9 wonderful and strange facts about Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11

9 wonderful and strange facts about Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11 You know about the magnificent journey of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin but sometimes the third astronaut Michael Collins remains forgotten from Apollo 11 mission. Armstrong and Aldrin were the first two step successfully on the Moon in 1969 whilst Collins orbited in the Command and Service Module (CSM) Columbia. We saw several pictures and heard the audio but there is some untold stuff.

Below are 9 wonderful and strange facts about Neil Armstrong and Apollo 11: 1. Could you imagine what would have happened if this mission failed or if any mishap happened to the astronauts in the process? What about their family? Well, to mention NASA couldn’t afford any life insurance policy for any astronaut. So all the three astronauts decided their own to support their families if something went wrong.

Before the Apollo 11 mission took off, the three astronauts signed hundred of autographs and sent them to a friend, stating if anything happens wrong to the astronauts during, the friend would send the autographed memorabilia to the astronaut’s families. They could make some money by selling the signatures of the Apollo 11 crew.

2. The odor of the lunar dust could be smelled only when the astronauts got inside the Lunar Module. It smells like that of gun powder. Neil Armstrong found it similar to wet ashes in a fireplace. This smell remains a mystery as gun powder and moon dust has no similar compounds.

3. In such a microgravity of space, there are a few things to face with more difficulty.

Imagine when everything floats!

Nowadays astronauts in International Space Station have specially designed toilets. But during the Apollo 11 mission, the solution was not found well and one astronaut mainly spent the entire mission on tablets that stop diarrhea only to fight the problem. Michael Collins said that the drinking water was laced with hydrogen bubbles’ which caused flatulence those results in the aroma which reminds him of a mixture of wet dog and marsh grass.

4. When Apollo 11’s Eagle Lunar Lander separated from CSM Colombia there was a loud pop as the cabin in the LM was not fully compressed before separation. It is said that this minor fault pushed the LM 4 miles away from where it should have landed.

5. Armstrong and Aldrin had to remember not to completely close the door on the Landing Module. The door was closed to avoid the heat escaping from the cabin but not completely otherwise it would be difficult to open the door.

6. You know the first words of Armstrong as he stepped on the moon, ‘That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.’ But Armstrong’s first step on the Moon wasn’t that small when Armstrong landed the LM very gently and the shock absorbers didn’t compress. So the first step on the Moon was actually not that small.

7. When we ask children what the astronauts left behind on Moon, the first mention is the American flag. But do you know the fate of that flag is so sad? When Aldrin started the launch on looking out of the window to watch the infamous flag being blasted away with rest of the materials left behind on moon surface.

8. Since this mission to Moon was a global event, everyone would be watching. Hence NASA asked the astronauts on Apollo 11 not to perform any religious activities that could insult, offend, or isolate the rest of the world. But Aldrin took the opportunity in a different way. One Armstrong and Aldrin landed safely on the Moon and were waiting to take their first steps, Aldrin transmitted back to Earth and gave thanks for the opportunity and made a small flask of wine and a piece of bread which he consumed while reading from the Gospel of John. In history and now, Aldrin is the only person to participate in a Christian ritual of Communion on the Moon. Neil Armstrong watched but never participated.

9. After landing on the moon, they gathered some Moon samples took some pictures and raise the American flag, and next Armstrong and Aldrin returned to the LM, only to realize that a switch on a crucial circuit breaker broke. This left them with no ways to ignite the engine, so they went to sleep while the mission control team at NASA made ways to find a way to repair it. Finally, Aldrin thought that enough time was spent in the process and jammed his pen into the mechanism to create a makeshift switch. Surprisingly the quick-fix worked and launched them off the lunar surface.

Here we conclude. Aren’t they interesting and rare to read? Hope you liked this piece of informative article.

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