The Moon Page #2

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An American newspaper

published a front-page story

announcing that herds of bison had been

observed tramping across the lunar surface.

Readers were entranced

by this vision.

A few days later, it was revealed

to be an elaborate hoax.

The only way to find out

what was really on the moon

was to go there and take a look.

But over 100 years later, it still

seemed an impossible dream.

All that finally changed

in the early 1960s.

I believe that this nation should

commit itself to achieving the goal,

before this decade is out,

of landing a man on the moon and

returning him safely to the Earth.

Kennedy's bid for the moon

came out of a Cold War battle

to win over peoples'

hearts and minds.

It was an inspired move,

tapping into an ancient dream.

Finally, we would find the answers

to the moon's great mysteries.

How was it formed?

What was it made of? And was it

a home for some form of life?

The moon had always been the symbol

of the remote and the unreachable.

And here,

people are going to leave Earth

and go to the moon!

But, if they wanted

to lay claim to the moon,

the Americans had a lot

of catching up to do.

Their Cold War rival,

the Soviet Union, was way ahead.

The Russian's ambitious space programme

produced a string of firsts,

including the first satellite in

orbit and the first man in space.

And in 1959, they'd set out to solve

one of the moon's greatest mysteries -

something that had kept humans

guessing for centuries.

What was on the far side of the moon -

the side that always faces away from us?

To find out, the Russian mission would have

to circle the moon for the first time.

On the 7th of October,

the probe disappeared behind

the far side of the moon,

and its cameras leapt into action.

For 40 minutes, it snapped away

whilst scientists waited

on tenterhooks.

When the images were transmitted

back to Earth,

they had their answer.

The far side was actually

just the same as the near side.

But the lack of surprises

didn't matter.

These blurred images made history.

And the mission consolidated the

Russians' lead in the space race.

The Americans weren't

keen on second place.

I guess the American people are

alarmed that a foreign country,

especially an enemy country,

can do this. We fear this.

Definitely alarmed. Do you admire

the Russians for doing it or not?

No. We should've been

first to have it.

The Russians had all the headlines.

But landing a man on the moon

was an entirely new challenge.

At the time when Kennedy made

his famous speech,

scientists knew so little

about the moon

that the prospect of sending a

human there seemed almost reckless.

Their knowledge of lunar geography

was so sketchy,

they didn't know

where they could land safely.

They didn't even know whether the moon's surface

was strong enough to support a space-craft,

or even a man.

They needed answers quickly.

The first step for the Americans was

a series of probes called Ranger.

They carried

on board television cameras

to take detailed close-up pictures

of the lunar surface.

But it wasn't exactly

a sophisticated approach.

The Rangers went in hard, crashing

kamikaze-style into the surface,

furiously filming away

until the moment of destruction.

The 4,300 images

taken by the Ranger probes

were the clearest views

we'd ever had of our moon.

It was now clear

it was a harsh and hostile world.

But the pictures were vital

to prepare for the ultimate goal -

the moon landing.

It was an epic endeavour.

No expense was spared.

At its peak, the moon programme employed

more than 400,000 people in America

and cost over $25 billion, nearly

$150 billion in today's money.

People were electrified

by the race to the moon. And the

United States was spending...

I think it was 4.5% of our entire

national budget on space.

But most Americans

were 100% in favour of,

let's push on and whatever

it costs, let's get to the moon.

Ten... nine... eight...

By 1968,

NASA was ready for a test run.

..four... three... two... one...

Zero!

We have commenced!

We have lift-off!

Lift-off at 7.51am

Eastern Standard Time.

Apollo 8 wouldn't actually

land on the moon,

but it would go into lunar orbit.

Although they weren't

going to touch down,

this would be the first time

that humans

had ever visited another world.

This transmission is coming to you personally

halfway between the moon and the Earth.

Back on Earth, people watched

and waited and listened.

And the astronauts

didn't disappoint.

Hovering just above

the moon's surface,

their broadcast

was from the book of Genesis.

"In the beginning, God created

the Heaven and the Earth.

"And the Earth

was without form and void.

"And darkness

was upon the face of the deep.

"And the spirit of God

moved upon the face of the waters."

"And God said, 'Let there

be light.' And there was light."

I don't know. It just caught

the country by surprise.

It was so moving

and... comforting.

And I think, at that point,

we realised the importance

of a space mission

for bringing self-confidence

to people.

On their fourth orbit

around the moon,

the astronauts saw something

no human eyes had ever seen before.

It was the Earth, rising out

of the blackness of space.

The pictures they took changed the

way we viewed our planet forever.

We have commenced! We have lift-off!

And then came the big one.

On July 16th 1969,

Apollo 11 was launched.

Oh, I remember watching it.

It was like, "Wow!" Like watching

science fiction come true.

On its final descent

to the moon's surface,

unknown to the watching audience,

a series of alarms went off

inside the lunar module.

NASA decided to over-ride them.

The gamble paid off.

Houston, er...

..Tranquillity Base here.

The eagle has landed.

I'll now step off the ladder.

It's one small step for man...

..one giant leap for mankind.

More than 600 million people

watched the broadcast worldwide.

HE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN

The experience bonded the human race in a way

which had never happened before. Or since.

It was one of those rare occasions

that brought the whole nation...

and, in a sense, the whole world,

together in a shared experience.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin only walked

on the moon for less than three hours.

But on that night,

people all over the Earth

looked up at the night sky

and knew that there were two men

up there, looking back at them.

I remember the night

of the landing.

And I looked up from the

parking lot and there was the moon.

And you could see

the little dark smudge,

over on the right side of the moon,

which is the Sea of Tranquillity,

and you knew

that there were two men -

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin -

by that time trying to sleep

in their lunar module

on the surface of that smudge

that you can see from Houston.

Over the next three years, five

more missions landed on the moon.

Each one was more ambitious

than the last.

Whereas Armstrong and Aldrin had only taken a

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