By Chris Skeldon As exclusive clubs go, walking on something other than planet Earth is great. So far, only 12 people have walked on the moon.
People have been to space before and after, but a very small, select group of people has sensed what it is essentially – a strange, albeit small, world.
Earth’s only natural satellite is located about 380,500 km away, which is just a few steps away from the perspective of the galaxy.
Related: How does Artemis’ moon landing work for astronauts? (Opens in a new tab)
In 1962, US President John F. Kennedy committed his country to sending an astronaut into space. the moon as such famous wordsWe chose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.
The background to this groundbreaking achievement was the Cold War in the United States.”space raceThe competition with the Soviet Union, which became the first country to expel a man – Yuri Gagarin – in the space. Whoever gets to the moon first will get bragging rights.
In 1969, the first moonwalk took place. Neil Armstrong The first to make a fingerprint and utter the phrase “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
closely followed by Edwin “Buzz” AldrinThe duo were the first 12 people to set foot on the moon in what was once called Apollo missions.
Of all those who made the flight – all Americans – 24 people remained, while 12 people remained on various spacecraft.
a List of astronauts Those who walked on the moon in the era of Apollo are:
- Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11)
- Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11)
- Carlos “Pete” Conrad (Apollo 12)
- Alan Bean (Apollo 12)
- Alan Shepard (Apollo 14)
- Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14)
- David Scott (Apollo 15)
- James Irwin (Apollo 15)
- John Young (Apollo 16)
- Carlos Duque (Apollo 16)
- Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17)
- Harrison Schmidt (Apollo 17)
What does walking on the moon look like?
One of the most amazing things about walking on the moon is the low gravity. The Moon’s gravity is about 1/6 that of the Earth, which means you’ll weigh about 16% of what you’re doing here and be able to jump about six times as much as you can. a land.
When walking on the moon, you will feel light and the sharp colors will be affected by the very thin atmosphere. Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, described the walk as “not far from a trampoline, but without a pulse and instability.”
He described the moon’s surface as a “wonderful ruin” covered in dust and a gloomy sky. The floor seemed too small to block by raising a thumb to it.
“My fondest memory of the moon is beauty. The stark contrast between the bright gray of the moon and the darkness of space. The gray was very bright and it was almost white—a sharp separation between the surface and the horizon. The sun was always shining, so Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke said,” said Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 astronaut. You haven’t seen any stars or planets.” Forbes (Opens in a new tab).
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A foot on the moon had a symbolic meaning, but walking isn’t very practical when you have so much ground to cover and so little time.
Thus, the invention of the Lunar Spacecraft (LRV) was a real game-changer for manned missions.
First used in 1971 by the Apollo 15, the electric vehicle was lightweight and designed for low altitude conditions.gravity The empty moon can be folded up for flight and unloaded once the crew has disembarked.
The vehicle can travel at 10 miles per hour (16 kilometers per hour) and has a range of about 55 miles (89 km).
Future missions to the moon
It’s been a long time since humans went to the moon, but NASA Artemis program It was designed to bring humans back to the moon and also to land the first woman and first people of color on the moon. It will partner with commercial and international organizations to create a permanent base on the Moon, which it will use as a springboard for a final mission to Mars.
NASA’s initial goal was to reach the moon again by 2024, but the date has been pushed back to no later than 2025.
Additional Resources
For more information on landing on the moon, check out “The Apollo Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landing (Opens in a new tab)Written by Roger de Launius andThe rise of the earth: how man first saw the earth (Opens in a new tab)Written by Roberto Paolo.