Moon landing

2009 marked the fortieth anniversary of the moon landing.

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed"

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon 20 July, 1969 (21 July New Zealand time).

The landing of men on the moon and safely returning them to Earth is one of the heroic journeys of all time. With heroic journeys come heroic words. Neil Armstrong said : “That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
The crew of Apollo 11 comprised Neil Armstrong, who piloted the lunar landing module and was the first to step onto the Moon’s surface; Buzz Aldrin who joined Armstrong on the surface; and Michael Collins who remained behind in Apollo 11.
Wikipedia has a very detailed listing of the many Russian and American attempts to reach the moon which preceded the actual landing. There were unmanned hard and soft landings over many years before the final success.

It was the crowning glory of the Apollo missions, which United States President John F. Kennedy had initiated with the statement that he wanted to put a man on the moon before the end on the 1960s.

“Houston we have a problem”

The first moon landing was followed by five other successful moon landings, the most recent being Apollo 17 on 7 December 1972. The most remembered Apollo journey after Apollo 11 is probably Apollo 13 which was a heroic journey of recovery from the disaster of an explosion on the main capsule. The astronauts never landed on the moon and returned to earth in the lunar landing vehicle. The drama and heroics of this mission generated a number of books and the well known movie Apollo 13.
Astronauts sometimes struggled with the aftermath of their heroic endeavours and we have a number of astronaut biographies which make fascinating reading. Buzz Aldrin, now 79, has just written a book Magnificent desolation : the long journey home from the moon. He is also recording a rap video with Snoop Dogg…
For some insight into the amazing men who pioneered space travel, read Tom Wolfe’s classic The Right Stuff.

Celebrations

NASA is celebrating the occasion by sending another expedition to the moon.
View NASA's 40th anniversary website
Film footage of the landing is being restored and enhanced.
We chose the moon is an interactive website site that recreates the Apollo moon landing mission in real time. Complete with archival film and images, you can even follow it on twitter.

Christchurch people and space travel

Space travel holds fascination around the world and Christchurch is no exception:

Although not from Christchurch, Professor Karen Willcox was shortlisted by NASA to undertake space flight training, but missed out on the opportunity in 2009,
Rosie Bolderston from St Margaret’s College attended the 2009 space camp with the help of the Royal Society of New Zealand
Anne-Marie Robinson of Rolleston has attended nine space camps. See Space hopes undeterred
Christchurch Star, 2003 Feb. 7, p. A2
Elspeth Craig, a student at Cobham Intermediate, went to NASA Space Camp in 2004. See "Astronaut training:[2 Edition]." The Press, February 24, 2004

Space tourists

Two Christchurch residents are booked to fly into space with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic sometime in 2010 or 2011. The craft that will carry them into space is still under development, however it is named the VSS Enterprise.