Moon Landing: T Minus 0 Days – The Eagle Has Landed

Forty years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin boarded the Lunar Module, Eagle, and undocked from the Command Service Module, Columbia. Leaving Mike Collins alone in the CSM in lunar orbit, they descended towards the Moon’s surface where Eagle safely touched down in the Sea of Tranquility at 8:17pm GMT.

Look and Learn issue 907 - Apollo

Wilf Hardy‘s illustration from Look and Learn issue 907, dated 19 May 1979, shows the Lunar Module flying separately from the CSM as it descends towards the Moon’s surface while this illustration from him shows the LM the moment before touchdown.

TV21 Records: Journey To The Moon

This is the cover for the LP recording of Journey To The Moon, a factual album from Gerry Anderson’s Century 21 organisation which used the cast of Fireball XL5 to tell what was to them the historical event of the first moon landing. Today, it makes for an interesting listen as its writer, Alan Fennell, has to put into the past tense events that were still in the future as far as its young listeners in 1965 were concerned.

This album is better known from its rerelease in the 7 inch EP format by Century 21 records as the first of their “21 Minutes Of Adventure” mini albums and it has also been remastered recently onto CD by the Gerry Anderson club Fanderson. As such, it has shrunk in size as recording technology has changed in the last four decades.

Fanderson: Journey To The Moon

The final illustration is from Rockets and Spacecraft Book 1 and shows an early concept of how the Lander would have looked on the surface. As this book was published early in the Apollo program and as with the record sleeve above, it shows the then current design of a circular hatchway for the astronauts to exit the vehicle through, which was soon changed to a more rectangular design to allow the astronauts to get their backpacks through it more easily. Interestingly, the uncredited artist does not include a ladder for the astronauts to descend to the surface on…

Rockets and Spacecraft Book 1

Americans would have us believe that Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the Moon on 20th July 1969 because they saw it happen in their late evening. However, British television audiences saw it happen in the early hours of Monday 21st July 1969.

Since NASA operates on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which to all intensive purposes is Greenwich Mean Time, they also consider that the first footsteps on the Moon took place on 21st July.

Yesterday – What Could Go Wrong
Tomorrow – First Footsteps

• Coinciding with Jeremy’s countdown to the 40th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing, downthetubes published “Moon Landing 40th Anniversary: A Comics Celebration” – a gallery of illustrations and comic art inspired by space exploration

APOLLO BOOKS AND OTHER MEDIA

Apollo (Graphic Novel)
By Matt Fitch, Chris Baker & Mike Collins
Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

Apollo GN - Cover

In 1969, humankind set foot on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Edwin ”Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins carried the fire for all the world. Backed by the brightest minds in engineering and science, the three boarded a rocket and flew through the void―just to know that we could. In Apollo, Matt Fitch, Chris Baker, and Mike Collins unpack the urban legends, the gossip, and the speculation to reveal a remarkable true story about life, death, dreams, and the reality of humanity’s greatest exploratory achievement.

Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journeys
by Michael Collins
Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events – technical and spiritual – of our lifetime. In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, a very personal way, the drama, beauty, and humour of that adventure

Apollo 11: The Inside Story
by David Whitehouse
Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

David Whitehouse reveals the true drama behind the Apollo 11 mission, putting it in the context of the wider space race and telling the story in the words of those who took part – based around exclusive interviews with the key players.



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