Only a few dates in the history of humankind are as iconic as Saturday, 20 July 1969, the very day a man walked on the soil on another celestial body for the first time. So far, it has remained the only other place visited apart from Earth, and by only 12 of us. Not many, indeed. Fifty years later, we are still discussing the best modalities we can get back there, this time in a more permanent way.
While we wait, we can celebrate the Moon-versary, and many events have been planned around the world, starting from today. Why today? Because, as explained by NASA, on July 16, fifty years ago, “astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a journey to the Moon and into history. Four days later, while Collins orbited the Moon in the command module, Armstrong and Aldrin landed Apollo 11’s lunar module, Eagle, on the Moon’s Sea of Tranquility, becoming the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface.”
Both Aldrin and Collins will be today at the historic launch pad in Florida where everything began, for a question-and-answer session with Kennedy Centre Director Bob Cabana, from 9:15 a.m. EDT. They will also visit the Launch Control Center and Firing Room 1 to connect with Apollo-era launch controllers and those who will launch the Artemis missions, part of America’s Moon to Mars approach for human space exploration. You can follow the programme live on NASA Television and on the agency’s website.
NASA will also hold a live, two-hour television broadcast on 19 July, from 1 to 3 pm, which you can watch here. Of course, there’s far more than that in the plans, and you can find the full list at: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/apollo50th/
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