document_title: History of technology

question_text: when was the first piece of technology invented

question_tokens: when was the first piece of technology invented

text: History of technology

text: Measuring technological progress[edit]

text: Many sociologists and anthropologists have created social theories dealing with social and cultural evolution. Some, like Lewis H. Morgan, Leslie White, and Gerhard Lenski have declared technological progress to be the primary factor driving the development of human civilization. Morgan's concept of three major stages of social evolution (savagery, barbarism, and civilization) can be divided by technological milestones, such as fire. White argued the measure by which to judge the evolution of culture was energy.[1]

text: For White, "the primary function of culture" is to "harness and control energy." White differentiates between five stages of human development: In the first, people use energy of their own muscles. In the second, they use energy of domesticated animals. In the third, they use the energy of plants (agricultural revolution). In the fourth, they learn to use the energy of natural resources: coal, oil, gas. In the fifth, they harness nuclear energy. White introduced a formula P=E*T, where E is a measure of energy consumed, and T is the measure of efficiency of technical factors utilizing the energy. In his own words, "culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year is increased, or as the efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to work is increased". Nikolai Kardashev extrapolated his theory, creating the Kardashev scale, which categorizes the energy use of advanced civilizations.

text: Lenski's approach focuses on information. The more information and knowledge (especially allowing the shaping of natural environment) a given society has, the more advanced it is. He identifies four stages of human development, based on advances in the history of communication. In the first stage, information is passed by genes. In the second, when humans gain sentience, they can learn and pass information through by experience. In the third, the humans start using signs and develop logic. In the fourth, they can create symbols, develop language and writing. Advancements in communications technology translates into advancements in the economic system and political system, distribution of wealth, social inequality and other spheres of social life. He also differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication and economy:

text:
hunter-gatherer,
simple agricultural,
advanced agricultural,
industrial,
special (such as fishing societies).

text: In economics productivity is a measure of technological progress. Productivity increases when fewer inputs (labor, energy, materials or land) are used in the production of a unit of output. Another indicator of technological progress is the development of new products and services, which is necessary to offset unemployment that would otherwise result as labor inputs are reduced. In developed countries productivity growth has been slowing since the late 1970s; however, productivity growth was higher in some economic sectors, such as manufacturing.[2] For example, in employment in manufacturing in the United States declined from over 30% in the 1940s to just over 10% 70 years later. Similar changes occurred in other developed countries. This stage is referred to as post-industrial.

text: In the late 1970s sociologists and anthropologists like Alvin Toffler (author of Future Shock), Daniel Bell and John Naisbitt have approached the theories of post-industrial societies, arguing that the current era of industrial society is coming to an end, and services and information are becoming more important than industry and goods. Some extreme visions of the post-industrial society, especially in fiction, are strikingly similar to the visions of near and post-Singularity societies.

text: By period and geography[edit]

text: The following is a summary of the history of technology by time period and geography:

text:
Olduvai stone technology (Olduwan) 2.5 million years ago (scrapers; to butcher dead animals)
Acheulean stone technology 1.6 million years ago (hand axe)
Fire creation and manipulation, used since the Paleolithic, possibly by Homo erectus as early as 1.5 Million years ago
(Homo sapiens sapiens - modern human anatomy arises, around 200,000 years ago.)
Clothing possibly 170,000 years ago.
Stone tools, used by Homo floresiensis, possibly 100,000 years ago.
Ceramics c. 25,000 BC
Domestication of animals, c. 15,000 BC
Bow, sling c. 9th millennium BC
Microliths c. 9th millennium BC
Agriculture and Plough c. 4000 BC
Wheel c. 4000 BC
Gnomon c. 4000 BC
Writing systems c. 3500 BC
Copper c. 3000 BC
Bronze c. 2500 BC
Salt c. 2500 BC
Chariot c. 2000 BC
Iron c. 1500 BC
Sundial c. 800 BC
Glass ca. 500 BC
Catapult c. 400 BC
Horseshoe c. 300 BC
Stirrup first few centuries AD

text: Prehistory[edit]

text: Stone Age[edit]

text: During most of the Paleolithic - the bulk of the Stone Age - all humans had a lifestyle which involved limited tools and few permanent settlements. The first major technologies were tied to survival, hunting, and food preparation. Stone tools and weapons, fire, and clothing were technological developments of major importance during this period.

