The Eagle has landed: 40 years on, Apollo 11

This story looks at the moon landings 40th anniversary

As you may have noticed, if you use Google, read the news or generally browse the tech news on the Internet that today is the 40th anniversary of men landing on the moon for the first time.

You probably remember the iconic images and video of the first few steps on the lunar surface, with Neil Armstrong's “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (quite whether he meant to say “a man” and it slipped his tongue is still a hot debate).

You've probably heard the conspiracy theories, from the “non believers” (see also Attention Seekers). For those I have a few questions:

1.Why was the USSR quiet if NASA didn't land on the moon? Wouldn't they have said something if it was fake?

2.What do you say about the new photos from the LRO? (See above Right)

3.As Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke said “We've been to the Moon nine times. Why would we fake it nine times, if we faked it?”

Anyway, this is becoming off topic.

Landing men on the moon may have been a great publicity stunt by NASA and the USA, it was also an amazing achievement for the technology of the time. With such crude instrumentation (by today's standard) NASA managed the almost impossible feat of landing on the moon and bringing them back to earth safely.

Sources and links:

Image from: NASA LRO Apollo Landing Site Pictures

Wikipedia Moon Landing Hoax