Apollo 11: Four things you may not know about the first landing on the moon

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Fifty years later, the Apollo Moon program is probably still the greatest technological achievement of humanity.

On July 16, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were attached to their Apollo spacecraft over the vast Saturn V rocket and propelled into orbit in just over 11 minutes. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the lunar surface.

Here is a visual guide to four lesser known facts about the historical mission.

1. Saturn V is still the largest and most powerful rocket ever built

Standing more than 100m away, the Saturn V rocket burned about 20 tonnes of fuel per second at launch. The propellant represents 85% of its total weight.

Saturn V rocket and Apollo spacecraft infographics

"I think we were all surprised at the strength of this thing," said Apollo 8 astronaut Frank Borman in 2011.

Astronaut Charlie Duke compared the sense of separation from a stage – when parts of the spacecraft are dropped – to a "train crash".

Saturn V engines — Legend

Saturn V: Large-scale engineering

The Saturn V weighed 2,800 tons and generated a 34.5 million newtons (7.7 million pounds) boost at launch.

It's enough to lift 130 tons on Earth's orbit and send 43 tons on the moon. It is the equivalent of nearly four London buses.

2. Apollo was about the same size as a big car

Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins spent eight days together traveling nearly a million kilometers to the moon and back in a size space of a big car.

The astronauts were tied into bench-type "layers" during launch and landing in the control module, which measured 3.9 m (12.8 ft) at its widest point.

It was not a place for claustrophobic people.

Legend

The Apollo 17 command and service module shown from the lunar module

Behind the control module was the service module, which contained the fuel tanks and engines.

The lunar module (LM or "Lem") was transported in a compartment behind the control and service modules.

Legend of the mediaBBC's James Burke takes a look at the Apollo control module

After leaving the Earth, Apollo made a mid-flight turn to dock with the lunar module, which was transported into the space behind the control module, before turning and heading towards the Moon.

3. African-American Women in Mathematics Helped Trace the Way to the Moon

In the pre – digital era, NASA employed a large number of female mathematicians as "human computers". Many were African-Americans.

Their work in data processing and complicated calculations was critical to the success of the space program.

Legend

Katherine Johnson, pictured here in 1962, spent 33 years working for NASA

When the first computers appeared, many of NASA's early programmers and programmers were these women.

The movie Hidden Figures, released in 2016, tells the story of these magicians of mathematics. bringing their stories to a mass audience for the first time.

One woman in particular, Katherine Johnson, became known for her work in calculating trajectories for the first American astronauts Alan Shepard and John Glenn, and later for his Apollo Lunar and Command Module modules on flights to the Moon.

The flight path of Apollo 11 placed the spacecraft in Earth orbit 11 minutes after launch.

A little over two hours later, during its second orbit, the third stage of the rocket fired again to propel Apollo towards the Moon – the so-called Trans Lunar Insertion or TLI (Trans Lunar Insertion).

The TLI placed Apollo on a "free return trajectory" – often illustrated by an eight-figure figure.

Infographic showing the route to the moon

This trajectory would have exploited the gravitational force of the Moon to bring the probe back to Earth without the need for more fuel for rockets.

However, when Apollo 11 approached his destination, the astronauts performed a braking maneuver called lunar orbit insertion to slow the satellite into orbit around the moon.

From there, Armstrong and Aldrin came to the surface.

4. Nobody knows where the Apollo 11 module is currently located

A total of 10 lunar modules were sent into space and six humans landed on the moon.

Legend

The lunar module & # 39; Eagle & # 39; of Apollo 11 begins its descent to the lunar surface

Once used, the capsules were dropped and either crushed on the moon, burned in the Earth 's atmosphere or, in one case, orbited around the sun.

But we do not always know exactly where they ended up.

What happened to the lunar modules?

The first two lunar modules were used during test flights and burned in the Earth 's atmosphere.

The lunar module of Apollo 10, which went to the moon but did not land, was dropped into space and went into orbit around the Sun.

Astronomers recently revealed that they were "98% sure" that they had located the drift capsule – named Snoopy – about 50 years after his last sighting.

The lunar module of Apollo 13 played a vital "lifeboat" role when this mission had to be interrupted after an explosion.

Most of the other modules – once the astronauts had safely returned to the Lunar Orbit Command Module – were sent to land on the surface.

Most crash sites are known, but no one really knows where the Eagle and Apollo 16 Apollo 11, Orion, are.

By Tom Housden, Paul Sargeant and Lilly Huynh

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