JAKARTA - On July 29, 1958, the United States (US) committed to providing a lot of human resources, money, and technology to win the "space competition." The US created NASA, which came after Russia successfully launched its satellite, Sputnik.
According to National Geographic, NASA's first human space program was Project Mercury. This ambitious effort is launched a year after Russia marked the start of the Space Age with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite.
The US started the space race in earnest and leveraged the enormous resources of the government and the private sector. It is estimated that about two million Americans contributed.
Testing the limits of the human body in space is an important goal of both space programs. To this end, robots and animals are launched into space.
NASA launched a chimpanzee into space named Ham and Russia launched a dog named Laika. Ham returns to Earth and rests comfortably at the National Zoo in Washington DC.
While Laika died aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. NASA's most famous mission occurred on July 20, 1969.
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first to land on the moon. Before the Apollo project ended in 1972, five other missions also visited the moon.
The Apollo spacecraft could orbit the moon and could be released by astronauts to land on the moon. Then Apollo can glide back to join the orbiting command module for the return journey to Earth.
The next mission took a lunar rover across the surface of the satellite and saw the astronauts spend three days on the moon. The Apollo missions were a resounding success.
Even so the mission must go through terrible events. Astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee died in a launch pad fire during training before the first Apollo flight.
Moon landing is considered fake
NASA's moon landing mission is indeed proud. But not a few also doubt the authenticity of the mission.
A conspiracy theory was born, calling some or all elements of the Apollo program and the moon landing a hoax. Even the hoax was assisted by other organizations.
The most prominent claim is that the six crewed landings made in 1969-1972 were faked and the 12 Apollo astronauts did not actually land on the Moon. Various groups and individuals have made claims since the mid-1970s.
They argue that NASA and others deliberately misled the public into believing the landings took place. NASA claimed to have created, damaged, or destroyed evidence including photographs, telemetry tapes, radio transmissions, and rock samples on the moon.
New York Times science reporter John Noble Wilford commented in December 1969 about a record showing Apollo 11's journey to the moon was actually staged by Hollywood actors. The picture was taken in a place in the desert in Nevada.
While the Atlanta Constitution of June 15, 1970 stated there was skepticism about exploration on the moon. And Neil Armstrong, they believe is just taking a 'giant step for mankind' somewhere in Arizona.
Skepticism about the US moon landing is also being voiced in pop culture. One of the most satirical films is Moonwalker (2015).
Starring Rupert Grint and Tom Kidman, this film tells the story of the US government's mission to carry out an expedition with a crew of three to the moon. This aesthetically pleasing film is set in the 60s, when the US needed that success to establish their position in the cold war.
With no guarantee of success, Tom Kidman, who plays CIA agent Ron Perlman, is tasked with finding 2001: A Space Oddyssey director Stanley Kubrick to shoot a fake moon landing. Yes, this film is also a kind of big compliment for Kubrick with his 2001: A Space Oddyssey.
Most recently, a local film directed by Anggi Noen, The Science of Fiction also picked up elements of this event. The main character named Siman, played by a theater artist, Gunawan Maryanto, is said to have witnessed the shooting of the moon landing at a location.
Siman's tongue was cut when he saw what happened. As explained by Gunawan in the INTERVIU article entitled Siman, the Truth, and Moving Slow in Fast Times, although Siman does not necessarily understand what he is seeing, Siman tries to convey what he sees in his full life. No tendencies because all Siman knows is ignorance.
"So he (Siman) was like trying really hard, so, through his body, he said, 'This house is a replica of the plane he saw at that time.' Indeed, there are no definitive sentences, yes, in this non-verbal language. Only in the form of images, maybe yes, that Siman can convey to Gun. But in that scene I tried to bring Siman's enthusiasm to tell stories, "said Gunawan.
Even as late as 2001, the Fox television documentary Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? claims NASA faked the first landing in 1969 to win the space competition with Russia.
However, some third-party evidence suggests the moon landing was not a hoax. Since the late 2000s, high-definition photos taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) from the Apollo landing site have captured the stages of the lunar module's descent and the traces left by astronauts.
As of 2012, there is an image showing five of the six US flags of the Apollo missions erected on the moon still standing. The exception is Apollo 11, which has been lying on the surface of the moon.
*Read other information about WORLD HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.
TODAY'S HISTORY MoreThe English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
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