Apollo 11 mission to the moon to be re-created online
NASA VIA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In this July 20, 1969, photo, the Apollo 11 lunar module rises from the moon’s surface for docking with the command module and the trip back to Earth, which can be seen rising in the background.
SPECIAL REPORT: Apollo 11 |
The John F. Kennedy Foundation will re-create online the entire Apollo 11 mission to the moon beginning today at 9:32 a.m., exactly 40 years after the launch.
A Web site created by the Richmond-based Martin Agency in Richmond will track the historic first mission to the moon from liftoff through the landing on the moon four days later.
Monday will mark the 40th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20, 1969, when astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon.
The interactive Web site was created by The Martin Agency for the foundation, a nonprofit organization that oversees the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts.
To re-create the trip, the Shockoe Slip-based advertising agency used archived audio and video transmission from the Apollo 11 mission. People can follow the entire journey at the Web site and on Twitter.
Throughout the mission, 109 hours and 24 minutes of audio communications between the astronauts and mission control will be streamed live. About 700 updates will be sent out via Twitter. Audio transmission for the time leading up to the launch will start at 8:02 a.m. on the Web site.
Norma Kwee, an assistant producer on the project, pored through the mission's entire audio archive to pull out the 700 items to be sent out through Twitter.
The audio, she said, includes serious mission-related communications between the space capsule and mission control, as well as playful banter among the astronauts.
The site will highlight 11 pivotal moments with animated re-creations, and it will feature about 400 NASA photos and 44 videos.
"We wanted to create something that would honor [Kennedy's] vision," said Joe Alexander, the creative director on the project.
Tom Putnam, director of the John F. Kennedy Library, said it was important to use technology to commemorate the mission.
"When President Kennedy challenged the nation to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth before the end of the decade, his appeal led to one of the greatest technological achievements in U.S. history," Putnam said. The mission site "will use today's technology to bring [his] vision to life."
While the mission will be streamed live, it will continue on after the mission ends, allowing people to re-create it or look at specific moments.
"We hope it becomes an educational tool that can be used in classrooms," said Brian Williams, The Martin Agency's art director on the project.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or
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Reader Reactions
It is hard to believe that it has been 40 years ago. What a vision, what a mission. There were those then, as now saying that we don’t need to go to the moon, but look at all the good things and advancement that has come from the space program!
All the toys we take for granted, like GPS and Cell Phones came from the space program. I think we should continue to fund Kennedy’s vision of space exploration and who knows? Maybe Gene Roddenbury was not so far off the mark when it is all said and done.
dswx: Regarding the previous administration’s attention to future NASA endeavors, you must have not been keeping up with news back in ‘04:
“WASHINGTON (CNN)—Saying “the desire to explore and understand is part of our character,“ President Bush Wednesday unveiled an ambitious plan to return Americans to the moon by 2020 and use the mission as a steppingstone for future manned trips to Mars and beyond.“
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/01/14/bush.space/index.html
“How we have allowed our space program to founder in the years since.“
In recent years, that was due to a strongly anti-science administration. Fortunately, that has now changed.
Thanks for the link Kyle. That is the only reason I even clicked on the article.
Another journalistic feat from RTD.com. An article about a interactive website and they DIDN’T GIVE THE WEBSITE’S ADDRESS!
You can find it at http://wechoosethemoon.com/
NASA TV is running an excellant documentary on this historic feat. How we have allowed our space program to founder in the years since. A pity President Obama does not see the value and purpose Apollo gave to the nation in the 1960’s.
Dedicating just 25% of the $787 billion stimulus funds President Obama could have chosen an equally daring mission- A manned expedition to Mars. Instead he has appointed some commission to second
guess NASA and its choice of a heavy lift rocket that will be essential to get us back into deep space while wasting the stimulus money on asphalt and partisan campaign donor groups.
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