Please click on the image to view its full size.


APOLLO 11'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY: 16-24 JULY 2009



Please click on the image to view its full size. AS11-44-6552 (16-24 July 1969) --- This view of Earth rising over the moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth's Sea on the nearside. Coordinates of the center of the terrain are 85 degrees east longitude and 3 degrees north latitude. While astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander; and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins remained with the Command and Service Module (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.


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Here, below, are a few photographs of that historic endeavor. The first one is quite rare, whereas the second one is quite familiar to most people - especially those of us who are of a certain age....


Please click on the image to view its full size. AS11-40-5886 (OF300) 110:31:47 Rightward of 5885. This frame from Aldrin's plus-Z pan is the only good Hasselblad picture of Armstrong on the lunar surface.



Please click on the image to view its full size. AS11-40-5903 (OF300) 110:42:14 Armstrong has moved to the MESA. No other Apollo photograph has been reproduced as often as this portrait of Aldrin. Armstrong is, of course, visible in reflection on Aldrin's visor. Aldrin has his left arm raised and is probably reading the checklist sewn on the wrist cover of his glove. He is moving his right foot forward, as can be seen by the mound of dirt building up in front of the toe of that boot. Note the dirt adhering to Aldrin's boots and knees. Otherwise, he is remarkably clean. The "Red Apple", which he would grab and pull to open his purge valve in the event of a suit leak or a PLSS failure, is located roughly over his navel. From our perspective, the purge valve is installed in the connector to the left of the "Red Apple".


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Do you have a pair of those 2-color (usually red and cyan) anaglyph glasses? You know, the kind which used to be distributed at the cinema for viewing stereoscopic films? I do. Anyway, here are a couple of anaglyphs for your viewing pleasure. I recommend you click on the images to view them in their full size. You may have to back up a few feet for the effect to work properly. The first image needs no introduction. The second one is made from a photograph of the Lunar surface.


Please click on the image to view its full size. AS11-44-6551-53 Anaglyph by Patrick Vantuyne. Taken by Michael Collins prior to LM undocking and separation, possibly on Rev. 12 or 13.



Please click on the image to view its full size. AS11-40-5937/8 Red-Blue Anaglyph. Red-blue anaglyph by Erwin D'Hoore.


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Here's an audio-visual record of the Lunar Excursion Module landing on the Lunar surface. Yes, it's long - in Internet terms - but the excitement does build! It's a bit of a travelogue.

102:30:45 to 102:46:38 QuickTime Video Clip: (15 minutes 59 seconds; 15.7MB).


Apollo 11 - Landing on the Sea of Tranquility - July 20, 1969. 16mm landing film by Gary Neff, source footage courtesy John Knoll.

The sequence camera was pointing out Edwin Aldrin's right-hand lunar module window. It ran at 6 frames per second for the landing and was fitted with a 10mm wide-angle lens. The clip runs approximately from 50,000 feet altitude to the lunar surface, from about 102:30:45 to 102:46:38, one minute after touchdown.

Initially, the lunar module windows faced down towards the surface to allow Armstrong to perform visual landmark tracking. The spacecraft then rotated 180 degress to a windows-up position at an altitude of 40,000 feet to allow the landing radar to take altitude readings of the surface. The window view was of black sky during this orientation until they reached 33,500 feet when the moon slowly reappeared at the bottom of the window, just after the first 1202 program alarm announcement. Following the pitchover manoeuvre at about 7,000 feet, the moon climbed higher into view as the lunar module tilted to a more vertical position for landing.

Surface detail became clearer below 500 feet and boulders were visible as Armstrong flew level looking for a clear landing site. As touchdown approached, East Crater passed 150 feet below them, the descent engine blew dust across the ground, and the shadow of the landing gear appeared. As the spacecraft dropped the last few feet, its shadow filled the camera frame, blacking out the surface. The blowing dust cleared within seconds of touchdown: this phenomenon is observable in the small slice of the surface visible in the camera frame above the lunar module shadow.

The soundtrack includes:

* Lunar module descent engine ignition for powered descent initiation at around 46,000 feet
* Losses of voice communication and data telemetry
* Recurring computer alarms
* Landing radar dropouts
* Low fuel warning light in the lunar module
* Two verbal low fuel warnings from mission control
* Contact light announcement
* The landing announcement, and mission control's enormous relief

The voices are mainly those of Edwin Aldrin and capcom Charlie Duke. Armstrong, Collins, and public affairs officer Douglas Ward are also heard occasionally.


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If you're interested in observing this 40th anniversary of the first Lunar landing by humans, check out these three Web sites:

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal


NASA - Apollo 40th Anniversary

We Choose the Moon: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing


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Some folks think money spent on space flight could be diverted to social programs down here on Terra. Guess what? It doesn't work that way, not with politicians calling the shots.

For example: back in the 1990s the U.S. federal government had a budget surplus so big that the Social Security program could have been permanently funded. Did that happen? No, of course not, because the federal legislature wanted the money for all their idiotic pork-barrel projects - and they got it. So I'm all for spending lots more money on both manned and unmanned outer-space flight. Forget this tedious low-orbit stuff! Let's at least establish a colony on the Lunar surface.


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If you need me I'll be in my private quarters at Clavius Base on Luna - drinking, eating, listening to music, napping, reading, surfing the Web, or looking out the window at that big black monolith everybody's making such a fuss over. Just ask for "Joe the Layabout" when you arrive on the Moonbus.


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I've decided July will be Outer Space Month; so in this desktop wallpaper I've placed Yoko Ritona on some faraway planet, where she's keeping an eye on things. To make the scenario easier on Yoko and those who appreciate her physique, I've imbued this planet with Terran atmosphere and gravity. It's hot and it's windy, but Yoko's used to that sort of climate.

You'll notice Yoko's got a nice tan, which looks somewhat red because the atmosphere on that planet is slightly red. The soil is red, too. I got the earth and sky colors from photographs made on the Martian surface. The spacecraft and habitat are taken from an artist's conception of future exploration on Mars. But this isn't Mars! No, it's some other planet much farther away - outside our solar system.

There's a pile of rocks in the foreground, which doesn't appear to be a natural formation; hence Yoko stands guard there. I put the sign from Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie there too, just to indicate corporations and politicians will still be with us in that future time. I know the ground surface looks boring, but I wasn't interested in spending hours fiddling with it. Of course, the image of Yoko herself is from "Internet sources" - just like the spacecraft, the habitat and the sign.








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