Eight days to go until the big day and here are eight interesting facts about Apollo 11!
1. A month before the launch, Neil Armstrong thought they had a 90% chance of safely returning to earth, but only a 50-50 chance of landing on the moon on the first try.
2. Pieces of the Wright Brothers first aircraft were onboard Apollo 11.
3. Armstrong’s first step was actually a giant leap because the bottom rung of the ladder didn’t drop and it was 3.5 feet above the moon’s surface. The “small step” came after.
4. At the same time Armstrong and Aldrin were moonwalking, a Soviet spacecraft accidentally crashed into the moon – 530 miles away.
5. Michael Collins was the third astronaut on the mission but didn’t set foot on the moon. Later he said he was worried if something went wrong, he’d be returning to Earth alone.
6. The American flag planted on the moon turned out to be a challenge. The surface was expected to be soft but it was rock hard.
7. Apollo 11’s return to Earth can be credited to a felt-tipped pen which became a circuit breaker switch when one broke.
8. Apollo 11 astronauts spent their 2 week + quarantine signing hundreds of photos as a “life insurance policy” for their families to sell if something happened to them.
These were interesting to me and I hope to you as well. I may do another fact post because there are more available. Please comment if you are interested.
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Thanks Laura, would love more facts.
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Thanks for letting me know, Dana! 😊 I really appreciate the feedback.
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Number 3. As you know NASA assumed the LM’s feet would sink further into Luna soil, it didn’t, 😀 hence that giant drop!
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Yes! That’s exactly the reason. They had to land in different spot than they had planned.
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These are great facts! I didn’t know most of them.
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Thank you, Laci! They were (mostly) new to me too!
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