15: Hoax theories

Many upright folk – led astray by unwashed internet geeks – suspect the ‘whole Moon landing thing’ was a hoax. In 1969, the Brits independently tracked Apollo 11 to the Moon. So did the Russians. To believe in the hoax is to believe that US government officials – thousands of them – collectively preserved the secret, turning down colossal offers of cash to spill the beans while expertly hiding the facts, for 40 years. And, that right from the start they persuaded the Russians (their Cold War enemies at the time) to join in. It’s an entertaining idea, but sadly completely implausible.

14: Venturing into deep space

Looking up into the night sky, it might seem that space is one place: a vast, er space, that humanity has been looking at since the dawn of time, (but which has been visited by fewer than 500 people). If, tonight, you ventured into the heavens you’d discover that space is in fact two places. Firstly, Earth orbit has hosted more than 90% of the Earthlings that have left the planet. At 220 miles above us, the International Space Station is (sometimes) nearer to London than Newcastle. Beyond Earth orbit however lies deep space, where the Moon can be found. At around a quarter of a million miles away, lunar orbit has been visited by just 24 people.

How US was nearly pipped to first moon rock samples

Sir Bernard Lovell tells Erica Wagner how he listened from Jodrell Bank to the drama, with the original audio from 1969

BACKGROUND

• DIY on the Moon: how Buzz saved the launch back to Earth

• Moon rock of ages

• Apollo Gadgets: Can you guess what they were for?

• The Moon: Gods, myths and legends

Related Internet Links

• Moon landing 40th anniversary special supplement

• The 21 best space toys

13: Reaching the Moon

Naturally enough, NASA initially believed that to get to the Moon you need to point a big rocket at it and light the engine. However doing this would kill the crew in one of a wide variety of ways. For a start, you can’t fly direct to the Moon – it’s constantly moving at 2,000mph (orbiting the Earth once a month). You have to aim at an empty point in space and hope the Moon arrives on time. Secondly, your big rocket would barely be able to land safely upright (which it would have to do if you ever wanted to leave). What you need is a small spacecraft and bearded boffins to point you in the right direction.

12: Doubling up

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins actually took two rockets with them to the Moon. The bulky command module carried them virtually all the way there. Sixty miles above the lunar surface, Armstrong and Aldrin waved Collins goodbye and climbed into the lunar module, the most fragile manned spacecraft ever built. It had no heatshield and could never carry them back to Earth. It could however make a powered descent to the Moon – the only spaceship able to use its engine to come to a gradual stop, like a helicopter.

11: Lightweight LM

The lunar module (LM) had to be ridiculously light. The Saturn V rocket which lifted Apollo 11 into space could only carry so much weight. More than any other component of the mission, the LM was pared to the bone. It didn't even have seats. The astronauts stood up throughout the landing, standing so close that their arms brushed against each other. There was no facility for heating meals, toothbrushes were deemed excessive weight and if the LM had somehow managed to land while still fully-fuelled its brittle legs would have collapsed under its own weight.

10: The art of flying

The LM was partly controlled by its computers, which guided it down from an altitude of 60 miles. The trip to the surface was completed in two stages, the final one lasting just 12 minutes. Previous crews had done it all before – apart from the 12-minute burn. During this part of the trip – which was no less than a pure, old-fashioned test-flight – computer alarms constantly distracted Armstrong and Aldrin. They pushed on regardless, and after Neil took manual control he dodged giant craters to land with just 25 seconds of fuel to spare. Heroic in the extreme!

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