Man on the Moon

July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing. Michael Doherty looks at a selection of programmes being aired this week to mark that fateful event

It began with a speech from US President John F. Kennedy. Speaking to the US Congress on September 12, 1961, he said: “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.” ough JFK wouldn’t live to see it, his lo y ambition was realised with just ve months to spare when, following one of the most signi cant technological achievements of all time, Commander Neil Armstrong exited the Eagle lunar module and placed his foot upon the surface of another world. As the planet held its breath, the 38-year-old civilian astronaut from Ohio uttered 11 words that would be relayed via radio to the giant telescope dish at Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra; bounced on to the Comsat satellite over the Paci c; from there to the switching centre at Goddard Space Flight outside Washington DC, before nally reaching Houston and the rest of the world. “ at’s one small step for Man,’’ said Armstrong (possibly omitting the inde nite article), “one giant leap for mankind.” e time was 10.56am (EDT) on July 20, 1969.

e Apollo XI mission lasted a total of eight days, three hours, 18 minutes and 35 seconds, during which Armstrong and his lunar module pilot, Buzz Aldrin, spent 21 hours on the surface of the moon.

While Michael Collins orbited above, the two men collected 48 pounds of lunar samples, planted a symbolic US ag (with some di culty, only managing to drive the agpole seven inches into the lunar dust); took a (very) long-distance phone call from President Nixon, and unveiled a plaque bearing the legend: ‘Here men from the planet Earth rst set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.’

e remarkable exploits of Armstrong and his crew were watched by an estimated global TV audience of 650 million people, one h of the world’s population. at week’s RTÉ Guide outlined the national broadcaster’s radio and TV coverage of the eight-day mission. A companion Moon Guide included potted biographies of the Apollo 11 crew (in which Colonel Michael Collins is described as ‘the inevitable Irishman’); a map showing the intended ight path of

Apollo 11, and a detailed account of what to expect from each day’s coverage, introduced by Kevin O’Kelly, Mike Burns and Sean Duignan.

Fi y years on, interest in the Moon landing is as keen as ever with programmes on every platform covering those historic events.

Here is a sample of what’s on o er: