A Trip To The
MOON
40 YEARS AGO, the first humans made history by walking on another world.
How much do you know about their amazing mission?
1. Which President made landing on the moon a top priority?
a) Roosevelt b) Eisenhower c) Kennedy d) Nixon
At http://www.jfklibrary.org/jfkl/modules/diary/default.aspx, you can flip through archives of John F. Kennedy. You can also watch parts of one of his inspirational speeches — this one given at Rice University, September 12, 1962 — in the YouTube video below.
2. Which Apollo mission (what number) made it to the moon?
In case you missed it, don’t worry. Visit http://wechoosethemoon.org and turn up your speakers, as the site suggests. This is a recreation of Apollo 11, from start to finish. The best part is that you can listen to the real radio transmissions, and even watch the broadcasts as a Twitter stream: http://twitter.com/AP11_SPACECRAFT.
3. What kind of rocket do you need to get to the moon?
The New York Times (to whom we provide content) contains an interesting interactive dissection of the huge Saturn rocket that powered the launch. Newer rockets are also displayed.
http://www.nytimes.com//interactive/2009/07/13/science/space/20090713-apollo11.html.
4. What did the moon landing site look like?
Visit Google Moon, at http://www.google.com/moon, to find out. You can zoom in to Apollo 11 landing spot, and explore links to photos and videos.
5. Which sport did the astronauts play on the moon?
a) golf b) basketball c) soccer
According to http://www.pasturegolf.com/archive/shepard.htm, Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard hit three golf balls on the moon. Because the gravity is 1/6th that of the earth, the ball went about 400 yards, even though he was wearing a very bulky space suit.
6. How far is the moon from the earth?
It’s a really long way, which makes the moon landing even more impressive. Look at http://www.traipse.com/earth_and_moon/earth_and_moon_1280.jpg to get some perspective.
7. Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon. How many other people walked on the moon? BONUS — Who was the last?
At http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a17/a17.crew.html, you can learn that 12 people walked on the moon from 1969 to 1972. The last was Eugene Cernan.
8. Which country was the first to place a spacecraft on the moon?
According to the quiz at http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/space-exploration/moon-test-quiz.html, the Soviet Union was the first to put a manmade object on the moon, helping to spark the space race.
9. True or False: We will never return to the moon.
False. Several countries are planning to travel to the moon to build colonies for longer stays. New rockets and better space suites (right) will let humans stay for longer periods on the moon. Learn more at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/main/index.html.