text: Human ancestors have been using stone and other tools since long before the emergence of Homo sapiens approximately 200,000 years ago.[3] The earliest methods of stone tool making, known as the Oldowan "industry", date back to at least 2.3 million years ago,[4] with the earliest direct evidence of tool usage found in Ethiopia within the Great Rift Valley, dating back to 2.5 million years ago.[5] This era of stone tool use is called the Paleolithic, or "Old stone age", and spans all of human history up to the development of agriculture approximately 12,000 years ago.

text: To make a stone tool, a "core" of hard stone with specific flaking properties (such as flint) was struck with a hammerstone. This flaking produced sharp edges which could be used as tools, primarily in the form of choppers or scrapers.[6] These tools greatly aided the early humans in their hunter-gatherer lifestyle to perform a variety of tasks including butchering carcasses (and breaking bones to get at the marrow); chopping wood; cracking open nuts; skinning an animal for its hide; and even forming other tools out of softer materials such as bone and wood.[7]

text: The earliest stone tools were crude, being little more than a fractured rock. In the Acheulian era, beginning approximately 1.65 million years ago, methods of working these stone into specific shapes, such as hand axes emerged. This early Stone Age is described as the Lower Paleolithic.

text: The Middle Paleolithic, approximately 300,000 years ago, saw the introduction of the prepared-core technique, where multiple blades could be rapidly formed from a single core stone.[6] The Upper Paleolithic, beginning approximately 40,000 years ago, saw the introduction of pressure flaking, where a wood, bone, or antler punch could be used to shape a stone very finely.[8]

text: The end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago is taken as the end point of the Upper Paleolithic and the beginning of the Epipaleolithic / Mesolithic. The Mesolithic technology included the use of microliths as composite stone tools, along with wood, bone, and antler tools. In some parts of Europe, the microlithic technology was abandoned in favour of a macrolithic technology.[9]

text: The later Stone Age, during which the rudiments of agricultural technology were developed, is called the Neolithic period. During this period, polished stone tools were made from a variety of hard rocks such as flint, jade, jadeite and greenstone, largely by working exposures as quarries, but later the valuable rocks were pursued by tunnelling underground, the first steps in mining technology. The polished axes were used for forest clearance and the establishment of crop farming, and were so effective as to remain in use when bronze and iron appeared. These stone axes were used alongside a continued use of stone tools such as a range of projectiles, knives, and scrapers, as well as tools made organic materials such as wood, bone, and antler.[10]

text: Stone Age cultures developed music, and engaged in organized warfare. Stone Age humans developed ocean-worthy outrigger canoe technology, leading to migration across the Malay archipelago, across the Indian Ocean to Madagascar and also across the Pacific Ocean, which required knowledge of the ocean currents, weather patterns, sailing, and celestial navigation.

text: Although Paleolithic cultures left no written records, the shift from nomadic life to settlement and agriculture can be inferred from a range of archaeological evidence. Such evidence includes ancient tools,[11] cave paintings, and other prehistoric art, such as the Venus of Willendorf. Human remains also provide direct evidence, both through the examination of bones, and the study of mummies. Scientists and historians have been able to form significant inferences about the lifestyle and culture of various prehistoric peoples, and especially their technology.

text: Copper and bronze Ages[edit]

text: The Stone Age developed into the Bronze Age after the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic Revolution involved radical changes in agricultural technology which included development of agriculture, animal domestication, and the adoption of permanent settlements. These combined factors made possible the development of metal smelting, with copper and later bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, being the materials of choice, although polished stone tools continued to be used for a considerable time owing to their abundance compared with the less common metals (especially tin).

