Today, July 20th, 2016, marks 47 years since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. It’s an event that everyone knows of, but, as historically significant as it was, was just a test flight – the later Apollo landings were the real missions of science and exploration that Apollo was born to execute, but 11, that first landing on another world, and that 2 and a half hours of Neil and Buzz walking on its surface are something that those who lived through it would certainly never forget.
Of course, the event was documented as it happened, so those who want to remember, or those who weren’t born yet when it happened (like me) can experience the events for ourselves. To most people, though, the details are lost in technical jargon and murky transmissions. Fans of space travel know many of the terms used: SM RCS, DSKY, ALSEP, PNGS GNC; these acronyms are as well known to us as Car and Dog are to most people, but for the common person they are strange cryptic wordings of what might as well be another language, and footage of the Apollo 11 landing is full of them. It makes it somewhat hard for the average person to really get a grasp on what actually happened, but this video does a wonderful job in clarifying just what happened that July afternoon on the Moon.
Of course, the video also features a perspective-corrected view of the actual descent from the window of the Lunar Module – you can actually compare the view to maps of the Apollo 11 landing site and see matching details of West Crater and the surrounding areas.
Enjoy this informative piece of history, and if you get a chance, look back up at the moon tonight, and think back to that moment when humanity set foot on another world.