Gotta Watch: How we got to the moon
Apollo 11's lunar module, the Eagle, ascends.
November 16th, 2011
11:06 AM ET

Gotta Watch: How we got to the moon

The first moon landing was one of the nation’s most historic must-see events. An estimated 600 million people around the world tuned in to see Apollo 11 touch down on the moon. Today, the astronauts who flew to the moon are making a rare joint appearance to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, along with former senator and astronaut John Glenn. You’ve no doubt seen the moon landing footage. Now go behind the scenes and learn more about what it took to get Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon.

Cutting edge – The computer on the lunar module had 36kb of memory—that’s less than a calculator holds now. Check out the giant technological leaps we’ve made since that historic trip.

[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/07/20/riddell.uk.apollo.technology.cnn"%5D

Spacesuit seamstresses – The complex spacesuits that the astronauts wore made the difference between life and death for the Apollo 11 crew. See the initial drawings of the suits and meet the women who sewed them. You can also read more about this story here.

[cnn-video url="http://cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2011/10/27/bs-revealer-glass-apollo.cnn"%5D

An astronaut’s life – LIFE photographer Ralph Morse shares rare photos of the astronauts and their families in the 1960s before the famous Apollo 11 mission. See the unusual family portrait he took at three minutes into the video.

[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/07/20/dcl.morse.life.cnn"%5D
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Filed under: Gotta Watch • NASA • Shuttle • Space
soundoff (178 Responses)
  1. dr.RUFFNUTT

    the moon is hollow.. and has a martian moon base inside it..

    November 16, 2011 at 6:20 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Joey Isotta-Fraschini

    Guest at 6:16 PM is the best post.

    November 16, 2011 at 6:48 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Earl Weaver

    Amateur radio operators modified radio equipment in the late ‘60s, constructed crude receiving antennas, pointed them toward the moon and received signals directly into their “shacks” many moments ahead of the audio provided by the networks during the Moon landings. The conspiracy theorists say the astronauts were in Earth orbit during the hoax moon walks (6 in all). How then, were radio ops in Earth able to point their receiving antennas (highly directional) at the moon and hear the transmissions? Also, since this occurred during the height of the Cold War, why didn’t the Russians or the Chinese come forward and allege a fraud?

    November 16, 2011 at 7:39 pm | Report abuse |
  4. The worm

    I get more kb s when i eat a quarter oz of shrums . And i go to the moon they call me super man

    November 16, 2011 at 10:07 pm | Report abuse |
  5. tif31

    /

    November 17, 2011 at 12:15 am | Report abuse |
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