text: This technological trend apparently began in the Fertile Crescent, and spread outward over time. These developments were not, and still are not, universal. The three-age system does not accurately describe the technology history of groups outside of Eurasia, and does not apply at all in the case of some isolated populations, such as the Spinifex People, the Sentinelese, and various Amazonian tribes, which still make use of Stone Age technology, and have not developed agricultural or metal technology.

text: Iron Age[edit]

text: The Iron age involved the adoption of iron smelting technology. It generally replaced bronze, and made it possible to produce tools which were stronger, lighter and cheaper to make than bronze equivalents. In many Eurasian cultures, the Iron Age was the last major step before the development of written language, though again this was not universally the case. It was not possible to mass manufacture steel because high furnace temperatures were needed, but steel could be produced by forging bloomery iron to reduce the carbon content in a controllable way. Iron ores were much more widespread than either copper or tin. In Europe, large hill forts were built either as a refuge in time of war, or sometimes as permanent settlements. In some cases, existing forts from the Bronze Age were expanded and enlarged. The pace of land clearance using the more effective iron axes increased, providing more farmland to support the growing population.

text: Ancient[edit]

text: It was the growth of the ancient civilizations which produced the greatest advances in technology and engineering, advances which stimulated other societies to adopt new ways of living and governance.

text: Egyptians[edit]

text: The Egyptians invented and used many simple machines, such as the ramp to aid construction processes. Egyptian society made significant advances during dynastic periods in areas such as astronomy, mathematics and medicine. They also made paper and monuments. The Egyptians made significant advances in shipbuilding. Astronomy was used by Egyptian leaders to govern people.

text: Indus Valley[edit]

text: The Indus Valley Civilization, situated in a resource-rich area, is notable for its early application of city planning and sanitation technologies. Indus Valley construction and architecture, called 'Vaastu Shastra', suggests a thorough understanding of materials engineering, hydrology, and sanitation.

text: Mesopotamians[edit]

text: The peoples of Mesopotamia (Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians) have been credited with the invention of the wheel, but this is no longer certain. They lived in cities from c. 4000 BC,[12] and developed a sophisticated architecture in mud-brick and stone,[13] including the use of the true arch. The walls of Babylon were so massive they were quoted as a Wonder of the World. They developed extensive water systems; canals for transport and irrigation in the alluvial south, and catchment systems stretching for tens of kilometres in the hilly north. Their palaces had sophisticated drainage systems.[14]

text: Writing was invented in Mesopotamia, using cuneiform script. Many records on clay tablets and stone inscriptions have survived. These civilizations were early adopters of bronze technologies which they used for tools, weapons and monumental statuary. By 1200 BC they could cast objects 5 m long in a single piece. The Assyrian King Sennacherib (704-681 BC) claims to have invented automatic sluices and to have been the first to use water screws, of up to 30 tons weight, which were cast using two-part clay moulds rather than by the 'lost wax' process.[14] The Jerwan Aqueduct (c. 688 BC) is made with stone arches and lined with waterproof concrete.[15]

text: The Babylonian astronomical diaries spanned 800 years. They enabled meticulous astronomers to plot the motions of the planets and to predict eclipses.[16]

text: Chinese[edit]

text: The Chinese made many first-known discoveries and developments. Major technological contributions from China include early seismological detectors, matches, paper, sliding calipers, the double-action piston pump, cast iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube seed drill, the wheelbarrow, the suspension bridge, the parachute, natural gas as fuel, the compass, the raised-relief map, the propeller, the crossbow, the South Pointing Chariot and gunpowder.

text: Other Chinese discoveries and inventions from the Medieval period, include: block printing, movable type printing, phosphorescent paint, endless power chain drive and the clock escapement mechanism. The solid-fuel rocket was invented in China about 1150, nearly 200 years after the invention of gunpowder (which acted as the rocket's fuel). Decades before the West's age of exploration, the Chinese emperors of the Ming Dynasty also sent large fleets for maritime voyages, some reaching Africa.

