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NASA's Apollo 11 ended the race to space with the Soviet Union when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. This monumental achievement allowed US President John F. Kennedy to achieve the goal set in May 1961 and to consolidate American domination in space. The Apollo 11 astronauts, including the command module pilot Michael Collins, have been hailed as American heroes. And as we approach the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, astronomers and amateurs will revisit this extraordinary feat.
Apollo 11 was launched at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on July 16, 1961, for an eight-day mission on the Moon and vice versa.
During these eight days in space, NASA astronauts maintained an open line of communication with NASA's mission control in Houston, Texas.
All these communication logs have been recorded, stored and digitized by NASA for analysis today.
Thanks to NASA's efforts, diving into the Apollo 11's tape recordings of the space agency can throw light behind the scenes of the mission.
READ MORE: Read President John F. Kennedy's historic speech as Apollo 11 anniversary approaches
One moment, in particular, stands out on the third day of flight in space when Buzz Aldrin glances outside the probe of the control module to observe the Earth that retreats quickly behind him.
While the astronaut was observing the entire African continent, Europe and the Middle East, something caught his attention near the border between Pakistan and India.
The astronaut then connected to Houston, Texas, to signal a "shadow" flying over the globe.
He said, "Houston, Apollo 11. We have the African continent facing us now, and of course everything is getting smaller and smaller with time.
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"The Mediterranean is completely clear. The sun seems to be about to set around Madagascar.
"The equatorial belt of Africa stands out quite clearly. We see a dark green or a muddy green, compared to the more sandy colors of the southern tip of Africa and, of course, the north coast of Saharan Africa.
"A rather remarkable cloud appears near the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"It's about to go to sunset now." He casts a shadow big enough. It's isolated.
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"There does not seem to be any other clouds. The cloud band located near the tropical converging tropical clouds located around the equator clearly separates the cloud formations clockwise and counterclockwise. More than."
According to Aldrin, the shadow cast by the unusual cloud was about the size of the Persian Gulf.
Astronaut Bruce McCandless, in communication with Apollo 11, replied: "Agreement. We are copying the width of the Persian Gulf, and I guess all I can give you, is one isolated data point, namely that it was clear here in Houston this morning. It is a fairly localized observation. "
Aldrin then concluded that the cloud was a "single-celled" storm preparing up to 50,000 feet in the sky.
He said: "The eastern Mediterranean is incredibly clear. You can see all the lakes; the Dead Sea is very well demarcated. More than."
Shortly after the exchange between NASA and Apollo 11, the mission reached the Moon where the three astronauts prepared for the lunar descent.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, but it would take six hours of preparation to leave the Eagle Lunar module on July 21.
On their return to Earth on July 24, after spending more than 21 hours on the moon, the three pioneers received President Richard Nixon's Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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