The Last Frontier

The Soviets scored another first when, on June 16, 1963, they launched the first woman into orbit. Valentina Tereshkova completed 48 orbits of the Earth in the Vostok 6 spacecraft. About the same time the American astronaut Gordon Cooper completed his 34hr 20min flight on May 15-16.

Ed White became the first American astronaut to “walk” in space, on June 3, 1965, 11 weeks after a Russian cosmonaut had already achieved the same thing. After this, American manned space programmes became more frequent, and of longer duration.

During the 1960s, the Apollo Programme began. This was the project that would eventually put men on the moon. Wernher von Braun worked on the Saturn rockets that were to be used. These rockets were built in stages, which powered the craft for a time, before another stage took over.

In 1966 preparations were made to send the first Apollo astronauts into orbit for the purpose of testing Command Service Modules. The first manned flight of the Apollo programme took place on October 11, 1968. Walter Schirra Jr., Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham piloted the craft in a flight of 163 Earth orbits.

Meanwhile, the Soviets were working on their Soyuz spacecraft. Soyuz 2 was an unmanned craft, which was followed into orbit on October 26, 1968 by Soyuz 3 piloted by Georgi Beregovoy.

The race to the Moon became more tight when in September 1968, the Soviets launched the Zond 5 space probe in an orbit around the Moon. The flight took seven days, and the capsule returned to Earth, landing in the Indian Ocean, where a Soviet research ship picked it up. The capsule contained turtles and other biological subjects to monitor during the flight. Zond 6 was launched 2 months later, completing a similar flight path, before returning directly to the Soviet Union.

The Americans soon responded with the flight of Apollo 8-the first manned orbit around the Moon-on December 21, 1968. With the completion of one more test flight, the United States would be ready to put men on the Moon. This last test flight took place in May 1969. Three Apollo 10 astronauts achieved lunar orbit, before two of the astronauts flew the separate Lunar Module to within 15.24 kilometres of the Moon’s surface.

Finally, the NASA was ready to launch the long-awaited mission. On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins blasted off in their Apollo 11 spacecraft. As they neared the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin detached from the spacecraft in the Lunar Module “Eagle”. At the same time, a Soviet unmanned space probe was attempting a landing. In footage seen all over the world, the Eagle descended towards the Moon’s surface, and landed. Armstrong radioed back: “Houston, Tranquillity Base here-the Eagle has landed.” Around six hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he said as he placed his left foot on the Moon. His words became one of the most famous American statements in history. He had actually intended to say “…one small step for a man…”, but he forgot the a in the thrill of the landing.

The Space Race had ended. “By reaching the moon first, the United States won the space race. Soviet and U.S. leaders knew that being the first country to land on the moon would be an extremely important media event.”(Newseum)8

The descent stage of the Lunar Module was left behind on the Moon. On one of its landing legs was a plaque: “Here Men from the Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the Moon, July 1969 ad. We came in Peace for All Mankind.”

Conclusion

Space exploration programmes did not end here. In fact, they increased, and are still being implemented today, in the 21st century. The Moon landing was a milestone in space exploration, however, as it marked the end of an era in which space was an unreachable territory. Mankind had conquered the last frontier left to him. Never content to remain at one level of achievement, he strove to gain the next. The Moon landing of 1969 left a legacy of triumph-it was the end of an epic. And what a consummate finale it was!