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HISTORY
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Space Exploration to the Moon
The first and only extra-terrestrial landing destination by known humans, The Moon has been explored since the 1950s.
By Will Street
Jul. 25, 2019, 11:30 AM
Introduction
Gazing up into the night sky, on a clear day one thing catches one’s eye above anything else. Perching up above us and reflecting images of the continents on the same side of the planet as oneself, the Moon has always been a fascinating and awe-inspiring object. As Earth’s only official natural satellite and the cause of the slight lengthening of its days and oceans' tides, the Moon is of intrinsic importance to our planet.
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An object that goes through a lunar calendar, which is the result of Earth blocking light from the sun, the Moon can appear as a crescent and grows into a full moon and back again every 29.5 days. As equally a satellite that is the fifth largest in the solar system and is larger than any red dwarf planet, the Moon affects our tides from a distance of 384,400 Km away. In 1969, a group of NASA astronauts travelled that distance and landed on top of the rocky surface. However, right from the early space race between NASA and the Soviet Union, space exploration to the Moon has been undertaken and continues to be carried out right up to the present day. In the analysis below, I explore space exploration to the Moon in more detail.
The Beginnings of the Race to the Moon
Space exploration in the 1950s was centred around competition between the two superpower nations of the age, the Soviet Union and the USA. During the early Cold War, each nation had powerful space ambitions and it was politically gratifying to be seen to be the leading nation in space exploration.
Once both nations had successfully launched satellites into orbit in the 1950s, their attention turned to exploring the Moon. This began first in the form of launching robotic probes to lay the foundations for future exploration to come. Despite three false starts in the autumn of 1958, in which the Soviet Union attempted three launches that all, unfortunately, disintegrated, the Soviets successfully managed to launch the Luna 1 probe on the 4th January 1959.
The probe was the first human-made object to escape the Earth’s orbit. However, as a result of an error in the ground-based control systems for the probe’s launch vehicle, it passed the Moon by 5,900 kilometres, travelling away to rather become the first human-made object to orbit the sun.
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Using more powerful launch vehicles than the USA, which was central to its greater success, the sequel to Luna 1, Luna 2, on the 13th September 1959 was the first spacecraft that collided with the Moon’s surface. On the 7th October 1959, Lunar 3 would take an even greater competitive lead, taking and transmitting photographs of the far side of the Moon. All this time, none of the USA’s early probes succeeded in escaping the Earth’s orbit. Their best attempt in the 1950s, Pioneer 5, only came 58,983 kilometres away from the lunar ground.
Incensed by these many setbacks and their apparent competitive defeat, the USA launched the Ranger project, which was intended to send probes that would transmit back photographs of the Moon’s surface. Although the early Ranger launches were beset with operational failures, Ranger 7 launched on the 28th July 1964 and Ranger 8 launched on the 17th February 1965, both of which returned pictures of the Moon. The sequel, Ranger 9, launched from Earth on the 21st March 1965, took this a step further, broadcasting live footage of the Moon’s surface until it crashed into the rocky lunar ground. While these probes provided useful information and scientific data about the satellite, it was the political drive in Washington, that began fuelling a race to put humans on the Moon in the coming years.
The Race to the Moon
On the 25th May 1961, American President John F. Kennedy announced the US objective to land an astronaut on the surface of the Moon by the end of the decade. While scientific and exploratory reasons were naturally a fundamental incentive, Kennedy’s decision was also imbedded in the politics of the age. The Soviet space programme had demonstrated impressive advancements, particularly with the orbital flight of Yuri Gagarin on the 12th April 1961, and, coinciding with a recent heavy-handed US-back invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, Communism was looking ever stronger to observers around the world.
Historical evidence unerringly supports the view that politics was a central reason why a Moon landing was proposed. In a memorandum to Vice President, Lyndon Johnson, on the 20th April 1961, Kennedy wrote: “Do we have a chance of beating the Soviets by… a trip around the Moon, or by a rocket to land on the Moon, or by a rocket to go to the Moon and back with a man? Is there any other space programme which promises dramatic results in which we could win?” Kennedy would go on to announce the US objective of landing a man on the Moon in a speech to Congress, in which he cited “Urgent National Needs” and the extraordinary challenges facing the United States.
Garnering intense popular support and the support of Congress, the debate in Congress was largely perfunctory and enormous funds were directed towards NASA’s efforts. On the other side, in the USSR, Sergei Korolev, the chief architect of the Soviet Space programme, was able to quickly secure more resources following the US’ commitment, however Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, did not go as far as approving a Soviet mission.
Nonetheless, Korolev attempted to restructure to his nation’s space programme so that the USSR could land a human on the Moon at some point later on. Lobbying heavily with that aim, he eventually secured backing in 1963. All the while, the US no longer had to play catchup with USSR and a firm goal was ahead of them, albeit still several years away from reaching it. Thus the race to the Moon was very much on.
The Soviet Union had been the first nation to launch a man into space in the form of Yuri Gagarin’s orbital flight in 1961. Building on the success of the series of Vostok flights in the early 1960s, chief Soviet architect, Sergei Korolev, began instructing his OKB-1 design bureau to design a Voskhod spacecraft that could accommodate two or three astronauts in a single capsule. The Soviet’s result was a space craft similar to the Vostok however adapted and duplicated inside in order to accommodate extra crew members and accompanied by a new and more powerful launch vehicle.
With this new machine, the Voskhod programme would, however, nonetheless prove short-lived. On the 12th October 1964, Voskhod 1 launched and became the first multi-cosmonaut mission. It’s sequel, Voskhod 2, launched on 18th March 1965, became the first mission to incorporate extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk. Yet, despite this apparent Soviet progress, the Russians’ focus would shift following Nikita Krushchev’s removal from power in October 1964. After the cessation of the former leader, the Soviet leadership were no longer so concerned with using the space programme to achieve political gains, allowing Korolev more time and less pressure. What resulted was that Korolev shifted his bureau’s attention to creating a larger, more versatile spacecraft, called the Soyuz capsule, in his efforts to achieve a Moon landing.
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Where the Soviets sought to design a new Soyuz spacecraft, the American’s plans were centred on a new Gemini programme. A two-person capsule was created, which flew in 1965 and 1966. The Gemini project primarily sought to reach a point where they had a spacecraft that could be manoeuvred, rendez-vous and dock with other spacecraft. It also sought to teach American astronauts how to fly the spacecraft and also collect physiological data about long-range space flights. It was a preparation that involved spacewalks, in-orbit docking and a range of science experiments that, despite some problems with the in-orbit docking, altogether paved the way for the future Apollo missions.
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Korolev’s lunar landing project involved sending two astronauts to the Moon. The plan was intended to send one astronaut down to the surface in a lander while the other remained in the Soyuz capsule. However, the Soviets used their own N-1 rocket for the launch vehicle which was, unfortunately, beset with technical problems during the period. The problem was that NASA could obtain 33,000,000 newtons of thrust from five engines on the first stage of its Saturn V rocket, but to accomplish the same feat the N-1 required 30 separate engines. Getting the rockets to work effectively was a huge problem for the Soviets.
Korolev died on the 14th January 1966, which left a huge hole in the Soviet Space programme. In his place remained competing factions of engineers, including one headed by N-1 Rocket designer, Vladimir Chelomey (1914-84), one headed by rocket engine designer, Valentin Glushko (1908-89) and one headed by Korolev’s long-time ally Vasily Mishin (1917-2001). Such factions were the legacy of different newly established Space programmes created by the Communist Party in order to launch lunar landings and orbital flights in the 1960s.
Korolev had had an unrivalled grasp of the technical details of the space programme and the leadership might to hold all the different subgroups together. Once he had gone, the unity and impetus started to dwindle. The N-1 rocket, equally, continued to be beset with failings. Thus, the whole Soviet mission to send an astronaut to the Moon was finally abandoned in 1974, and their attention was directed towards the development of space stations instead.
