We’re celebrating the release of the awe-inspiring Apollo 11 with our favourite facts about the epic mission. Watch the film in cinemas & IMAX® from Friday.
PresidenT Kennedy’s national goal was to land a man on the Moon before the end of the decade
"No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish", President Kennedy said as he addressed Congress in 1961.
The crew TRAVELLED 240,000 miles from the Earth to the moon in 76 hours
According to NASA, that means 30 Earth-sized planets could fit in between Earth and the moon.
There were just 17 seconds left of fuel when the Eagle landed on the moon
The automatic landing sequence malfunctioned in the middle of the landing process and astronauts took over manual control. Neil Armstrong had 60 seconds to land otherwise he'd have to abort the mission. This used up much of the fuel leaving only a precious few seconds of fuel left.
The computer that landed Apollo 11 was as powerful as a scientific calculator
Computers weren’t always as capable as they are today. In fact, Apollo 11’s guidance computer was no more powerful than a graphic scientific calculator used today.
400,000 people worked on the Apollo 11 mission.
...and their average of age was just 27 years old.
The astronauts spent little more than 20 hours on the lunar surface
21 hours and 36 minutes was the total time registered on the moon.
Michael Collins spent 36 hours in orbit by himself
During those solo orbits, he experienced periods of the most profound solitude any human being has ever known with no radio contact with Earth or his crewmates.
the team returned with 21.7 kilograms of moon samples
These were the first samples from another planetary body and were estimated to be about 3.7 billion years old.
It's estimated that more than 500 million people watched Armstrong's first steps in the Moon.
Millions of people watched Armstrong's televised image and heard his voice describe the event as he took "...one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969.
After the trajectory to Earth, the astronauts had to go into quarantinE
For fear of space bugs, the astronauts were place in quarantine for 21 days. On 10th August 1969, the astronauts were released from quarantine and were finally able to meet their families and friends.
The flag planted on the moon has disintegrated
50 years on the surface of the moon were not kind to the American flag planted by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.