Då var det dags för nästa vykortet i ordningen, för vägen mot månen.

Between 500 and 650 million people tune in to watch the rocket launch. Travelling in a graceful S-shaped trajectory, it flies through space for 2 hours and 44 minutes, orbiting the Earth once, before it reaches translunar orbit. Then, the command module (named Columbia) and the Lunar module (called ‘Eagle’) separate from the rest of the craft, ready for the landing.

For three days, the three astronauts travel towards the Moon. Finally, on July 19th, the rocket’s engines fire to slow the craft down as it nears Lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin ease themselves into Eagle, as Collins remains behind on Columbia. The module separates and slowly begins its descent to the landing spot near the Sea of Tranquillity.

“The Eagle has landed”

This transmission greets the NASA command centre back on Earth and the 650 million people who are watching with bated breath. As Eagle touches down on the Moon’s surface, two men prepare to make history. 

The hatch is opened, and Neil Armstrong makes his one small step. Armstrong deploys a TV camera, and then four bootprints mark the soft, untouched Lunar surface. Then follows a telephone call between the two astronauts and Richard Nixon. 

Armstrong and Aldrin begin their tasks on the Moon. A metal medallion is placed on the surface, commemorating the three astronauts who lost their lives in the Apollo 1 mission, as well as the two cosmonauts who lost their lives during space exploration, and a one-and-a-half-inch silicon disk containing goodwill messages from 71 countries. The astronauts collect Moon rocks to distribute to the other nations of the world, plant the American flag on the Moon’s surface, conduct a series of scientific experiments, and leave a plaque engraved with the words “We came in peace for all mankind”. After 21 hours on the Moon (including a 7-hour sleep), they return to Columbia and begin their journey home. On July 24, Apollo 11 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, returning the astronauts to Earth. 

Samtidigt kom bevis på att vi passerat 80% av den totala sträckan och att ännu ett träd blivit planterat.