On the western side of the globe, after the success of the Gemini missions in the 1960s, the USA shifted towards new Apollo missions that were geared towards the eventual lunar landing. On the 21st December 1968, Apollo 8 launched atop a Saturn V booster. Four days later, on Christmas Eve, the astronauts on board offered an emphatic radio greeting to the world. Flying in orbit around the Moon, the astronauts also captured an image of the Earth in the distance, known as “Earthrise”.
Two more important testing missions followed. Apollo 9 tested the docking manoeuvres while the Lunar Module was in Earth orbit and Apollo 10 did the same while the module was in lunar orbit. Thus, with all the elements having been tested and practised, the next step in front of NASA was finally a full-blown landing on the Moon.
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 launched on the 16th July 1969 from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The astronauts and engineers had perfected their craft over the preceding months and years and had taken rigorous steps to practise all the elements of a Moon landing.
The trio of astronauts, Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), Buzz Aldrin (1930-) and Michael Collins (1930-), had rehearsed spacewalks in a deep swimming pool dubbed the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator, practised putting on and taking off spacesuits repeatedly, trained for entry and exit out of the capsule and Lunar Module and Armstrong had practised landing the Lunar Module through repeated trials using a simulator.
The launch was without incident and the crew began their three-day trip to the Moon. On the 20th July, Aldrin and Armstrong took the Lunar Module down towards the surface of the Moon. Upon landing in the Lunar Module, dubbed The Eagle, Armstrong realized that the automatic landing system was poised to set them down in the middle of a boulder field. Therefore, Armstrong was forced to take manual control of the Lunar Module.
Facing a difficult landing, Armstrong slowed the vehicle down above the lunar surface, while using more and more the engine’s fuel, thereby causing the low-fuel alarms in the spacecraft to be set off. As Armstrong landed the LM, Aldrin reset the alarms and called out the altitude and status of the fuel. With tension running high back at Mission Control, Armstrong at last set the spacecraft down on the lunar surface with only 11 seconds of fuel remaining. Reporting back to Mission Control, he announced: “contact light. Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Much relieved, Charlie Duke (1935-), their communicator back at Mission Control replied in a flustered voice: “Roger, Tranquillity, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot!”
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There, with the rocky expanse of the Moon in front of them, the pair spent the following time period floating around on the lesser gravity of the rocky surface, planting an American flag, collecting rock and soil samples and conducting scientific experiments.
Although a flag was planted in the ground, the Americans made no claim to have taken ownership of the Moon. Rather, the astronauts proclaimed they had ventured “in peace for all mankind.” The mission was a success, and after having completed their assignments, the pair returned to the Lunar Module and flew back into orbit. There, they docked with the Apollo CSM before returning back to Earth.
Befitting the gravity of the achievement, the Lunar landing was a triumphal moment for both for the astronauts and the USA. The success of the Apollo 11 mission garnered huge popular celebration, and there were parades for the astronauts not just in the USA but all across the world.
Equally, and more importantly, the success of the Apollo 11 mission was a triumphal moment for the world in general as well. The lunar landing was brandished across the front covers of newspapers all across the globe and captured the imagination of many. Admiring the American’s success story, the success of the Apollo 11 mission served to bolster America’s reputation on the world stage and brought together echelons of American society previously divided by affairs such as the Vietnam War. It was mark of human accomplishment that reflected the efforts of a close to ten-year plan. Humans had reached the Moon.
Later Apollo Missions
In a string of later Apollo missions, the United States would collect more valuable information about the satellite, explore new parts of the surface and retrieve further rock samples.
On the 12th November 1969, the crew of Intrepid, the Apollo 12 lander, touched down on the lunar surface just 182 metres from where the robotic probe, Surveyor 3, had reached the satellite two years earlier on the 20th April 1967. Although of less historic importance than the Apollo 11 mission, the crew of Intrepid embarked on two Moon walks, each lasting just under four hours. Along with collecting more rock samples, the astronauts conducted experiments that measured the seismic activity, solar wind flux and magnetic field of the Moon. Having returned to the Command / Service Module, the crew also took multispectral photographs of the lunar surface.
