Moon Exploration by Katie Carrell

66 years after Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first flight, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin stepped onto the moons surface.

The first moon mission success came in 1959 with a series of 3 Russian probes. Luna1 was the first probe to get a fly by of the moon. It revealed there wasn't a significant global magnetic field. Luna2 made even further progress. Luna2 eventually made contact with the lunar surface in the Mare Imbrium, the Sea of Showers. Luna3 made full range scientific measurements when it photographed the backside of the moon. For the next few years there was a mixture of success and failure. In 1963 the Zond3 probe went on a mission to get pictures of the Moon on its way to Mars. The Ranger, American probe series, was the first to get photos of the moon at close quarters. Ranger7 had completed this task in July of 1964. In 1966 Luna10 became the first lunar- orbiting satellite. Over the next 10 years 38 other satellites were sent to orbit the moon. While unmanned probes were completing their jobs, plans were being made for men to travel into space. The first man sent above the earth's atmosphere was Major Yuri Gagarin. He was sent in the Russian Vostok capsule on April 12, 1961. Gherman Titov was next. But the Americans weren't very far behind. Colonel John Glenn was launched into space on February 20, 1962. The name of his capsule was Friendship7.

On July 16, 1969 Saturn5, a three-stage rocket, launched from Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral) space station. Who was in the Apollo11 capsule of this space craft? Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins were. On July 19 the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), nicknamed “Eagle” which carried Armstrong and Aldrin separated from Saturn5. On July 20 the world held its breath until they heard these words “Houston… the Eagle has landed.” Many of us have heard Armstrong's famous words when he stepped out onto the moon. “That's one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” Ever since Armstrong and his crew made their footprints on the moon, few people have gone back to the moon.

Resource: Observing the Moon, The Modern Astronomer's Guide By: Gerald North