BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Today in History - The day the world looked up!

On July 29, 1969 the world looked on as the first human being set foot on another world. Neil Armstrong stepped down from the Eagle (the lunar lander), followed by Buzz Aldrin.

The Cold War had inspired this superb achievement, which was followed by six more Apollo missions. Originally, there were to be another two, but those were cancelled. Continuing to send men to the Moon was an incredibly expensive way of showing up the Soviet Union, and by then the point had been decisively made.

Yesterday Jeff Bezos Expeditions made an announcement. They have recovered from the Atlantic what they have identified as part of the F-1 engine from the first stage of the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in 1969.

It's been on the bottom of the sea for many decades, but having recovered it, modern techniques found a serial number that finally identified it. We don't know when they worked this out, but I guess they saved the announcement for this anniversary.

If the name Jeff Bezos is familiar, but you can't place it, think Amazon!

NASA sent the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO) to the Moon to spy out sites for future manned missions. It doesn't look like they'll be sending anybody there, but LRO has taught us a lot about the Moon.

A few years back the LRO was brought into a low orbit to photograph all of the Apollo landing sites. It's really something to see where the astronauts walked, the tread of the lunar rover and bits of equipment left behind. In a guest article, astronomy writer and space expert Ian Ridpath takes us to the Moon for a look. Exploring the Lunar Landing Sites.

Hi Mona,

I remember the lunar landing very well. I lived in England then where the landing happened at about 3.00am. At 15, I was very excited about space travel, (a big Star Trek fan!), and determined not to miss the historic moment. I almost had to prop my eyelids open, but just about managed to stay awake.

A wonderful event in history, and never to be forgotten.

Thanks for sharing that, Grace. I was also in Europe at the time, visiting Italy. The excitement was really something. People without televisions were invited to watch with friends and neighbors. Despite the hour being either too late or too early (depending on your view of 4.00 a.m.) for a party, lots of people watched.

Any other forum readers out there who were witnesses to history?