50 years ago on this date, man had put the first step on the moon: here's the untold story of this mission

On July 21, 1969, at 2:56 UTC, the American astronaut Neil Armstrong had put the first step on the moon. Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins also went on this mission. But did you know that the foundation of this mission was put in 1961?

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, stands on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module, Eagle, during the Apollo 11 moonwalk. Astronaut Neil Armstrong, mission commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera.

Credits: NASA 

July 21, 1969, exactly 50 years ago, man had made history by putting the first step on the moon, which opened the door to the possibilities of reaching the remote space in the future. The Apollo 11 was launched on July 16, 1969. On July 21, at 2:56, the American astronaut Neil Armstrong put the first step on the moon. He went to the moon under the Apollo 11 mission of  American Space Agency NASA. Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins also went on the mission with him. But did you know that the foundation of this mission was put in 1961?

Man went to space for the first time in 1961

For the first time in 1961, man went to space. Yuri Gagarin, the Astronaut of Soviet Union (now Russia), achieved this feat. He sat in the Vostok spacecraft, launched from the Soviet Union, went into the orbit of the Earth and returned safely to the earth. After this success of the Soviet Union, the then U.S. President John F. Kennedy made a big announcement. He announced that the US would take man to the moon within the next 10 years and bring him back safely from there.

Success was achieved after one decade of hard work

Buzz Aldrin salutes the U.S flag on the Moon (mission time: 110:10:33). His fingertips are visible on the far side of his faceplate. Note the well-defined footprints in the foreground. Buzz is facing up-Sun. There is a reflection of the Sun in his visor. 

After the American President John F. Kennedy's announcement of manned mission to the moon, the entire NASA teamed up to give it a concrete shape. NASA worked hard for nearly a decade to take humans to the moon. About 5 lakh scientists contributed in this. NASA worked day and night for 24 hours. 

It took 6 years to make the lunar module

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia. Inside the module were Commander Neil A. Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. The long rod-like protrusions under the landing pods are lunar surface sensing probes. Upon contact with the lunar surface, the probes sent a signal to the crew to shut down the descent engine.

In order to send humans to the moon and bring them back safely to the Earth, NASA had to create a very powerful and strong spacecraft and rocket . For this, NASA prepared a lunar module by working hard for nearly 6 years. The module was named eagle. This lunar module was to land on the moon's surface after reaching into the orbit of the moon with the help of rocket.

NASA invented powerful rocket engines to go to the moon and come back from there. It was the world's most powerful combustion engine at that time. To test its capabilities and to increase it, NASA tested it for about 7 years. After this, NASA succeeded in building a very powerful and successful rocket engine.

The reason behind the success of the mission was Project Gemini

NASA started the Project Gemini in 1961 in order to understand the technology required for its manned mission to moon and give it a firm shape. Project Gemini lasted until 1966, and under this project, astronauts were sent to Earth's orbit 10 times and brought back. During this period, it was studied that how the space affects human body and health. Also many technical things were studied as well.

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin's bootprint. Aldrin photographed this bootprint about an hour into their lunar extra-vehicular activity on July 20, 1969, as part of investigations into the soil mechanics of the lunar surface. This photo would later become synonymous with humankind's venture into space.

Three American astronauts were killed before the mission

Before sending humans to the moon, NASA also did a test mission. Under this manned mission called Apollo 1, three American astronauts were sent to the Earth's orbit for the first time and were supposed to be brought back to Earth. This was the rehearsal of NASA's moon mission. When Apollo-1 was launched on January 27, 1967, there was a fire in its cabin. In this incident, three astronauts - Virgil I Gus Grisam, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffi - passed away. This came as a big shock to NASA. But NASA kept up the courage and pushed the mission forward.

This is how Neil Armstrong and 2 others were chosen for the mission

The Apollo 11 lunar landing mission crew, pictured from left to right, Neil A. Armstrong, commander; Michael Collins, command module pilot; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot.

Before starting the mission to land humans on the moon's surface, the biggest problem was that who should be chosen for it. For this, NASA started collecting information about pilots and other experts working in other departments including the US Air Force. NASA felt that for the Moon mission, those people who have a lot of flight experience could be sent. So NASA concentrated on the pilots who used to test new planes. It selected 15 test pilots. Now, out of these 15 test pilots, only 3 were to be selected to go to the moon. For this, NASA conducted many tests and after completing every criterion, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins were chosen for their mission.

Apollo-11 was launched on July 16

The Apollo 11 Saturn V space vehicle lifts off with astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., at 9:32 a.m. EDT July 16, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A.

After a decade of hard work, NASA launched the Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969,  at 1:32 pm international time. It was launched from Saturn V Rocket. There were three stages in this rocket. Launch was shown live on TV all over the world. At the launch site, millions of people also came to see it. When Apollo-11 was launched, the nearby buildings were shaken due to the powerful engine.

Apollo 11 entered the orbit of moon on 19 July 1969. But when the astronauts arrived at the orbit of the moon, they saw that the surface of the moon composed of very high hills. There were deep craters on the surface of the moon. Astronauts had to find a safe place to land on the moon's surface. NASA had already marked that place after 6 years of hard work, where the space shuttle was to be landed. NASA had sent many satellites to take photographs of the moon in earlier years to find a safe place for landing. Through these satellite images, the Apollo 11 mission marked the landing site for Apollo 11 to land.

The Lunar module landed on moon on 20th July

Astronaut Edwin E."Buzz" Aldrin Jr., Lunar Module pilot, is photographed during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the Moon. He has just deployed the Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package (EASEP).

On July 20, the Eagle Lander was to be separated from the Orbiter Columbia of Apollo-11 to land it on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin went into the Eagle while Mike Collins stayed at Columbia on the orbit of the moon. The Eagle Lander had to fly back from the moon's surface and join Columbia in the orbit. The Eagle landed on the moon at around 8 o'clock on July 20, 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Aldrin. After this, both of them did preparations for several hours. Then on July 21, at 2:56 a.m. Neil Armstrong put the first step on the moon as a human. After some time Aldrin landed there as well. Both of them took samples of the surface of the moon and its soil. Both of them spent 21 hours and 31 minutes on the surface of the moon.

A view of the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle as it returned from the surface of the moon to dock with the command module Columbia. A smooth mare area is visible on the Moon below and a half-illuminated Earth hangs over the horizon. This is the correct orientation of this image. Numerous other versions found on the internet have been incorrectly mirrored. Appearing center and upside down is the forward hatch.

After completing the mission on the surface of the moon, both of them sat in the eagle and flew to join Columbia in the orbit of the moon. It was all for the first time in human history. The fuel was low in the eagle, but they reached Skyscroll Columbia on July 21. Both devices connected together These three astronauts returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Their missiles fell into the Pacific Ocean. The three were kept in separate rooms for 21 days. So that it could be checked that there was no infection of space in it.

Apollo 11 crew and a Navy diver await pickup from the USS Hornet after splashdown into the Pacific ocean.
Credits: NASA 

Contact was lost after launch

NASA launched Apollo-11 on July 16, 1969. After this, it's contact with NASA scientists was lost for some time. It was then believed that the contact will never be made again. But when all the three astronauts reached in the orbit of the moon, its contact with the scientists on earth was restored.