The Eagle Has Landed: The Story of Apollo 11 (2 page)

The Moon’s diameter is only 2,160 miles (1/4
^th
that of Earth’s), and its surface area is only 1/13
^th
as large. While it is dwarfed by Earth, the Moon is still the second largest satellite in the solar system, and the largest one respective to the size of its mother planet.

The Moon orbits Earth in an elliptical rather than an equatorial plane. At its closest orbital point
(perigee),
the distance from the Earth to the Moon is 221,463 miles, while at the peak of its orbit
(apogee),
the distance extends to 252,710 miles.

The Moon follows a
synchronous rotation,
such that the time it takes to rotate around its own axis nearly matches the time necessary for a single orbit around the Earth. As a result of these dual rotations, the same face of the Moon is always visible in the sky—in actuality, due to small variations
(librations)
in its axis of rotation, slightly more than half of the Moon (59 percent) is visible at one time or the other. The remaining 41 percent, referred to as the Moon’s
dark side,
is always out of sight from Earth. This designation is a misnomer; while not visible from Earth, the backside of the Moon receives as much sunlight as the near side. Lunar days last longer than those on Earth, approximately 48 hours in duration.

When the near side of the Moon is pointed toward the Sun, a visible
full Moon
is observed. During the
new Moon
phase, when it is turned away from the Sun, the Moon is invisible to Earth-bound observers.

The rare straight alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon results in a phenomenon known as an
eclipse.
When Earth is positioned between the Sun and Moon, and casts its enormous shadow over the Moon, a
lunar eclipse
is observable in the night skies. Since the Moon’s orbit is inclined approximately five degrees with respect to Earth’s orbit, lunar eclipses do not occur with every full moon. A
solar eclipse is
a much rarer occurrence—the result of the Moon passing directly in front of the Sun and casting its shadow on Earth.

While a captive of Earth’s gravity, the Moon manages to exert a powerful influence on its mother planet. Lunar gravitational pull on the side of Earth facing the Moon, creates two
bulges
(elevations in sea level), which are constantly rotating. The remaining ocean water pursues those bulges, generating the Earth’s high and low sea tides.

The Moon’s landscape is barren and its environmental conditions are harsh. The darkened areas visible to the naked eye are lunar plains, known as
maria
(the Latin word for seas). Many experts believe the lunar maria once contained water. For unexplained reasons, most of the maria are found on the near side of the moon, yet occupy only 16 percent of the lunar surface.

The lighter areas observable on a moonlit evening represent highland regions, or
terrae.
The terrae range in height from small hills to mountainous peaks, and dominate the lunar topography

The Moon’s surface is pock-marked with craters created by the impact of asteroids and comets. More than 500 million such craters litter the lunar topography—some are only inches in diameter, while the
South Pole Aitken Basin,
located on the far side of the Moon, is 2,250 kilometers-wide and 12 kilometers-deep. The rugged lunar surface is covered with
regolith,
a mixture of fine dust and rocky debris.

Lunar surface temperatures are extreme, averaging 107 degrees Centigrade during the day and -153 degrees Centigrade at night. The Moon’s atmosphere is so thin as to be negligible, containing only small concentrations of argon, helium, oxygen, methane, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, providing scant protection from the Sun’s penetrating rays. Because the diffraction of light requires the presence of atmosphere, the lunar sky is invariably a deep black. With its intense sunlight and deep shadows, the lunar climate is inhospitable. With such harsh environmental conditions, it is little wonder that no life forms have been identified on the Moon.

The origin of the Moon is a subject of considerable debate. Strict
Creationists
believe the first Chapter of Genesis clearly explains the divine formation of the Moon. Advocates of the
Fission hypothesis
believe the Moon broke away as a piece from the Earth due to strong centrifugal forces, leaving behind a giant basin that is now occupied by the Pacific Ocean. Others believe the Moon formed elsewhere in the solar system, but was eventually attracted to Earth’s gravitational pull—the
Capture hypothesis.
The
Co-formation hypothesis
postulates that the Earth and Moon were formed at the same time from a primordial accretion disk. The prevailing scientific theory is the
Giant Impact hypothesis—Theia,
a planetary body roughly the size of Mars, struck
Protoearth,
and blasted away enough material to form the present day Earth and Moon.

