Why the Moon Landing is Significant

First Moon Landing

With over $26 billion spent, on July 20, 1969, America accomplished one of its most extraordinary technological events, the first moon landing. America officially took the lead in the space race, thanks to Apollo 11. The astronauts of Apollo 11 landed on the moon and returned to Earth safely. The first moon landing impacted the USA significantly, mainly by creating a massive advancement in technology, allowing us to get a better understanding of the composition of the moon, and helping America win the space race against the Soviets.

The advances in technology were one of the largest impacts that the first landing had. Throughout the Apollo 11 mission, many technology items were created to help astronauts throughout the trip or to help prevent previous incidents that occurred.

Ever since 3 astronauts died on Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967, creating less flammable spacecraft became one of NASA’s main priorities. They eventually found out that they needed polybenzimidazole (which is now also used in fire suits), a fireproof material that could insulate heat.

Apollo engineers also needed a way to make driving easier on the moon. They needed a durable material that was stiff for a vehicle, but squishy enough so it could roll over rocks. Soon enough, they came up with the solution of spring tires. Another piece of technology that was created was cooling suits. Cooling suits use many ventilation garments to help astronauts not overheat. Not only is this only used for astronauts, but it also helps people with sclerosis because some symptoms worsen from heat (it weakens their muscles and can make it hard to walk or stand).

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The first landing allowed America to get a better understanding of the composition of the moon. Apollo 11 carried the first geological samples from the moon back to Earth. The samples found and brought back were over 3 billion years old. Astronauts brought back 50 different rocks, mainly basalts and breccias.

Astronomers analyzed the samples the astronauts brought back. They discovered a type of “magma ocean” that was formed on the moon during a period in history. This was able to help astronomers figure out previous events that occurred in our solar system. Lastly, the creation of Apollo 11, and the event of the first moon landing, helped America win the space race against the Soviets. The space race began with the Soviets launching Sputnik 1 into space to orbit the Earth. Eventually, Sputnik 1 fell back down to Earth but burned up in the atmosphere. This influenced the US to create more technology that could successfully bring a man to the moon. From 1969 – 1972, the Soviets had at least 4 failed attempts of trying to create a spacecraft that could fly and land on the moon. The Soviets eventually were able to launch a rocket, but shortly after the lift-off, the rocket shut down, fell back onto the launchpad, and exploded. The first task of Apollo 11 led to more Apollo missions, which are helping us discover more about space.

Due to all the information that was found during the first moon landing, NASA has been able to develop new technologies and theories. Overall, winning the space race, developing new technologies, and understanding the composition of the moon has impacted America greatly, and is also influencing us to create more technology to explore space more.