When did man first land in space?

-Apollo successfully landed on the moon. On a desolate and lifeless moon, a grotesque aircraft quietly stopped in the dazzling sunshine. Among its four slender legs, there is a small card inlaid with a piece of stainless steel, which reads: A.D.1July 969.

Humans on earth

Set foot on the moon for the first time here

We came here peacefully on behalf of all mankind. The abandoned lower part of this aircraft, the lunar module, is a monument to the historical event that took place on July 20, 1969/kloc-0, and is a masterpiece of the American Apollo moon landing program. On that day, two American astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin printed human footprints on the moon for the first time. This monument will stay there forever, because there is no wind or water on the moon to erase it.

1961April 12, something happened that made Americans angry: the former Soviet astronaut Gagarin went into space for the first time. American President Kennedy, who had just been woken up from bed, was shocked by the news, because it showed that the former Soviet Union was one step ahead of the United States in space technology, which meant that the United States was at a disadvantage in scientific and technological competition.

"This is another great shame for the American nation after the first artificial earth satellite of the former Soviet Union went to heaven!" Kennedy said angrily.

In order to meet the space challenge of the former Soviet Union, Americans are determined to restore their previous technological and military leadership at all costs. Kennedy called the heads of relevant departments of the United States to discuss countermeasures and announced: "The United States will eventually land on the moon first."

In order to make the Apollo moon landing plan go smoothly, American President Kennedy personally asked questions and gave full protection in manpower and material resources. Air Force Lieutenant General Philip was appointed as the head of Apollo moon landing program, and George Hager, executive director of NASA headquarters, was appointed as his assistant. In order to prepare for manned landing on the moon, the Apollo spacecraft will first carry out ground simulation tests and unmanned flight tests, then carry people into lunar orbit and finally fly to the moon for on-the-spot investigation.

From 196 1 to 1969, American astronauts made 20 experimental preparation flights for their trip to the moon.

First of all, it is to fly in a small "Mercury" spacecraft, which is about 3 meters long and can only take 1 person. The "Mercury" spacecraft has made many flights and achieved exciting results. The first time was in john glenn, using a three-tier track, which took five hours. When the spacecraft flew in the last orbit, the automatic control system suddenly failed, but john glenn was calm and controlled the spacecraft with his hands, and finally the spacecraft safely sailed back to Earth. This flight shows that people can live in space for many hours, and the space environment has no harm to people's health and spirit. If the automatic control system fails, the spacecraft can be manipulated by people themselves. On the last flight of Mercury, Gordon Cooper circled the earth 22 times. He finished some space experiments: on one track, he threw a glass ball with a bright signal light on it, and then he found the light from the signal light on the second track, and he saw it clearly. This is the content of the experiment on human vision as planned. Then, a strong flashing signal came from a city in South America. Cooper also saw the light and marked its position on the map.

1965, astronauts made a longer and bolder flight in Gemini spacecraft, which was about twice as large and heavy as Mercury spacecraft, and each spacecraft could carry two people. During the Gemini flight, the astronauts tried and practiced various technologies in the Apollo program.

Then the experiment of Apollo spacecraft orbit change was carried out, and John Young and Virgit Gleason mastered this technology for the first time. In another flight, astronaut edward white was tied with a long rope, and the other end was tied to a spaceship, guided by a special instrument. He actually floated in space for 20 minutes. He laughed loudly and said something happy from time to time, which made him feel very interested. If his partner James McDivert hadn't urged him to come back quickly, he might have stayed for a long time. This experiment shows that people can not only leave the spaceship, but also return safely.

Gemini's flight ended in June, 1966, 1 1. American astronauts have studied and practiced all the complicated techniques of flying to the moon, and their experimental results have answered many questions that puzzle scientists and doctors.

1June, 968, Apollo test flight began. Walter Shearer, Don Eisele and Walter Cunningham spent nearly 1 1 day in space and circled the earth 163 times without any trouble. "Apollo" worked well and the astronauts were very happy. They talked and laughed with the control center. 101On October 22nd, the spaceship splashed down on the choppy sea in the south of Bermuda. Two months later, Frank borman, James Love and William Ender flew around the moon for the first time in the apollo 8 spacecraft, and they entered the orbit around the moon on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day, they thought of their relatives at home, hoping to see their wives and children, open presents happily, and also thought of the Christmas family dinner that they could not attend. However, this is impossible. They can only open a bag of delicious food hung by a rope, and there is a congratulatory message outside-"Merry Christmas". They passed the orbit around the moon 10, and then returned to Earth safely.

While exploring the road to the moon, hundreds of engineers in the United States assembled a large moon spacecraft-"Apollo"-11. This is a very difficult project. It is about 25 meters long and weighs about 45 tons, while Saturn V rocket is 85 meters long and weighs about 2,700 tons. There are hundreds of factories that only make spaceships, rockets and their instruments. The manufacturing factory has sent all the components of the spacecraft by land and water to the space center-Moon Harbor, where there is the largest workshop in the world, and people vertically assemble all the components of rockets and spacecraft on that high platform.

