{"id":17982,"date":"2019-07-21T01:05:43","date_gmt":"2019-07-20T17:05:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/apollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-and-liftoff\/"},"modified":"2019-07-21T01:05:43","modified_gmt":"2019-07-20T17:05:43","slug":"apollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-and-liftoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/apollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-and-liftoff\/","title":{"rendered":"Apollo 11 moon landing\u2019s 50th anniversary brings tributes, questions \u2026 and liftoff!"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_511138\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-511138\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-511138\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/190720-apollo3-630x376.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/190720-apollo3-630x376.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/190720-apollo3-768x458.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/190720-apollo3-1260x751.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/190720-apollo3.jpg 2043w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-511138\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Saturn V rocket is projected on the Washington Monument during a 17-minute multimedia presentation in the nation\u2019s capital celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. (NASA Photo \/ Bill Ingalls)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fifty years after Apollo 11\u2019s moonwalkers took one giant leap for humanity, luminaries including President Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos \u2014 the world\u2019s richest individual \u2014 paid tribute to the achievement and looked forward to the future of spaceflight.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s observances were about more than memories: There were also fresh questions about where that future might lead \u2014 plus a Russian rocket launch that resonated with references to the U.S.-Soviet space race of the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>The marquee observance on today\u2019s anniversary of the landing on July 20, 1969, came at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center, where Vice President Mike Pence invoked the legacy of the Apollo program and hailed NASA\u2019s initiative to send astronauts to the moon once again by 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The new initiative \u2014 which has been dubbed Artemis, in honor of Apollo\u2019s sister in Greek mythology \u2014 aims to send \u201cthe next man and the first woman\u201d to the lunar surface and demonstrate America\u2019s continuing primacy in space, Pence said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1152637926422880256&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2019%2Fapollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-liftoff%2F&amp;sessionId=61cb5e84871a72d741c6275c687261f1475195c6&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1152637926422880256\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782800388727533367=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It is America&#8217;s destiny to be a leader on our adventure into the great unknown. @VP Pence says at @POTUS&#8217; direction, &#8220;America will return to the Moon within the next five years. And the next man and first woman will be American astronauts&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Watch: https:\/\/t.co\/Pm1LdLzn1j pic.twitter.com\/bDeMezvLgZ<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NASA (@NASA) July 20, 2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Pence was accompanied on his Florida visit by Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin and the family of Neil Armstrong, the mission\u2019s late commander. Armstrong\u2019s first words after stepping foot on lunar soil in 1969 \u2014 \u201cThat\u2019s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind\u201d \u2014 were evoked repeatedly during the day.<\/p>\n<p>The vice president scoffed at the idea that space heroism was an outdated concept. \u201cWe honor these men today, and America will always honor our Apollo astronauts,\u201d Pence said. \u201cThey were heroes all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just the day before, the entourage made a D.C. stopover at the White House for an Oval Office meeting with the president.<\/p>\n<p>That photo opportunity wasn\u2019t without controversy: Trump seemed to question the rationale for sending astronauts to the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo get to Mars, you have to land on the moon, they say,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAny way of going directly without landing on the moon? Is that a possibility?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d said Apollo 11 command module pilot Mike Collins, who has advocated such missions in preference to a prolonged lunar campaign.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Apollo 11 and the Future of the Final Frontier\" src=\"https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/geekwire-podcast\/apollo-11-and-the-future-of-the-final-frontier\/embed\" width=\"600\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tried to turn the focus back to the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe challenge is, Earth and Mars are only on the same side of the sun once every 26 months,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo we have to be prepared to stay on Mars for long periods of time. We prove that out on the moon, and then we go to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Trump continued to ask Collins about the \u201cMars Direct\u201d scenario, however. The episode echoed a Twitter tiff that popped up last month, when Trump tweeted that \u201cNASA should NOT be talking about going to the Moon\u201d but focus on Mars instead.