The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) marks that all lines have been strengthened in fire prevention and all flammable materials have been replaced. Braun also redesigned the escape capsule to facilitate astronauts to escape quickly in an emergency. Two years later, the redesigned spacecraft was tested with the rocket and successfully completed the mission. At this point, NASA thinks it's time to set off for the moon, but before that, we must do a rehearsal for landing on the moon.
1968 65438+February 2 1 day, the apollo 8 spacecraft with three astronauts was launched. After three days of space flight, the spacecraft reached the orbit of the moon and achieved a flight around the moon. On Christmas Eve, three astronauts made a live television broadcast from the lunar orbit to the Earth, which was the first time in human history that they got rid of the gravity of the earth and reached another planet.
When humans first saw the true face of the earth on the back of the moon on the apollo 8, astronauts saw a blue and white sphere outside the window and immediately took this scene with their cameras. This is a photo. This is the first time that mankind has seen the true face of the earth. Because of the great achievements made in this experiment, Time magazine selected three astronauts from apollo 8 as people of the year in recognition of their contributions to mankind in the past year. And just as Braun approached his goal of landing on the moon, what was the progress of the Soviet Union?
Time magazine1966 65438+1October 14, korolev, the leader of the Soviet space program, died, and his deputy Mishin took over his job and continued to be responsible for the design of the rocket that landed on the moon. However, without korolev, the project did not go smoothly. 1July 3, 969, the rocket was launched. During the ascent, a loose stud was sucked into the fuel pump, which caused the engine to stop working and exploded 23 seconds later. Because of the huge size of this rocket, this disaster became the biggest explosion in the history of rocket application. The accident was classified as a state secret by the Soviet Union until 20 years later.
Korolev failed several launch tests, so the Soviet Union had to formally cancel the project and the moon landing plan was aborted. At the same time, NASA has completed the design of Apollo lunar module and decided to achieve the goal of landing on the moon when launching "Apollo 1 1".
Late at night before the launch, Braun, then the chief engineer of the US moon landing program, went back to his room and carefully checked the launch schedule for the next day. After the inspection, he picked up the phone again and called his colleagues in the launch center to ask some details of the mission. Finally, he wished them good luck tomorrow. Braun didn't sleep well because of his heavy responsibilities. He got up before dawn the next day. He absently took a bath and shaved, but his heart has flown to the launch site.
Saturn V rocket is located at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, which is already overcrowded. Here, the huge Saturn V rocket stands upright on the launcher. Braun came to the launch control center. In a small room surrounded by glass, he put on headphones, looked at several TV screens hanging high in front of him, looked at several dials on the console, and immediately entered the countdown.
The launch command center is the most important step in the US moon landing program, with a record audience of 600 million. At 9: 32 on July 6, 1969, US time 1969, the magnificent Apollo 1 1 spacecraft rose slowly. At this moment, the thrust generated by the rocket engine is equivalent to twice the total power generation of all rivers in North America. After dozens of minutes of flight, the spacecraft successfully entered the scheduled orbit, and applause and cheers immediately sounded in the command center.
US President Nixon issued an announcement after watching the live broadcast. In the announcement, he wrote: Apollo 1 1 is flying to the moon, carrying the hopes and prayers of three astronauts and hundreds of millions of people on earth. For people on earth, this step on the moon will be an extremely exciting moment. Humans have never experienced such an epic adventure.
The three astronauts who carried out this mission all participated in the previous Gemini Project. Among them, neil armstrong is the commander in chief. On July 20 18, the spacecraft landed on the surface of the moon, and Armstrong stepped on the moon with the steps of the lunar module. I once said that famous saying: "This is a small step for me personally, but a big step for all mankind."
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