text: Greek[edit]

text: Greek and Hellenistic engineers were responsible for myriad inventions and improvements to existing technology. The Hellenistic period in particular saw a sharp increase in technological advancement, fostered by a climate of openness to new ideas, the blossoming of a mechanistic philosophy, and the establishment of the Library of Alexandria and its close association with the adjacent museion. In contrast to the typically anonymous inventors of earlier ages, ingenious minds such as Archimedes, Philo of Byzantium, Heron, Ctesibius, and Archytas remain known by name to posterity.

text: Ancient Greek innovations were particularly pronounced in mechanical technology, including the ground-breaking invention of the watermill which constituted the first human-devised motive force not to rely on muscle power (besides the sail). Apart from their pioneering use of waterpower, Greek inventors were also the first to experiment with wind power (see Heron's windwheel) and even created the earliest steam engine (the aeolipile), opening up entirely new possibilities in harnessing natural forces whose full potential would not be exploited until the Industrial Revolution. The newly devised right-angled gear and screw would become particularly important to the operation of mechanical devices. That is when the age of mechanical devices started.

text: Ancient agriculture, as in any period prior to the modern age the primary mode of production and subsistence, and its irrigation methods, were considerably advanced by the invention and widespread application of a number of previously unknown water-lifting devices, such as the vertical water-wheel, the compartmented wheel, the water turbine, Archimedes' screw, the bucket-chain and pot-garland, the force pump, the suction pump, the double-action piston pump and quite possibly the chain pump.[17]

text: In music, the water organ, invented by Ctesibius and subsequently improved, constituted the earliest instance of a keyboard instrument. In time-keeping, the introduction of the inflow clepsydra and its mechanization by the dial and pointer, the application of a feedback system and the escapement mechanism far superseded the earlier outflow clepsydra.

text: The famous Antikythera mechanism, a kind of analogous computer working with a differential gear, and the astrolabe both show great refinement in astronomical science.

text: Greek engineers were also the first to devise automata such as vending machines, suspended ink pots, automatic washstands and doors, primarily as toys, which however featured many new useful mechanisms such as the cam and gimbals.

text: In other fields, ancient Greek inventions include the catapult and the gastraphetes crossbow in warfare, hollow bronze-casting in metallurgy, the dioptra for surveying, in infrastructure the lighthouse, central heating, the tunnel excavated from both ends by scientific calculations, the ship trackway, the dry dock and plumbing. In horizontal vertical and transport great progress resulted from the invention of the crane, the winch, the wheelbarrow and the odometer.

text: Further newly created techniques and items were spiral staircases, the chain drive, sliding calipers and showers.

text: Roman[edit]

text: The Romans developed an intensive and sophisticated agriculture, expanded upon existing iron working technology, created laws providing for individual ownership, advanced stone masonry technology, advanced road-building (exceeded only in the 19th century), military engineering, civil engineering, spinning and weaving and several different machines like the Gallic reaper that helped to increase productivity in many sectors of the Roman economy. Roman engineers were the first to build monumental arches, amphitheatres, aqueducts, public baths, true arch bridges, harbours, reservoirs and dams, vaults and domes on a very large scale across their Empire. Notable Roman inventions include the book (Codex), glass blowing and concrete. Because Rome was located on a volcanic peninsula, with sand which contained suitable crystalline grains, the concrete which the Romans formulated was especially durable. Some of their buildings have lasted 2000 years, to the present day.

