It’s been 50 years since the Apollo 11 mission sent the first humans to the moon. We’re looking back at that historic mission that launched from Florida’s Space Coast in 1969 and the lasting legacy Apollo has on the future of human spaceflight.
Tune in to 90.7 WMFE all this week during Morning Edition and All Things Considered for “Apollo: Then & Now” and read/listen back to the stories below.
• Scientists believe the footprints of the twelve Apollo moon-walkers remain untouched by wind or erosion on the lunar surface. But as more countries — and companies — set their sites on the moon, advocates are worried that there are no international laws protecting the historic sites from tampering or damage.
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• In the 1960’s, NASA’s Apollo program spurred growth and development on Florida’s Space Coast. Fifty years later, the lasting impact of the program can still be seen. 90.7 News worked with photographer Jim Hobart to capture what has changed — and what hasn’t — in the five decades since the Apollo program.
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• After launching from Kennedy Space Center, flight controllers in Houston, Texas took over the operation of Apollo mission — keeping a watchful eye on the crew and vehicle as it made the nearly quarter-million mile trip to the moon.
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• Since he grew up in a community of other astronaut families, Andy Aldrin thought having an astronaut father who worked for NASA “was normal.” Andy Aldrin sat with Brendan Byrnes to talk about having an astronaut dad and Apollo 11.
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• Growing up watching rocket launches and with a father working at NASA, Phil Metzger was himself launched into a career of studying space and sending up rockets himself. He sat with Brendan Byrnes to talk about how his father influenced him to become an engineer for NASA.
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• Before the Apollo missions, NASA had to learn how to live and work in space. The Mercury and Gemini programs paved the way for future moon missions.
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• On the morning of July 16, dozens of technicians and flight controllers piled into the firing room at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to count down the launch of Apollo 11’s Saturn V rocket. Among the sea of people was JoAnn Morgan –KSC’s first female engineer and the only woman in that firing room.
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