It was actually 21st July that Apollo 11‘s return to Earth began. Armstrong and Aldrin spent less than three hours walking on the Moon and lifted off in the Lunar Module’s ascent stage less than 22 hours after they had touched down.
The ascent stage docked with the Command Service Module in lunar orbit where the astronauts transferred into the CSM in which Mike Collins had remained. They undocked from the ascent stage in the last moments of 21 July and set the CSM on its return course for Earth just before 5am GMT, 40 years ago today.
The image from the Orbit Book Rockets and Spacecraft Book 1 shows the ascent stage left in lunar orbit as the CSM heads for home. The ascent stage was left in a decaying lunar orbit and eventually crashed into the Moon’s surface while the descent stage remains untouched where it was left in the Sea of Tranquility.
Yesterday – First Footsteps
Tomorrow – The Future
• 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)
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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News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.
Categories: Events, Features, Other Worlds
In Review: The Comics 1964 – 2024 exhibition, at the Centre Pompidou, Paris 
Remembering Patrick McGoohan – and the comics his characters inspired 
In Memoriam: British Comic Creators we have lost in 2023 
In Review: Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics