Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2019

8 ASTRONAUTICS 50 years ago, we walked on the Moon (Part One of Two) by Michele Ferrara revised by Damian G. Allis NASA Solar System Ambassador MAY-JUNE 2019 I t is unavoidable. This year, all magazines dealing with astron- omy and astronautics cannot help but devote considerable space to the fiftieth anniversary of the conquest of the Moon. In July and November 1969, Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions delivered the first men to walk on the surface of our natural satellite. Those first ex- traordinary results were replicated with the Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 missions. Before this, NASA gradu- ally progressed through the Ranger, Surveyor, Mercury and Gemini pro- grams, as well as the various test phases of the Apollo program, cul- minating with the general re- hearsals of the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969. Although the topics that could be discussed with reference to those epic astronautical enter- prises are almost unlimited, it is likely that most of the media will