text: Inca and Mayan[edit]

text: The engineering skills of the Inca and the Mayans were great, even by today's standards. An example is the use of pieces weighing upwards of one ton in their stonework placed together so that not even a blade can fit in-between the cracks. The villages used irrigation canals and drainage systems, making agriculture very efficient. While some claim that the Incas were the first inventors of hydroponics, their agricultural technology was still soil based, if advanced. Though the Maya civilization had no metallurgy or wheel technology, they developed complex writing and astrological systems, and created sculptural works in stone and flint. Like the Inca, the Maya also had command of fairly advanced agricultural and construction technology. Throughout this time period, much of this construction was made only by women, as men of the Maya civilization believed that females were responsible for the creation of new things. The main contribution of the Aztec rule was a system of communications between the conquered cities. In Mesoamerica, without draft animals for transport (nor, as a result, wheeled vehicles), the roads were designed for travel on foot, just like the Inca and Mayan civilizations

text: Medieval to early modern[edit]

text: East Asia[edit]

text: Indian subcontinent[edit]

text: Islamic world[edit]

text: As earlier empires had done, the Muslim caliphates united in trade large areas that had previously traded little. The conquered sometimes paid lower taxes than in their earlier independence, and ideas spread even more easily than goods. Peace was more frequent than it had been. These conditions fostered improvements in agriculture and other technology as well as in sciences which largely adapted from earlier Greek, Roman and Persian empires, with improvements.

text: Medieval Europe[edit]

text: European technology in the Middle Ages may be best described as a symbiosis of traditio et innovatio. While medieval technology has been long depicted as a step backwards in the evolution of Western technology, sometimes willfully so by modern authors intent on denouncing the church as antagonistic to scientific progress (see e.g. Myth of the Flat Earth), a generation of medievalists around the American historian of science Lynn White stressed from the 1940s onwards the innovative character of many medieval techniques. Genuine medieval contributions include for example mechanical clocks, spectacles and vertical windmills. Medieval ingenuity was also displayed in the invention of seemingly inconspicuous items like the watermark or the functional button. In navigation, the foundation to the subsequent age of exploration was laid by the introduction of pintle-and-gudgeon rudders, lateen sails, the dry compass, the horseshoe and the astrolabe.

text: Significant advances were also made in military technology with the development of plate armour, steel crossbows, counterweight trebuchets and cannon. The Middle Ages are perhaps best known for their architectural heritage: While the invention of the rib vault and pointed arch gave rise to the high rising Gothic style, the ubiquitous medieval fortifications gave the era the almost proverbial title of the 'age of castles'.

text: Papermaking, a 2nd-century Chinese technology, was carried to the Middle East when a group of Chinese papermakers were captured in the 8th century.[18] Papermaking technology was spread to Europe by the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.[19] A paper mill was established in Sicily in the 12th century. In Europe the fiber to make pulp for making paper was obtained from linen and cotton rags. Lynn White credited the spinning wheel with increasing the supply of rags, which led to cheap paper, which was a factor in the development of printing.[20]

text: Renaissance technology[edit]

text:
Dome of Florence Cathedral

Design for a flying machine (c.1488) by da Vinci

text: The era is marked by such profound technical advancements like linear perceptivity, double shell domes or Bastion fortresses. Note books of the Renaissance artist-engineers such as Taccola and Leonardo da Vinci give a deep insight into the mechanical technology then known and applied. Architects and engineers were inspired by the structures of Ancient Rome, and men like Brunelleschi created the large dome of Florence Cathedral as a result. He was awarded one of the first patents ever issued in order to protect an ingenious crane he designed to raise the large masonry stones to the top of the structure. Military technology developed rapidly with the widespread use of the cross-bow and ever more powerful artillery, as the city-states of Italy were usually in conflict with one another. Powerful families like the Medici were strong patrons of the arts and sciences. Renaissance science spawned the Scientific Revolution; science and technology began a cycle of mutual advancement.

text: The invention of the movable cast metal type printing press, whose pressing mechanism was adapted from an olive screw press, (c. 1441) lead to a tremendous increase in the number of books and the number of titles published.

