TOMORROW it will be exactly 55 years since humanity first set foot on the Moon.
The anniversary came during a period of resupply, as the US intensifies efforts to return and establish more permanent links with the lunar surface.
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Of course, the US is not alone in this ambition.
After investing billions in its domestic space efforts and consolidating collaboration with Russia, China finally admitted last week that the US is a competitor on the Moon.
It is the first time that China has used such language in relation to its projects outside the planet.
But there will be no revival of the 1960s space race, former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe told the Sun.
“There is an attempt to characterize this as a race,” O’Keefe said, just weeks before China itself declared as much.
“This race has already happened. It was done 55 years ago.”
A lot has changed in the last half century.
“We now have several different nation states with the capacity to get there,” O’Keefe explained.
“This isn’t the easiest trick in the world,” he continued.
“But at the same time, it’s much more affordable today than we imagined 55 years ago.”
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Timeline: The Apollo 11 Moon Landing
July 16, 1969: Takeoff
Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida, carrying Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.
An estimated one million people descended on the area around Cape Kennedy to watch the rocket, which was 20 meters taller than the Statue of Liberty, lift off from launch pad 39A.
July 18-19, 1969: The Journey
The spacecraft took three days to reach the Moon.
Once in lunar orbit, the lunar module – nicknamed ‘Eagle’ – separated from the command module.
This left Collins orbiting the Moon alone in the larger craft for 27 hours while Armstrong and Aldrin made their journey to the lunar surface.
July 20, 1969: The landing
Armstrong’s test pilot story saved the landing from disaster.
He saw that they were heading towards a large crater and slid across the surface to find safety, putting Eagle down with just 45 seconds of fuel remaining.
There was no live TV footage of the landing, but Armstrong positioned a camera housed on the side of the lunar module as he descended the ladder.
Armstrong took humanity’s first steps on the Moon, with an estimated 650 million people watching at home.
The television image of Armstrong and heard his voice describe the event as he took “…one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
He and Aldrin spent 21 hours and 36 minutes on the surface of the Moon.
Returning to the Moon a second time may be easier than the first.
Still, commemorative medallions with the names of the three Apollo 1 astronauts who lost their lives in a fire on the launch pad and two cosmonauts who also died in accidents remain on the surface of the Moon to this day.
Despite the human cost of the early days of spaceflight, today’s astronauts don’t exactly have an easy ride.
“I wouldn’t say that yet,” O’Keefe said, before adding, “I think it’s safer than it has been.
“You can’t describe anything that has a 1 in 100 chance of, you know, an explosion — which is what the space shuttle was.
“That was it. That was the real statistic.
“I mean, there was a lot of celebration at NASA when everyone realized that maybe we had improved that number to one in 250.
“But this is still very dangerous. It’s still very exploratory.”
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
