EYES TO THE SKY July 22 – August 4, 2019 The Eagle has landed

July 22 – August 4, 2019

The Eagle Prepares to Land – The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle,in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia. Inside the Lunar Module were Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. Photo: NASA

It was a three-day journey from Earth to the Moon for the three Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the spaceship, or command module, Columbia, headed for the first landing of humans on the moon. Columbia – named for the historical epithet for the Americas – lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the morning of July 16, 1969. Soon after launch, Columbia docked with the lunar module, the Eagle, a vehicle designed to land two of the astronauts on the Moon while the third stayed with Columbia until the moonwalk was completed.

On July 19 fifty years ago, the 240,250 mile voyage almost accomplished, Columbia orbited the Moon 30 times, piloted by astronaut Michael Collins. Next day, July 20, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin left the command module and climbed into the lunar module, which they navigated and touched down on the lava plain Mare Tranquillitatis, near the lunar equator, at 4:18pm. EDT. Broadcasting to Earth, Armstrong’s first words were, “Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed.”

Aldrin Gazes at Tranquility Base – Astronaut and Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin is pictured during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the moon. He had just deployed the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package. In the foreground is the Passive Seismic Experiment Package, beyond it is the Laser Ranging Retro-Reflector (LR-3). Photo: NASA

Too excited to take their scheduled rest, they prepared to carry out the culmination of their monumental and heroic mission. Six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong stepped onto the Moon saying, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” He had unveiled a plaque affixed to the Eagle that bore the inscription, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” Aldrin and Armstrong collected samples of rock and regolith weighing nearly 49 pounds. They left a United States flag on the Moon, a gesture that has been described as leaving a record, not asserting possession.

Apollo 11 Comes Home – The Apollo 11 crew await pickup by a helicopter from the USS Hornet,  prime recovery ship for the historic lunar landing mission. The fourth man in the life raft is a United States Navy underwater demolition team swimmer. All four men are wearing biological isolation garments. Photo: NASA

The moonwalk lasted two and one half hours after which the two slept in their lunar craft for 7 hours before preparing to rejoin Collins on Columbia. They had been on the Moon for 21 hours 36 minutes. By July 22, fifty years ago today, Collins, Aldrin and Armstrong were on their way home. On July 24, 1969, Columbia splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

Look for moonrise in the east between midnight and 1am early this week.

Find the daytime gibbous moon rather high in the blue sky to the south during the early morning hours and westerly until about noon.