text: Age of Exploration[edit]

text: An improved sailing ship, the (nau or carrack), enabled the Age of Exploration with the European colonization of the Americas, epitomized by Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. Pioneers like Vasco da Gama, Cabral, Magellan and Christopher Columbus explored the world in search of new trade routes for their goods and contacts with Africa, India and China to shorten the journey compared with traditional routes overland. They produced new maps and charts which enabled following mariners to explore further with greater confidence. Navigation was generally difficult, however, owing to the problem of longitude and the absence of accurate chronometers. European powers rediscovered the idea of the civil code, lost since the time of the Ancient Greeks.

text: Industrial Revolution[edit]

text:
A Watt steam engine

The Iron Bridge

text: The British Industrial Revolution is characterized by developments in the areas of textile manufacturing, mining, metallurgy and transport driven by the development of the steam engine. Above all else, the revolution was driven by cheap energy in the form of coal, produced in ever-increasing amounts from the abundant resources of Britain. Coal converted to coke gave the blast furnace and cast iron in much larger amounts than before, and a range of structures could be created, such as The Iron Bridge. Cheap coal meant that industry was no longer constrained by water resources driving the mills, although it continued as a valuable source of power. The steam engine helped drain the mines, so more coal reserves could be accessed, and the output of coal increased. The development of the high-pressure steam engine made locomotives possible, and a transport revolution followed.[21]

text: 19th century[edit]

text: The 19th century saw astonishing developments in transportation, construction, manufacturing and communication technologies originating in Europe. The steam engine which had existed since the early 18th century, was practically applied to both steamboat and railway transportation. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first purpose built railway line, opened in 1830, the Rocket locomotive of Robert Stephenson being one of its first working locomotives used. Telegraphy also developed into a practical technology in the 19th century to help run the railways safely.

text: Other technologies were explored for the first time, including the incandescent light bulb. The invention of the incandescent light bulb had a profound effect on the workplace because factories could now have second and third shift workers. Manufacture of ships' pulley blocks by all-metal machines at the Portsmouth Block Mills instigated the age of mass production. Machine tools used by engineers to manufacture parts began in the first decade of the century, notably by Richard Roberts and Joseph Whitworth. The development of interchangeable parts through what is now called the American system of manufacturing began in the firearms industry at the U.S Federal arsenals in the early 19th century, and became widely used by the end of the century.

text: Shoe production was mechanized and sewing machines introduced around the middle of the 19th century. Mass production of sewing machines and agricultural machinery such as reapers occurred in the mid to late 19th century. Bicycles were mass-produced beginning in the 1880s.

text: Steam-powered factories became widespread, although the conversion from water power to steam occurred in England before in the U.S.

text: Steamships were eventually completely iron-clad, and played a role in the opening of Japan and China to trade with the West. The Second Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century saw rapid development of chemical, electrical, petroleum, and steel technologies connected with highly structured technology research.

text: The period from the last third of the 19th century until WW1 is sometimes referred to as the Second Industrial Revolution.

text: 20th century[edit]

text: 20th century technology developed rapidly. Broad teaching and implementation of the scientific method, and increased research spending contributed to the advancement of modern science and technology. New technology improved communication and transport, thus spreading technical understanding.

text: Mass production brought automobiles and other high-tech goods to masses of consumers. Military research and development sped advances including electronic computing and jet engines. Radio and telephony improved greatly and spread to larger populations of users, though near-universal access would not be possible until mobile phones became affordable to developing world residents in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

text: Energy and engine technology improvements included nuclear power, developed after the Manhattan project which heralded the new Atomic Age. Rocket development led to long range missiles and the first space age that lasted from the 1950s with the launch of Sputnik to the mid-1980s.

text: Electrification spread rapidly in the 20th century. At the beginning of the century electric power was for the most part only available to wealthy people in a few major cities such as New York, London, Paris, and Newcastle upon Tyne, but by the time the World Wide Web was invented in 1990 an estimated 62 percent of homes worldwide had electric power, including about a third of households in[22] the rural developing world.

text: Birth control also became widespread during the 20th century. Electron microscopes were very powerful by the late 1970s and genetic theory and knowledge were expanding, leading to developments in genetic engineering.

