Echoes Among the Stars: The Original Website
Echoes Among the Stars — Chapter Six
Apollo 11: Life on an Ancient World
“Curiosity about the moon—what it meant, and why by some cosmic logic it had been placed “up there” to rise in each dark night and then hide every glaring day, had caused human beings to think, and to wonder, throughout their history on earth. The mysteries of the moon seemed new each time a child looked aloft for the first time and saw more than a simple silhouette in the sky...” -- page 85
• Topics Covered in This Chapter
• Topics for Discussion
• Historical Context
• Possible Writing Assignments
Topics Covered in This Chapter
• Moon Landing: Final Preparations
• Last Lap of the Space Race: The Soviet Lunar Program
• Apollo 11: The First Three Days
• The Eagle Flies
• The First Step
• Working on the Moon
• Luna 15: An Unexpected Visitor
• Ascent and Return to Columbia
• The Trip Home
• “The Greatest Week”
Topics for Discussion
An interesting, imaginative dialog might explore how the first lunar landing changed humanity’s view of itself and the cosmos, and how that singular moment might still inspire current and future generations of human beings all around the earth.
Historical Context
The Nixon Administration
Woodstock Music Festival
American troop withdrawals from Vietnam
Possible Writing Assignments
College
Many historians point to the first lunar landing as one of the most significant moments of the twentieth century. Write an essay that strongly agrees or disagrees with that opinion.
High School
Try to imagine what it was like to see the first moon landing on television (if possible, try to locate video of the original black and white broadcast), and describe your feelings as though you were watching it at the moment that it happened.
K-8
Write an essay about walking on the moon, keeping in mind that lunar gravity is only one-sixth that of earth’s, which means you would be much lighter and could actually ‘bounce’ from one spot to another as you walked, even if you were wearing a bulky spacesuit like the Apollo astronauts.
An interesting, imaginative dialog might explore how the first lunar landing changed humanity’s view of itself and the cosmos, and how that singular moment might still inspire current and future generations of human beings all around the earth.
Historical Context
The Nixon Administration
Woodstock Music Festival
American troop withdrawals from Vietnam
Possible Writing Assignments
College
Many historians point to the first lunar landing as one of the most significant moments of the twentieth century. Write an essay that strongly agrees or disagrees with that opinion.
High School
Try to imagine what it was like to see the first moon landing on television (if possible, try to locate video of the original black and white broadcast), and describe your feelings as though you were watching it at the moment that it happened.
K-8
Write an essay about walking on the moon, keeping in mind that lunar gravity is only one-sixth that of earth’s, which means you would be much lighter and could actually ‘bounce’ from one spot to another as you walked, even if you were wearing a bulky spacesuit like the Apollo astronauts.