Some astronomers theorize that the Earth once had two Moons, both formed during the
Giant Impact.
The larger of the two Moons, three times wider and 25 times heavier than its counterpart, is believed to have drawn the smaller one into its orbit; the 5,000 mile per hour crash of the smaller planetary body into the larger one resulted in what astronomers refer to as the
big splat.

The
Co-formation and Giant Impact hypotheses
are both supported by geological analysis of Moon rock. Many of the lunar rocks examined are estimated to be 4.6 billion years old—the same age as Earth’s oldest known geological specimens.

Throughout the ages, the Moon has functioned as a chronological and navigational marker. While only half as bright as the Sun, and reflecting just seven percent of its sunlight, a Full Moon is still the brightest object in the night sky; in the
crescent phase,
it is only 1/10
^th
as bright as a
full Moon.

When the Moon is on the horizon, it appears larger, but this is merely an optical illusion, as it is actually 1.5 percent smaller—the result of being further away from the observer by a distance up to one Earth radius. Reaching their maximum height during the winter months, full Moons have provided light for countless generations of nighttime travelers.

Man’s fascination with the Moon, stars, and planets evolved into the romantic notion of space flight. In 1865, novelist Jules Verne published
From Earth to Moon,
a fictional story about a lunar mission. In Verne’s tale, a rocket ship is launched from a giant cannon called
Columbiad.
With eerie prescience, Verne’s manned vehicle took off from Florida, orbited the Moon, and then splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

A little over a century later, Verne’s fantasy would become reality, and his mode of travel distinctly futuristic.

.

CHAPTER 3

Vergeltungswaffe

T
o launch a vehicle into space requires momentous thrust to overcome Earth’s gravitational force. The age-old, but poorly refined science of rocketry proved to be the only reliable means of generating such thrust.

As early as 1232, the Chinese used rockets fueled by gunpowder during fireworks shows. In 1281, Italians from Bologna used rocket-propelled arrows against their rival-state enemies from Forli, calling the fearsome weapon a
rochetto,
meaning “cylindrical spool of thread.”

The earliest rockets were powered by solid fuels, namely gunpowder. While solid fuels could theoretically propel a rocket at sufficient velocity to reach outer space, a major drawback existed—once ignited, there was no control over the vehicle’s rate of combustion or amount of thrust.

Born in Russia on September 17, 1857, Konstantin Edvardovich Tsiolkovsky studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy, and then applied much of his creative energy to the study of rocketry. Tsiolkovsky’s research led him to believe that a rocket fuel mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen would generate considerably more power than black powder. By mixing two volatile liquids in a tight metal chamber and igniting them, Tsiolkovsky theorized that expanding gasses from the explosion could be vented through a hole at high speeds, propelling a rocket and its payload in the opposite direction. The Russian scientist’s
Formula of Aviation
defined the relationship between the speed and mass of a rocket as related to its specific propulsion fuel. Tsiolkovsky calculated that a velocity of 18,000 miles per hour was necessary to break the Earth’s gravitational force, and also determined that the most efficient way to achieve this goal was to utilize a multi-staged launch rocket.

German mathematics teacher Hermann Julius Oberth, born in Transylvania on June 25, 1894, wrote in detail about space travel in his 1923 treatise,
The Rocket into Interplanetary Space.
Six years later, in a separate publication,
Way to Space Travel,
Oberth outlined the feasibility of using liquid-fueled rockets. That same decade, Oberth and other German rocketeers formed the
Verein fur Raumschiffahrt (VfR)
—the “Society for Space Travel.”

Robert Hutchings Goddard, born on October 5, 1882, is widely regarded as America’s first true rocket scientist. A native of Massachusetts, Goddard was educated at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and later taught physics at Clark University.

