Wednesday, July 20, 2011
THEN
On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin become the first to land a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. As Commander of Apollo 11, 38-year-old Armstrong has the privilege of taking humankind’s first steps on the lunar surface, declaring the momentous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The landing is a culmination of a series of missions aimed at fulfilling a mandate by then U.S. president John F. Kennedy to successfully send an American astronaut to the moon by the end of the 1960s. Kennedy’s space program is motivated by the Cold War and a desire to catch up to and surpass the Soviets in space exploration. The U.S. ultimately spends about $24 billion (close to $100 billion in today’s dollars) on the Apollo program.
NOW
Last Tuesday, after bidding an emotional farewell to the International Space Station crew the day prior, U.S. space shuttle Atlantis undocked from the ISS beginning its final voyage back to Earth. The flight is the final stage of the 30-year space shuttle program. According to NASA’s website, Thursday, July 21 at 5:56 am EDT will be the last opportunity for space shuttle enthusiast to observe a U.S. shuttle’s return to Earth. The United States has opted to end its space shuttle program opening the field of Earth-to-orbit operations to commercial space travel. Until an American company makes that a reality, Americans will fly to the ISS on Russian Soyuz capsules. President Obama set a new goal for NASA: Crewed missions into deep space by 2025, reaching Mars by mid-2030s.
