Armstrong and Aldrin were the first two people on the Moon when Apollo 11 landed there in July 1969. This astonishing achievement (which it should not be forgotten was followed by five more successful landings) continues to fascinate our readers who are still eager to learn more about the details. Read more…
The space programmes of the USA and USSR began in a spirit of bitter Cold War rivalry but by the early 1970s internation tensions had eased a little into a détente and what had been unthinkable ten years earlier was possible. In 1975 the world saw the historic meeting in Read more…
Although not quite the ’12 days of Christmas’ gift inventory’, the following checklist should give us a quick peak at some significant events connected with space that we can look forward to witnessing from early 2015, as well as giving us an opportunity to recall other great space dates whose Read more…
The second human Moon landing might have ended in disaster 36 seconds after liftoff. It was 14 November 1969 and the mighty Saturn 5 rocket carrying the crew of Apollo 12 was steadily ascending into the Florida sky when it was hit by lightning. The mission’s commander, Charles “Pete” Read more…
We all know of the pioneering journey of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and the sometimes forgotten third astronaut Michael Collins. Armstrong and Aldrin were the first astronauts to successfully land the Lunar Module (LM) Eagle on the Moon in 1969 whilst Collins orbited in the Command and Service Module (CSM) Read more…
In July 1969, those who could gathered around available television sets and radios for the moment that human life would leave their first trace on the Moon. At 0256 GMT Neil Armstrong stepped out of the Lunar Module Eagle. As his left foot touched the lunar surface, he declared the Read more…
With the anniversary of the passing of one of the most iconic figures in mankind’s space exploration program, it affords us an excuse to re-examine the short but history-making space mission we all know today as Apollo 11. Landmark events in human exploration and scientific discovery can often capture the Read more…
Three years later after the first men walked on the Moon, the Apollo 16 mission, launched 16 April 1972 , landed men on the moon successfully for the fifth time and as the second such ‘J’-Mission to have been executed, again utilised the Lunar Roving Vehicle. This mission also took Read more…
The Lunar Module was an iconic spacecraft which carried two-man crews to and from the Moon’s surface during NASA’s Apollo Program of the 1960s and ‘70s. Along with the Saturn 5 rocket and the Apollo Command and Service Modules (CSM), the Lunar Module is the third of the trinity of Read more…
Apollo 15 was sent to the Moon in July 1971, its primary mission goals to explore the spectacular Hadley-Appenine region, carry out scientific experiments from orbit and evaluation of new and improved Apollo equipment,including the Lunar Rover. Here is the story of possibly the most ambitious Apollo moon landing. Read more…
Christmas 1968 saw three men from Earth make a remarkable and unprecedented voyage of exploration. A dramatic and hurriedly planned mission gave the crew the first human view of the Moon’s farside and the whole human race saw our homeplanet in a new way. This is the story of Apollo Read more…