Sunday marked the fiftieth anniversary of the first moon landing, which took place on July 21, 1969. To celebrate this incredible landmark, we’ve compiled six cool facts about the moon landing that you may not have heard before.
There Are Very Few Pictures Of Neil Armstrong On The Moon
The vast majority of photos from that day show astronaut Buzz Aldrin instead of Neil Armstrong, who was the first man to actually set foot on the moon. This is because by some fluke, Armstrong kept ending up behind the camera! In fact, the above photo might be the only one that shows Armstrong on the moon.
Neil And Buzz Weren’t Alone Up There
Armstrong and Aldrin were not the only two astronauts on this mission, as they were accompanied by Michael Collins, who had the less than glamorous job of orbiting the moon while the other two astronauts made history on it.
NASA Lost A Ton Of Footage
NASA lost eleven whole tapes from the moon landing, and the footage that we have of Armstrong on the moon is actually a a recording of a monitor playing the original tape. They were smart enough to put a man on the moon, but lax on keeping track of all the tapes!
They Were Quarantined For 21 Days After Landing
The three astronauts on Apollo 11 were quarantined for 21 days upon returning to Earth in an Airstream trailer just in case they had contracted some sort of moon disease.
They Left A Mirror On The Moon
As part of the Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, Armstrong and Aldrin placed a mirror on the moon’s surface so that humans could shoot a laser at the moon and measure how far away the moon is at all times by calculating how long it takes the beam to return to Earth.
Richard Nixon Had A Disaster Speech Prepared
President Richard Nixon knew that disaster could strike this mission at any time, so he had a speech prepared in case this would happen.
“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace,” the speech read. “These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that their is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.”
Fortunately, the speech was not needed as the mission was a success!
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