Watch re-creation of Apollo 11 Moon landing

William Atkins
Monday, 13 July 2009 17:18

Science - Space

The Kennedy Presidential Library will begin coverage of the first Moon landing by the NASA Apollo 11 mission on Thursday, July 16, 2009, forty years after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were launched into space with their Saturn V rocket. It’s all on WeChooseTheMoon.



The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum (JFK Library) will commemorate the first landing on the Moon by humans by providing a recreation of the event from its Web site.

According to the Associated Press article “Web site recreates Apollo 11 mission in real time,” people will “… be able to watch the Apollo 11 mission recreated in real time on the Web, follow Twitter feeds of transmissions between Mission Control and the spacecraft, and even get an e-mail alert when the lunar module touches down.”

Thomas Putnam is the director of the Kennedy Library. He stated, “Putting a man on the moon really did unite the globe. We hope to use the Internet to do the same thing." [AP]

So, starting at 8:02 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Thursday, July 16, 2009, the Web site will begin coverage. The actual launch occurred at 13:32:00 UTC, or 9:32 a.m. EDT (local Florida time at the Kennedy Space Center) on July 16, 1969.

Four days later, on July 20, 1969, the lunar module Eagle, carrying Armstrong and Aldrin, set down on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility at 20:17:40 UTC.

The famous words spoken by Neil Armstrong still echo today, 40 years later: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Page two contains the JFK Library Web site to take your own trip to the Moon, at your own pace, with the Apollo 11 astronauts.