Peter Lobner

Thamtech, LLC produced a remarkable 18-minute video of the first landing on the Moon, which occurred on 20 July 1969 when Apollo 11 landed in the Sea of Tranquility. Here is a screenshot from that video.

In the center, the video shows the view from the Lunar Landing Module (LEM) during descent and landing. To the left and right are the two synchronized audio tracks:

• The Air-to-Ground Loop on the left has all the communications between the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM Charlie Duke) in Houston and the Apollo astronaut crew on the LEM (Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong) and in the Moon-orbiting Apollo capsule (Michael Collins).

• The Flight Director’s Loop on the right has all the communications among the Flight Director (Gene Kranz, who is responsible for the go/no-go and stay/no-stay decisions) and his team of flight controllers in Houston.

The icon at the bottom center of the screen shows the orientation of the LEM relative to local horizontal (the Moon’s surface).

You can see this video at the following link:

http://www.firstmenonthemoon.com

Ensure that “Sync On” is ON (both left and right sides) so the transmissions will scroll automatically in unison.

The success of this first landing on the Moon is a great credit to the professionalism of the Apollo astronauts and the flight control team, and of course, to the whole NASA-led team that created the Saturn V launch vehicle, the Apollo and LEM spacecraft, and the infrastructure needed to support the Apollo program.

The first landing on the Moon occurred more than 46 years ago. The last Apollo Moon landing occurred almost 3-1/2 years later when Apollo 17 landed in the hilly Taurus-Littrow valley on 10 December 1972.

How much longer do you think we will have to wait for the next Moon landing, and what nation do you think will make that landing?