Today is July 20. On this day 40 years ago, man first walked on the moon
But I'm not going to tell you about stepping on the moon for documentaries that are already circulating these days on television. Today I would speak of the fine print of what never mind, the human factor, the value and courage of the Apollo program NASA , program for whom I have deep admiration and respect. Only then understand what humanity is faced that afternoon in July 1969.
When Neil Armstrong got off the lunar module after landing on the moon in Mare Tranquilitatis, and uttered the words that we all know, humanity was not ready for that really. In 1969 there was no technology for a mission of such caliber. There were many things that could go wrong, and some were about to turn into tragedy that the end was a miraculous success.
The Apollo capsule was a cone 3 meters high by 4 meters in diameter at its base, up to 3 astronauts compathy a tiny cabin in a journey that took about a week. Was installed at the tip of a huge rocket 110 meters high, the Saturn V.
The Saturn was responsible for providing the necessary thrust to escape Earth orbit and direct the path to the lunar orbit. Inside the Saturn V had three modules, the Command Module (the cabin carrying the three astronauts), the Service Module (CSM), which supplied electricity, oxygen and water to the Command Module and Lunar Module ( LEM), the ship on which the astronauts descend from lunar orbit to the surface. Although you can give image of being a very sophisticated technology package, nothing is further from the truth. A Moon have been little more than a tin of sardines. The technology of the Apollo program was sufficient, but not enough to put a man on the moon . The command module was guided by a computer about the size of a box of CD's, and had fewer features than a scientific calculator.
Lunar Module was a device with four spider-like legs. The outer skin was as thick as two layers of aluminum foil. Was designed to land on the moon and could only accommodate two astronauts for just two days.
This module was installed on the Saturn V on the Service Module. Once the plane was on the path toward the Moon had to remove the Lunar Module inside the Saturn and attaching it to the Command Module in a move that astronauts performed a fully manual, and which had not room for error. If the two modules are not successfully mated in space would have to abort the mission.
As you see, the lack technology was supplied by the human factor, perhaps even limits greatly exaggerated. The Apollo XI was on the verge of failure when, shortly before landed on the Moon, an alarm came in the form warning that the computer data had been saturated and had been locked. The lunar module was diverted landing point and Armstrong had to take the controls for landing on the moon with a ship, to make matters worse, he was about to run out of fuel. Worse was when Aldrin and Armstrong returned to the lunar module and found that the engine ignition circuit was broken. If they could not turn the engine could not return to the command module that had been orbiting the Moon Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins returned to Earth to become global heroes.
The Apollo XIII But the story of Apollo XI can not be understood in its integrity without talking about what happened to the Apollo XIII. Mission 13 was the biggest success in the history of NASA . In April 1970, only months after stepping Moon, NASA was about repeat the same feat. This time in the crater Fra Mauro. Three days after launch, and ongoing Moon, one of the cryogenic oxygen tanks located in the Service Module exploded, leaving the ship almost no energy and pouring the remaining oxygen in outer space.
The situation in which they found the three astronauts - Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert - makes the hair stand on end. Alone, hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth , running out of oxygen in a tiny cabin without enough energy to go home. They had to basic survival systems as lighting, heating and rationing the little water that remained. Fred Haise began to feel ill and Lovell and Swigert both suffered a great psychological stress that prevented them from thinking clearly. The team was that night at the mission control did not rest a single second for nearly two days until he could miraculously bring the three men safely back to Earth .
You can read more about the Apollo 11 http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolo_11
You can download the flight plan of the Apollo XI: http://history.nasa .gov/alsj/a11/a11final-fltpln.pdf
(This entry was posted on July 20 2009 at 15:30 hours, at which time 40 years ago, we walked on the moon first).