text: The first "test tube baby" Louise Brown was born in 1978, which led to the first successful gestational surrogacy pregnancy in 1985 and the first pregnancy by ICSI in 1991, which is the implanting of a single sperm into an egg. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis was first performed in late 1989 and led to successful births in July 1990. These procedures have become relatively common.

text: The massive data analysis resources necessary for running transatlantic research programs such as the Human Genome Project and the Large Electron-Positron Collider led to a necessity for distributed communications, causing Internet protocols to be more widely adopted by researchers and also creating a justification for Tim Berners-Lee to create the World Wide Web.

text: Vaccination spread rapidly to the developing world from the 1980s onward due to many successful humanitarian initiatives, greatly reducing childhood mortality in many poor countries with limited medical resources.

text: The US National Academy of Engineering, by expert vote, established the following ranking of the most important technological developments of the 20th century:[23]

text:
Electrification
Automobile
Airplane
Water supply and Distribution
Electronics
Radio and Television
Mechanized agriculture
Computers
Telephone
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration
Highways
Spacecraft
Internet
Imaging technology
Household appliances
Health technology
Petroleum and Petrochemical technologies
Laser and Fiber Optics
Nuclear technology
Materials science

text: 21st century[edit]

text: In the early 21st century research is ongoing into quantum computers, gene therapy (introduced 1990), 3D printing (introduced 1981), nanotechnology (introduced 1985), bioengineering/biotechnology, nuclear technology, advanced materials (e.g., graphene), the scramjet and drones (along with railguns and high-energy laser beams for military uses), superconductivity, the memristor, and green technologies such as alternative fuels (e.g., fuel cells, self-driving electric and plug-in hybrid cars), augmented reality devices and wearable electronics, artificial intelligence, and more efficient and powerful LEDs, solar cells, integrated circuits, wireless power devices, engines, and batteries.

text: Perhaps the greatest research tool built in the 21st century is the Large Hadron Collider, the largest single machine ever built. The understanding of particle physics is expected to expand with better instruments including larger particle accelerators such as the LHC[24] and better neutrino detectors. Dark matter is sought via underground detectors and observatories like LIGO have started to detect gravitational waves.

text: Genetic engineering technology continues to improve, and the importance of epigenetics on development and inheritance has also become increasingly recognized.[25]

text: New spaceflight technology and spacecraft are also being developed, like the Orion and Dragon. New, more capable space telescopes are being designed. The International Space Station was completed in the 2000s, and NASA and ESA plan a manned mission to Mars in the 2030s. The Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) is an electro-magnetic thruster for spacecraft propulsion and is expected to be tested in 2015.

text: 2004 saw the first manned commercial spaceflight when Mike Melvill crossed the boundary of space on June 21, 2004.

text: By type[edit]

text: This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (March 2015)

text: Biotechnology[edit]

text: Timeline of agriculture and food technology

text: Civil engineering[edit]

text:
Civil engineering
Architecture and building construction
Bridges, harbors, tunnels, dams
Surveying, instruments and maps, cartography, urban engineering, water supply and sewerage

text: Communication[edit]

text:
Communications
Writing systems
Telecommunications
History of mobile phones
History of animation
History of broadcasting
History of radar
History of radio
Printing
Cinema
Radio
Television
Internet

text: Computing[edit]

text:
History of computing hardware before 1960
History of computing hardware (1960s–present)
History of computer hardware in Soviet Bloc countries
History of computer science
History of operating systems
History of software engineering
History of programming languages
History of artificial intelligence
History of the graphical user interface
History of the Internet
History of the World Wide Web
History of computer and video games

text: Consumer technology[edit]

text:
Timeline of lighting technology
History of textiles and clothing
History of materials science
Family and consumer science
History of knitting
History of lensmaking
History of the chair
History of the umbrella
Manufacturing

text: Electrical engineering[edit]

text: Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering

text: Energy[edit]