Apollo 13, unfortunately, ended in catastrophe, however later Apollo missions served to further NASA’s and the world’s understanding of the satellite. Despite cuts to finance and a scaling back of operations after the success of the Apollo 11 mission, manifested patently in the scrapping of the Apollo 19 and 20 missions, the Apollo 14-17 missions collected valuable information about the dusty satellite.
The information gathered revolved around the Moon’s origins and evolution. Further, three of the four missions incorporated a Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), which allowed astronauts to travel greater distances than they could have done in the past on foot. As a consequence, the astronauts could reach the Moon’s mountains and channels, both of which are considered to be some of the Moon’s most interesting features.
By the completion of the final lunar mission, American astronauts had deployed more than fifty scientific experiments on the Moon’s surface. What is generally considered the most important of all these experimental constituents was the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). This was a set of instruments designed to examine different facets of the lunar environment, including soil mechanics, seismic activity, heat flow, magnetic fields and solar wind among others. Providing valuable information for contemporary and later scientists to refer to, the experiments have prompted thousands of academic papers since the 1970s.
And accompanying the ground-based experiments no less importantly, astronauts on the six lunar missions collected almost 400 kilograms of samples from the Moon. Since then, more than sixty research laboratories across the world have conducted experiments on the samples and continue to conduct experiments to this day.
From the examination of NASA samples and Soviet probes, a scientific consensus has emerged that the Moon was formed by debris after a monumental collision between an early Earth and an object about the same size as Mars. While this is the most probable reason, scientists today are eager to retrieve further samples for a continuing investigation of the theory.
Post-Apollo Exploration
Along with the American Apollo missions, the Soviet Union had landed rovers and retrieved rock samples from the Moon in the late 1960s and 1970s via robotic probes. On the 24th September 1970, Luna 16 brought back 101 grams of soil it had amassed through its extendable drilling apparatus. Its two sequels, Luna 20 and Luna 24, each retrieved further quantities from different locations.
Going a step further, the Soviets launched two eight-wheeled robotic rovers to the Moon. The first, Lunokhod 1, arrived on the lunar surface on the 17th November and became the first remote-controlled rover to operate on an extra-terrestrial habitat. Its sequel, Lunokhod 2, landed on the Moon on the 15th January 1973 and conducted a range of experiments on the dusty ground. These included taking photographs of the satellite’s surface, analysing solar x-rays, measuring the Moon’s magnetic field and testing the properties of various kinds of lunar surface material.
As well as enabling a closer examination of lunar material, these rovers paved the way for the successful rovers that explored Mars in the late 20th and early 21st Century. However, Luna 24, in 1976, would prove to be the last expedition to the Moon by either the Soviet Union or the United States for close to twenty years.
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Across the globe, space programmes from different nations have launched their own expeditions to the Moon. From 1990 onwards, space exploration missions to the Moon have been conducted via probes from various nations and conglomerates. These include the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Chinese National Space Administration along with the Russians and Americans.
Conclusion
The Moon continues to be the object of space exploration right up to the present day. All six of the major space agencies have announced plans for future exploration of the satellite. At the forefront, NASA has announced plans to coalesce with private space agencies to work towards the eventual goal of constructing a base on the Moon. With Amazon announcing the prospect of providing deliveries to the Moon and both Virgin Galactic and SpaceX announcing the prospect of providing public space travel to the Moon, the future of exploration to the Moon may look like one in which members of the public partake as well.
Borne in the Cold War era of intense competition between the Soviet Union and USA, the Moon is the only extra-terrestrial object humans have walked across. Something that reached its height of political prominence during the 1960s, with somewhat of a hiatus in the intermediary years as space agencies explored other planets in the solar system, the future of space exploration to the Moon some way off in the horizon may be something akin to the 2020 film Ad Astra in which travelling to the Moon is like getting an airplane on holiday. Nonetheless, we can all gaze up at the Moon every night and wonder what it would have been like to be one of those astronauts bouncing across the sandy ground.