# gallery | Preparing for the first manned mission to the moon. How it was

July 20, 1969, that is exactly 49 yearsago, the astronauts of the Apollo 11 manned spacecraft were the first to land on the moon. Years of effort, dangerous experimentation, grueling workouts and ambitious missions were not in vain. For the first time in history, people landed on the surface of another celestial body, opening the way for subsequent manned missions to the satellite of our planet. This event was watched live by millions of people around the world.

On the Moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins andEdwin Aldrin stayed for 21 hours 36 minutes and 21 seconds. Having installed an American flag, a set of scientific instruments on the surface of the Moon and collecting samples of lunar soil, the crew went home. On the occasion of the 49th anniversary, the portal Space.com has prepared a photographic material on the preparations for this historic space mission.

In the photo above, from left to right, you cansee the launch vehicles AS-201, AS-202 and AS-203 which was launched in 1966 in preparation for the Apollo program. The launch of the first launch vehicle “Saturn-1B” AS-201 was carried out from the spaceport at Cape Canaveral on February 26, 1966. The launch of the Saturn-1B AS-202 rocket took place on August 25, 1966. AS-203 was launched on July 5, 1966. All three launches were unmanned. The main task was to work out the command and service compartments in a suborbital flight.

The crew of the "Apollo 1"

As the crew of the first Apollo wereselected astronauts Virgil Ivan Grissom Edward White and Roger Chaffee. The crew died on January 27, 1967 in a fire during the preparation for the first manned flight under the Apollo program a month before the scheduled start.

Learning to go outside

Apollo 1 crew training at the USAFEllington in June 1966. In the foreground, Edward White sits in an inflatable boat, and Roger Chaffee descends from the module onto the boat. Virgil Ivan Grissom is sitting in a module waiting for his turn.

Preparing for lunar gravity

Roger Chaffee's training session in the lunar traininglanding complex. Using a simulator of reduced gravity, scientists studied the factors associated with the difference in gravity that astronauts should have expected on the lunar surface.

Fire consequences

January 27, 1967 a fire that took away lifeThe first crew of the Apollo-1 also caused significant damage to the Apollo / Saturn module 204 (AS-204). The likely cause of the tragedy was a spark or a short circuit in the wiring. The commission that conducted the investigation revealed several potentially dangerous places in the ship's structure. After a fire, the fire spread very quickly and damaged the space suits of the astronauts. The complex design of the hatch and its locks did not allow the crew to quickly open the hatch from the inside under the circumstances. The commission found that astronauts died from burning with poisonous products 14 seconds after the start of the fire.

Spacesuit Design

Specialist NASA Research Center Langley Kenneth R. Jenny tries on one of the spacesuits designed for the mission "Apollo."

Moonlight

The overalls designed for the Apollo missy spacesuit were suggested to be worn on the lunar surface. The fitting is performed by one of the NASA employees.

Lunar landing test apparatus

NASA Research Center Specialistsconducted tests of different versions of aircraft for testing lunar landings on Earth. The development of the first such aircraft began in 1963. She was assigned to Bell Aerosystems.

LOLA project

The artist creates a large detailed image.lunar surface on the basis of four photographs of the satellite surface for the Lunar Orbit and Landing Approach or LOLA simulator (simulator of lunar orbit and moon landing) The cost of developing a simulator was $ 2 million. He was supposed to help the pilots of the landing modules prepare for landing.

Work on the simulator LOLA

The photo shows how the pilot usesLOLA simulator. The simulator is an improvised cockpit, surrounded by a system of TV monitors, which displays a picture of outer space and the surface of the moon. This method allowed the pilot to get a close to real visual sensation of approaching the lunar surface.

Preparation in full swing

Apollo 8 Crew Training by James LovellWilliam Anders and Frank Borman. Composite image. The photo below also shows the location of the astronauts inside the test simulator, repeating the interior of this spacecraft.

Docking simulator

The spacecraft docking simulator was used to train the astronauts of the Gemini project. Later he was modified to train the Apollo astronauts.

Neil Armstrong

Simulator for the training of astronauts called"iron Cross". Allowed to simulate some of the load during landing and maneuvering a spacecraft. Neil Armstrong in the photo uses the simulator as a pilot. Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong served for 7 years as a military fighter pilot, as well as a US Navy test pilot.

Moon Surface Simulator

April 22, 1969. The astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission are trained under conditions simulating the lunar surface. During the training session shown in the photo, astronauts practice using various tools for working on the lunar surface.

Weightlessness

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin is training in zero gravity aboard the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker in preparation for the Apollo 11 mission.

Survival skills

Ken Mattingly underwater training session January 17, 1970. The astronaut was preparing for the Apollo-13 manned mission.

Physical endurance training

Astronaut Jim Lovell, the future commander of the Apollo 13, is training for physical endurance at the Kennedy Space Center.

Lunar module

Exposure of the lunar module layout. The image is composite. The photos were taken during the night training on the "acclimatization" of astronauts inside the Apollo 11 spacecraft.