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The Question
(Submitted October 24, 1997)
I just want to know how long it took to build the
first space ship to the Moon?
The Answer
You can find a lot of interesting facts about the history of manned
space (including the Apollo missions to the Moon) at:
http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/history/
and http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.htm
Besides web resources, there are a number of good books about the early
space program in your bookstore or local library. "Liftoff" by
Michael
Collins, an Apollo 11 astronaut, is one that talks not only about the
first Moon landing, but about the development of the first "space
ships".
Other good books on the subject are "A Man on the Moon" by Andrew Chaikin,
"Carrying the Fire" also by Michael Collins, "Moon Shot" by Deke Slayton
and Alan Shepherd. There is also a video documentary called "Moon
Shot"
which covers the development of space ships and the subsequent Moon
landing; it is both informative and interesting and has lots of interviews
with Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts.
To answer your question:
Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969, 8 years after President
Kennedy's famous speech in 1961 (in which he proposed to send
a man to the Moon and return him safely within the decade).
You can also find a history of (manned and unmanned) lunar exploration at:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunartimeline.html
Best wishes,
Maggie Masetti & Koji Mukai
for Ask a High-Energy Astronomer
Questions on this topic are no longer responded to by the "Ask a
High-Energy Astronomer" service. See http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html
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