Fifty-six years ago Columbia arrived at the Moon. As the craft passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. Thirty orbits of the Moon followed, with the crew getting ready for the landing of The Eagle next day, and making visual inspection of the Southern Sea of Tranquility where the landing was scheduled to take place. The Americans were not alone as they orbited the moon. The Soviet Lunar 15 was also orbiting the Moon. An unmanned craft, the Soviets hoped to land it on the Moon, take samples of soil from the Moon, and then have it fly back to Mother Russia, and steal some of the luster from the American achievement. The Space Race had begun as a product of the Cold War, and it was ending in the same fashion.
July 19, 1969: In Orbit Around the Moon
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
It’s crazy how many people now believe the moon landing may never have happened. I have understanding for conspiracy theorists given the amount of lies we’ve endured. But the probability of getting thousands & thousands of engineers to lie is less than -zero.
We were supposed to have gone to Mars by now, and be traversing the solar system in space craft powered by nuclear thermal propulsion engines.
https://youtu.be/1xJlwJScb0Q?si=oBkGR1OvHEBzsj2U
BTW, Elon Musk cannot make it to Mars in his “Straship” rocket propelled by chemical engines. If we don’t go nuclear, then the solar system is closed off. We do have the technology: fission engines heating liquid hydrogen for propulsion at higher thrust and twice the specific impulse of any chemical rocket.