface to bring back to Earth for scientists to study.

Experiments on the Moon

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Now the space craft had to re-enter the atmosphere; before this happened the command module separated from the Lunar Lander (Armstrong and Aldrin were back in the orbiter for re-entry).

From the ground it would look like the craft was burning up in the air but the heat shield on the bottom of the craft prevented that.

The heat shield was designed to melt and erode away so the astronauts were not charred to a crisp.

The command module was entered on a trajectory so they landed in the Pacific Ocean.

Apollo 11 Re-entry

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On Earth the astronauts were received as heroes and many parades were given for them.

This particular parade was in New York City on 42nd Street. There was even a motorcycle police escort.

Tons of confetti and streamers were thrown in the air in celebration. NYC had to pick up 300 tons on paper waste from the parade.

Parades were also provided in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Mexico City in celebration of the successful mission.

Apollo 11 Parades

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After the astronauts came back to Earth they had to go into a sealed chamber called the Quarantine.

This was to counteract the germs and microbes that could have come back from the Moon with them.

As seen in this picture, President Nixon was talking with them, but he had to use a microphone to talk to the astronauts because of the sealed room.

When the astronauts were picked up by a Navy ship they had to wear hazmat-like suits so they would not give germs or microbes they got from the Moon to the ship operators.

Astronauts in Quarantine

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