The Race to Space--Countdown to Liftoff (Epic Fails #2) by Ben Thompson

Author:Ben Thompson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Diagram of the components of an Apollo craft

Over the next 20 hours, the crew orbited the moon ten times, taking pictures, drawing maps, and trying to identify good landing sites for future missions. They also sent a couple of video transmissions back to Earth, which were broadcast on every TV in the world. The most famous of these was on Christmas Eve as Earth came into view over the lunar horizon. You can watch all these videos on YouTube!

After visiting the moon, the Earthlings engaged their thrusters and began the long return trip home. They reached Earth and reentered the atmosphere, screaming in at an unbelievable 24,000 miles per hour. The heat from the atmosphere was so intense that the outside of the Apollo capsule reached temperatures of over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They splashed into the Pacific Ocean after 147 hours on their mission and were received as true heroes not only in America, but across the globe, too. Borman would receive a Congressional Space Medal of Honor for his heroism, and all three astronauts were recognized as “Men of the Year” by Time magazine.

NASA’s work wasn’t done yet, however, and the next two Apollo missions would test the CSM and LM. Apollo 9 spent ten days in Earth orbit, ejected the LM, tested the LM’s thrusters, and then successfully redocked it with the CSM before returning home. Apollo 10 repeated Apollo 9’s testing, but at the moon, where the crew sent back the first color TV footage of the lunar surface. This mission also ejected the LM, but the astronauts inside descended to about nine miles above the lunar surface before returning to the CSM and heading back to Earth.

Amazingly, despite all the hardships, failures, and trials that humanity had faced on its long, difficult quest to reach the moon, the impossible was now in our grasp. Putting a human on the moon was now a real possibility.

The only thing left was to do it.

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