Moonwalk

Moonwalk

Moon Launch July 16, 1969. Cape Kennedy, Florida. A huge white rocket towers against the blue sky. It is thirty-six stories high. It weighs over six million pounds. It is called the Saturn V. It is the biggest, most powerful rocket ever built. Today it is going to make the dream of centuries come true. It will send three men where no human being has ever been before. To the moon! A few miles away almost a million people crowd the highways and beaches. Small boats full of excited people dot the ocean. They have all come to see the launch. People are not allowed any closer. The danger of an explosion is too great.

Around the planet millions more people are watching their television screens. Every- one wants to share in the longest, most incredible voyage in history. As launch time approaches, three astro- nauts in gleaming white spacesuits walk toward the huge rocket. Their names are Neil Armstrong, Edwin" Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The men get into an elevator. They ride up to the top of the launch tower. There, at the very tip of the rocket, a spacecraft is waiting. It is called Apollo 11. Soon the astronauts are inside the cramped spacecraft, strapped tightly to their seats. They are excited and tense. For many months they have prepared for this journey. They know every inch of the spacecraft. Every detail of the flight plan. They are as ready as anyone can be to go into the unknown. Now their lives will depend on nine million bits of machinery working exactly right.

The astronauts wait quietly. Then over their radios they hear the voice of mission control wish them good luck and Godspeed. It is time. Time to shoot for the moon. The countdown begins: “ 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. . . liftoff! ” The rocket rises into the air with an earsplitting roar. It climbs higher and higher, trailing smoke and fire. Miles away people watch in awe. They are deafened by the noise. The ground shakes under them. The rocket looks like a streak of flame. Can anyone ride in it and survive?