The New Englander’s passion for rocketry began during his childhood and eventually became his life’s work. At the age of 27, Goddard published
A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,
which hypothesized that a rocket launched from Earth could reach the Moon. Like many visionaries, the young rocketeer encountered numerous skeptics. In January of 1920, the
New York Times
harshly criticized Goddard’s theory that rockets could be utilized for space exploration: “He seems only to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” Forty-nine years later, as
Apollo 11
raced to the Moon, the famed newspaper published a retraction to its article criticizing Goddard.

Goddard launched his first liquid-fueled rocket from his Aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts in March of 1926. Nicknamed
Nell,
the 10-feet-tall, 10.25-pound rocket was powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen contained in fuel tanks attached by rigid tubes to a small engine. Once the gasoline and oxygen mixture was ignited in the combustion chamber, the hot gasses exploded out a small nozzle at the base of the rocket. Racing into the air at 60 miles per hour,
Nell’s
maiden voyage lasted a mere 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of only 41 feet, before landing 184 feet down range; nonetheless, it was a milestone in the science of rocketry.

After consulting with a meteorologist at Clark University, Goddard determined that the climate of New Mexico was ideal for year-round rocket launches. In July of 1930, Goddard, his wife, and four assistants, along with a freight car filled with rocket equipment, relocated to a remote area known as Eden Valley, near Roswell, New Mexico. There, Goddard established a rocket science laboratory and test range, which included a launch pad and tower.

Derisively nicknamed “Moony” Goddard by his critics, the ambitious, but intensely private rocketeer received little support from the government. Over the course of four years, philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim provided Goddard with an annual $25,000.00 grant, while famed aviator Charles Lindbergh helped raise additional funds, enabling the rocket scientist to pursue his dreams.

With the passage of time, Goddard’s rockets grew more sophisticated, including the installation of gyroscopes. In 1929, Goddard launched the first instrument-containing rocket, which carried a thermometer, barometer, and camera high into the sky. Another of his liquid-fueled rockets broke the speed of sound (Mach 1) in 1935. Goddard subsequently developed a rocket that could travel 1.5 miles into the air at a velocity of 550 miles per hour.

Goddard continued to test rockets at his isolated desert facility for the remainder of his life. In spite of his many successes, Goddard was never able to interest the U.S. military in rocket-propelled weaponry. Eventually granted over 200 patents, Goddard continued to pioneer rocket science technology until his death in 1945. In his final days, he offered a vision of the future: “It is just a matter of imagination how far we can go with rockets. I think it is fair to say, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Following in the footsteps of Robert Goddard, Wernher von Braun ultimately became the most successful rocket scientist of the 20
^th
century. Born on March 25, 1912 in Wilintz Germany, von Braun developed a passion for space exploration and rocketry at an early age, devouring the science fiction of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. After reading those futuristic tales, von Braun was “filled with a romantic urge,” and “longed to soar through the heavens and actually explore the mysterious universe.” To further his scientific knowledge, von Braun carefully studied the technical writings of Herman Oberth.

In his youth, von Braun caught the attention of villagers by launching rockets into an apple stand and bakery; his father later remembered it as a time of “broken windows” and “destroyed flower gardens.” On one occasion, he attached six large, store-bought fireworks rockets to his wooden pull-wagon. After ignition, von Braun attempted to pilot his rocket-propelled vehicle down the sidewalk, as panicked pedestrians leapt out of the way. The police took Wernher in for questioning after his ill-advised experiment, but released him to his father, who promised to take responsibility for the youngster’s punishment. In spite of his misadventures, von Braun’s curiosity never diminished, and while still a teenager, he joined the rocket club,
Verein fur Raumschiffahrt.

At age 23, von Braun graduated from Friedrich-Wilhelm University in Berlin, earning a PhD in physics; the subject of his dissertation was liquid-fueled rockets. Early in his career, von Braun worked for the
Society for Space Travel,
along with other rocket researchers, all of whom shared the dream of space travel.

Standing five-feet, eleven-inches-tall, von Braun was handsome and square-jawed, with a thick head of blond hair. Athletic and fluent in several languages, the rocket scientist was charming and gregarious, and cultivated a variety of interests, including music (he played both the piano and cello), philosophy, religion, geography, and politics. Von Braun was also a gifted writer, spell-binding orator, skilled draftsman, and a pilot.