Apollo 11 at 50: Half Way to the Moon

By John Freeman on July 18, 2019

Race into Space Brooke Bond Card – Apollo 11 Mission – Columbia and Eagle

50 years ago today, Apollo 11 and its crew were at the half way stage in their journey from Earth orbit to lunar orbit in their Command Service Module, Columbia.

10 years ago on downthetubes, Jeremy Briggs wrote a 40th anniversary day-by-day celebration series of articles marking the Apollo 11 mission, featuring contemporary British comics and illustrations – and you can read his 18th July 1969 entry here, which spotlights the Command Service Module, Columbia.

Brooke Bond “The Race into Space” Tea Card Album Cover

Some of the images used in my look back at Apollo 11, 50 years on, are taken from The Race Into Space cards given away in Brooke Bond tea packets in 1971. An album, illustrated by Roy Cross, was issued to accompany the cards, illustrated by David Lawson, which you can buy here from the London Cigarette Card Company.

WEB LINKS

• NASA: Apollo 11 in Real Time, 50 Years Later

• The Space Race from Audible on Amazon (Affiliate Link)

• “Moon Landing 40th Anniversary: A Comics Celebration” Gallery on Flickr

• The Race into Space Tea Cards – available from the London Cigarette Card Company

• NASA: Frequently Asked Questions about Apollo

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek Magazine) and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of "Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies" for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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