Monday, July 20, 2009
40 Years Since the Eagle Landed
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon after floating down the steps of the lunar module, Eagle. After having been awake for 24 hours and in the excitement of the historic moment, he flubbed what was to become the most famous line ever spoken: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." He claimed that he had meant to say, "That's one small step for a man...," but that static muffled the "a." But no matter. What did matter was that the people Armstrong and pilots Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins left behind in gravity's embrace witnessed the most astonishing scientific achievement in man's history, then and now.
Below are some new books at BPL that mark the historical occasion of the first moon landing. Click on the images to be launched to the catalog.
All About the Moon (Gr 4-7)
This splash page presents links to a plethora of nontechnical moon-related articles, online videos, and image galleries.
Apollo 40th Anniversary (Gr 4 and up)
NASA's official anniversary page includes links to "Key Apollo Source Documents," photo resources, animation, short videos, and articles on a wide range of related topics.
Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (Gr 6 and up)
Direct true completists to this page, where links to astronaut biographies, program and mission summaries, debriefing documents, image libraries, and full radio transcripts jostle with press kits, detailed catalogs of lunar samples and even, for confirmed space geeks, "Fun Stuff" concocted by a small gang of enthusiasts.
One Small Step (Gr 5 and up)
The exact, annotated transcript of Armstrong's climb down the LEM's ladder is recorded here. Note that aside from the LEM itself, the first human artifact of the mission to hit the lunar surface was a "jettison bag" of garbage.
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers (Gr 3-6)
Maintained by a team at NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center, this site offers information on two levels of detail about the solar system, the universe, and our exploration of both.
Posted by Tressa at 9:34 AM