• This Moment in Science History for 07-24-2024

  • Jul 24 2024
  • Length: 2 mins
  • Podcast

This Moment in Science History for 07-24-2024 By cover art

This Moment in Science History for 07-24-2024

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  • Summary

  • On July 24th in science history, a significant event occurred in 1969 when the Apollo 11 astronauts returned to Earth after their historic mission to the Moon.

    On July 20th, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the lunar surface, and astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon. After spending over 21 hours on the Moon's surface, collecting samples and conducting experiments, the astronauts launched the Lunar Module to rejoin their colleague Michael Collins in the Command Module, which had been orbiting the Moon.

    The journey back to Earth took about three days. On July 24th, the Command Module, named Columbia, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 12:50 PM EDT (16:50 UTC), about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii and 12 nautical miles from the recovery ship, the USS Hornet.

    The astronauts were quickly quarantined in a specially designed Airstream trailer due to fears that they might have brought back lunar pathogens. They remained in quarantine for 21 days. However, it was later determined that the Moon was lifeless, and the quarantine procedure was not used for subsequent Apollo missions.

    The successful return of the Apollo 11 crew marked the end of the Space Race and fulfilled U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1961 goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. This achievement remains one of the greatest scientific and technological accomplishments in human history.
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