It is not easy to transport the lunar spacecraft from the workshop to the launch site 7 kilometers away. Cranes and lunar spacecraft weigh about 8000 tons, and they must be transported vertically and smoothly. Therefore, scientists built two large transport vehicles 44 meters long and 38 meters wide. In order to bear great pressure, a wide and solid road was specially built, and the pavement was paved with more than 2 meters of concrete. However, when the crawler truck transported it to the launch site, the cement pavement was still nearly 3 cm deep.

At the launch site, a huge concrete launch pad stands upright with a lunar spacecraft, with a height of 1 10 meter, just like a 36-story building. After years of hard work, "Apollo" finally ushered in a decisive moment.

1On the morning of July 6, 969, under the gray sky, a sharp arrow-Saturn 5 carrier rocket and Apollo 1 1 stood on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

At about 6: 30, Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins came to the Space Center, boarded the tower of the mobile launch pad and walked into the cabin. At this time, a large group of engineers have tested more than 2 million working parts on the rocket with electronic instruments, and the Saturn rocket has been filled with nearly 500 million liters of fuel.

In the duty room of the control center, there are more than 4,000 scientists, engineers and some astronauts who have flown in space. They will study the flight process of Apollo and help solve various possible problems. The commander is giving orders to the astronauts by radio and observing their activities through the TV screen.

At 9: 32 a.m., in the thick smoke like volcanic eruption, Saturn V rocket took off trembling, dragging more than 500 meters of orange flame and smoke away from the launch pad. Then, the 38 17 ton aircraft struggled to overcome the gravity of the earth, slowly flew away from the launch pad, flew across the Atlantic Ocean in an arc orbit, and put Apollo-1658 on the plane.

On the afternoon of the third day, 19, the crew put on their spacesuits again and prepared to enter the lunar orbit. The TV camera began to work, showing the work of the astronauts in the spaceship on the screen. Millions of people watching TV are in high spirits, and everyone admires the calm demeanor of astronauts. There are great and unpredictable dangers ahead, but these people are fearless.

When Apollo entered the back of the moon, its communication with the control center was interrupted. Now, the crew of Apollo will put the spacecraft into orbit on the back of the moon. This is an arduous task, but the command center is powerless.

On July 2 1 day, Commander Armstrong, as an emissary of mankind, climbed out of the hatch and set foot on the mysterious land of the moon for the first time, taking a huge step towards conquering space. At this time, he said the long-awaited first sentence:

"For a person, this is a small step, but for mankind, this is a huge leap!"

Astronauts stayed on the moon for 2 1 hour 18 minutes, and collected 22 kilograms of lunar soil and rock samples as souvenirs of this space trip. They docked the two modules and re-formed Apollo-1 1 spacecraft. Three astronauts were reunited. They have finished their task and should return to earth.

On July 22nd, astronauts began their long journey back to Earth. The lunar module has completed its mission, so they untied it and threw it into space.

At noon on July 28th, Apollo-1 1 spacecraft passed through the atmosphere according to a carefully designed route and an accurately calculated angle.

On the USS Bumblebee, 20 kilometers from the splash point, US President Nixon is waiting for the astronauts to return. Two helicopters flew near the splash point and took the astronauts to the aircraft carrier. Nixon extended warm congratulations to the astronauts:

"This is the greatest week in world history since creation. Thanks to your efforts, the world has never been so close. "

In the following years, the United States launched six manned spacecraft to explore the moon from Apollo 12 to Apollo 17. * * * Space astronauts 2 1 person, 12 people successfully landed on the moon, and the cumulative stay time on the surface of the moon reached 298 hours!

1969165438+1October, Apollo-12 landed on another part of the moon for the second time. Two astronauts who landed on the moon left the lunar module twice, walked on the moon, conducted more important experiments and collected more rocks and lunar residual soil. Seven months later, the Apollo-13 spacecraft landed on the moon again with three astronauts. However, due to the failure of the spacecraft, they failed to complete the task and landed safely in the Pacific Ocean after flying in space for three and a half days. 197 1 year, Apollo-14 entered the orbit around the moon, and landed on the moon safely twice. They also took a handcart, walked nearly 3 kilometers on the moon, and engaged in a small entertainment activity on the moon-playing golf. A few months later, Apollo-15 spacecraft took a special car to the moon. This 3-meter-long lunar rover is powered by electricity. Two astronauts lived on the moon for three days. Every day, they explore different places in a "lunar rover", carry out many scientific experiments with the instruments on board, and collect a lot of rocks by car. 1972 In March, Apollo-16 stayed on the moon for another three days. In February of the same year, Apollo-17 made its last flight. They set up a laboratory on the moon to collect information about the moon with nuclear power and electronic instruments and send it back to Earth. Two astronauts explored the moon in a "lunar rover" with a trip of 16 km, which was the longest trip on the moon. At this point, the Apollo moon landing program, which lasted 1 1 year, came to a successful conclusion.