July 20 – Walk on the Moon – Intermediate July 20, 1969 (twentieth nineteen sixty nine) was an important day for science and for the world. On that day, for the first time, humans walked on the moon. Many people around the world watched this on television. Two men walked on the moon that day. Their names were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and both were American astronauts. They were members of Apollo 11 (eleven). A third man, Michael Collins, was also part of Apollo 11 but, he did not go to the moon. He stayed above the moon in his spaceship. The Apollo flight lasted eleven days. It took three days to go to the moon, and three days to return. In between, one day was for walking on the moon, and another day for preparation. It was not easy to go to the moon and come back. It took nine years to prepare for the walk on the moon. Many scientists and engineers worked together to make the computers, the spaceships, and the spacesuits. They even had to make special food for the astronauts. The first human in space was from the Soviet Union, not the United States. Yuri Gagarin went into space in April 1961 (nineteen sixty one). The United States also had a space program, but it was not as good as the program of the Soviet Union. Seven weeks after Gagarin went into space, President Kennedy from the United States told the world that the US would put a man on the Moon before 1970. Some people did not like the Apollo space program. They thought it was too expensive. But many other people thought the program was a good idea. They said that the program helped scientists make better computers, rockets, and other things. They also said that it was important for helping people learn more about the world in which we live.
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 20:57:28 +0000