Fifty years ago today the first man stepped onto the surface of the Moon. The most amazing engineering achievement in the history of mankind.
It is also a great achievement of the English, of the 12 men who have walked on the Moon, 9 of them were Englishmen. Okay born in America, but ethnically English.
Neil Armstrong (20th July 1969)
Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (20th July 1969)
Alan Bean (19th November 1969)
Alan B. Shepard (5th February 1971)
Edgar Mitchell (5th February 1971)
David Scott (30th July 1971)
James Irwin (30th July 1971)
John Young (21st April 1972)
Charles Duke (21st April 1972)
1 Irishman
Eugene Cernan (11th December 1972)
& 2 Germans
Charles "Pete" Conrad (19th November 1969)
Harrison H. "Jack"Schmitt (11th December 1972)
They went in 6 missions between the 20th July 1969 and 11th December 1972, each mission going to a different part of the Moons surface.
However it was not the first manmade object to impact the Moons surface, that honour goes to the Soviet Union who successfully got the rocket Luna-1 there on the 2nd January 1959. It would take the Americans until 28th July 1964 before it could achieve the same success.
It took the Soviets until their 6th attempt to get to the Moon, it took the Americans until their 16th attempt!
The race for the Moon had three objectives, prestige, scientific knowledge and to prove the ability of each countries missile technology. The military side is often forgotten, but the Cold War was a real war with less shooting. The Space Race was a way of getting public support for spending large amounts of money on missiles. It also softened the blow to many scientists and engineers.
No matter, the achievement was real!
For further information on the Moon Landings: https://infogalactic.com/info/Moon_landing
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