J.R. Johnson

I am working on story edits today and found myself needing to look up a lunar technicality. Next thing I know, I was reading a detailed account of the first lunar spacewalk at Tranquillity Base. I thought you might enjoy it too.

Wide Awake on the Sea of Tranquillity | NASA

July 20, 1969: The day began on the farside of the Moon. Armstrong, Aldrin and crewmate Mike Collins flew their spaceship 60 miles above the cratered wasteland. No one on Earth can see the Moon’s farside. Even today it remains a land of considerable mystery, but the astronauts had no time for sight-seeing. Collins pressed a button, activating a set of springs, and the spaceship split in two. The half named Columbia, with Collins on board, would remain in orbit. The other half, the Eagle, spiraled over the horizon toward the Sea of Tranquillity.

“You are Go for powered descent,” Houston radioed…

This also got me thinking about the farside of the moon. We’ve learned a lot about it since these images in 1959:

First Photo of the Lunar Farside – Moon: NASA Science 

Check out the image comparison a few paragraphs in. Or heck, here’s my version:

And since we’re talking about the moon, let’s wrap with an update from Artemis:

NASA to Share Artemis I Update with Orion at Farthest Point from Earth | NASA

Orion entered a distant lunar orbit on at 4:52 p.m. EST Friday, Nov. 25, where the spacecraft will remain for about a week to test systems in a deep space environment about 40,000 miles above the lunar surface before beginning the journey back to Earth. 

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