<\/p>\n<p>In the months and years ahead, the debate over destinations may well figure in how NASA adjusts its vision for building a moon-orbiting outpost known as the Gateway, and how much effort is devoted to promoting a sustainable human presence on the moon. Price tags are also likely to figure in the debate: Bridenstine has estimated that putting the first two astronauts on the lunar surface may require $20 billion to $30 billion over the next five years.<\/p>\n<p>NASA isn\u2019t the only entity paying the bill: International partners and commercial space ventures are also contributing to the effort.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 544px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-1&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1152556510905544704&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2019%2Fapollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-liftoff%2F&amp;sessionId=61cb5e84871a72d741c6275c687261f1475195c6&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1152556510905544704\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>During the Oval Office photo op, Trump referred to the billions of dollars that are being spent by the likes of Bezos and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrivate guys, wealthy guys, are spending a lot of money with you right now,\u201d he told Bridenstine. \u201cA lot. I assume they are using the facilities, they\u2019re leasing the facilities, they\u2019re paying money to set off their rockets. You can charge them a lot. They have so much, they don\u2019t know what to do with it. And they like rockets. Thank God I don\u2019t like rockets that much. I like it \u2014 I like it the way we\u2019re doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, sir,\u201d Bridenstine said.<\/p>\n<p>NASA isn\u2019t exactly charging Bezos and Musk for launches. In fact, NASA contracts account for a significant portion of SpaceX\u2019s revenues. But the billionaires are paying their own way when it comes to upgrading launch facilities and developing new types of rockets.<\/p>\n<p>Bezos, for example, says he\u2019s spending $1 billion a year on his Blue Origin space venture. And he\u2019s keen to have Blue Origin, its New Glenn rocket and its Blue Moon lander play roles in the Artemis program to send astronauts to the moon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time to go back to the moon \u2014 this time to stay,\u201d Bezos has said, so often that the catchphrase has been picked up by Bridenstine and Pence.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Bezos was among those paying tribute to NASA and the Apollo astronauts on Instagram. \u201cWe stand on their shoulders,\u201d Bezos wrote:<\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"instagram-media instagram-media-rendered\" id=\"instagram-embed-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/B0I4a_HnQMP\/embed\/captioned\/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=987&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com&amp;rp=%2F2019%2Fapollo-11-moon-landings-50th-anniversary-brings-tributes-questions-liftoff%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1712.4399999156594%7D\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"970\" data-instgrm-payload-id=\"instagram-media-payload-0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"background: white; max-width: 658px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the most fitting observance of the Apollo 11 anniversary came in the form of today\u2019s launch of an international crew to the International Space Station \u2014 which took place at Russia\u2019s Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the epicenter of the Soviet side of the space race.<\/p>\n<p>NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano lifted off on time at 9:28 p.m. local time (9:28 a.m. PT) atop a Soyuz rocket, and arrived at the station after a six-hour trip.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFifty years after a small step for man, the Soyuz rocket and its multinational crew take a giant leap off the launch pad,\u201d NASA launch commentator Rob Navias said as the rocket ascended.<\/p>\n<p>In advance of the launch, the director general of the Russian space agency, Dmitri Rogozin, paid tribute to Apollo 11 as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFifty years ago Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins put themselves into the world\u2019s space exploration history books. They joined the crew of the great pioneers, who dared to set off on a journey to the unknown in order to push the boundaries of the reachable world for the humanity,\u201d Rogozin said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do believe that our common goal is to be worthy of our great predecessors, to enrich their heritage and overcome all the difficulties on the Earth in order to continue the expansion of the humanity into space,\u201d he said. \u201cAs Konstantin Tsiolkovsky put it, \u2018The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever!\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Soyuz MS-13 launch\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Tp2JDnNnEHc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>This report has been updated with the Soyuz crew\u2019s arrival at the International Space Station.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Saturn V rocket is projected on the Washington Monument during a 17-minute multimedia presentation in the nation\u2019s capital celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. (NASA Photo \/ Bill Ingalls) Fifty years after Apollo 11\u2019s moonwalkers took one giant leap for humanity, luminaries including President Donald Trump and Amazon CEO Jeff [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1651,1758,4029],"class_list":["post-17982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-apollo","tag-apollo-11","tag-space-history"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}