text:
Energy (History, Use by humans, See also)
History of coal mining
History of perpetual motion machines
Timeline of heat engine technology
Timeline of steam power
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
Timeline of alcohol fuel
Timeline of nuclear fusion

text: Materials science[edit]

text:
Timeline of materials technology
Metallurgy
Materials and processing

text: Measurement[edit]

text:
History of time in the United States
Timeline of time measurement technology

text: Medicine[edit]

text: Military[edit]

text:
Military history#Technological evolution
Category:Military history – articles on history of specific technologies

text: Nuclear[edit]

text:
Manhattan Project
Atomic Age
Nuclear testing
Nuclear arms race

text: Science and technology[edit]

text:
History of telescopes
Timeline of telescopes, observatories, and observing technology
Timeline of microscope technology
Timeline of particle physics technology
Timeline of low-temperature technology
Timeline of temperature and pressure measurement technology

text: Transport[edit]

text:
History of the automobile
Timeline of aviation
Timeline of jet power
Timeline of motor and engine technology
Timeline of photography technology
Timeline of rocket and missile technology
Timeline of communication technology


document_title: List of All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship winners

question_text: when did limerick last win the all ireland hurling final

root

text: Winners[edit]

text: Finals[edit]

text:
Season

Province

Winners

Score

Runners-up

Province

Venue

Attendance

Notes

1887

Munster

Tipperary

1-1 : 0-1

Galway

Connacht

Birr Sportsfield, Birr

5,000

1888

n/a

n/a

[nb 1]

1889

Leinster

Dublin

5-1 : 1-6

Clare

Munster

St. Patrick's GAA Field, Dublin

1,500

1890

Munster

Cork

1-6 : 2-2

Wexford

Leinster

Clonturk Park, Dublin

1,000

[nb 2]

1891

Munster

Kerry

2-3 : 1-5

Wexford

Leinster

Clonturk Park, Dublin

2,000

1892

Munster

Cork

2-3 : 1-5

Dublin

Leinster

Clonturk Park, Dublin

5,000

[nb 3]

1893

Munster

Cork

6-8 : 0-2

Kilkenny

Leinster

Phoenix Park, Dublin

1,000

1894

Munster

Cork

5-20 : 2-0

Dublin

Leinster

Clonturk Park, Dublin

2,000

1895

Munster

Tipperary

6-8 : 1-10

Kilkenny

Leinster

Jones' Road, Dublin

8,000

1896

Munster

Tipperary

8-14 : 0-4

Dublin

Leinster

Jones' Road, Dublin

3,500

1897

Munster

Limerick

3-4 : 2-4

Kilkenny

Leinster

Tipperary GAA Field, Tipperary

5,000

1898

Munster

Tipperary

7-13 : 3-10

Kilkenny

Leinster

Jones' Road, Dublin

2,500

1899

Munster

Tipperary

3-12 : 1-4

Wexford

Leinster

Jones' Road, Dublin

3,500

1900

Munster

Tipperary

2-5 : 0-6

London

Britain

Jones' Road, Dublin

8,000

1901

Britain

London

1-5 : 0-4

Cork

Munster

Jones' Road, Dublin

1902

Munster

Cork

3-13 : 0-0

London

Britain

Cork Athletic Grounds, Cork

8,000

1903

Munster

Cork

3-16 : 1-1

London

Britain

Jones' Road, Dublin

1904

Leinster

Kilkenny

1-9 : 1-8

Cork

Munster

Maurice Davin's land, Carrick-on-Suir

1905(R)

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-12 : 5-107-7 : 2-9

Cork

Munster

Fraher Field, Dungarvan

[nb 4]

1906

Munster

Tipperary

3-16 : 3-8

Dublin

Leinster

Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

5,000

1907

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-12 : 4-8

Cork

Munster

Fraher Field, Dungarvan

15,000

1908

Munster

Tipperary

3-15 : 1-5

Dublin

Leinster

Geraldine Park, Athy

1909

Leinster

Kilkenny

4-6 : 0-12

Tipperary

Munster

Cork Athletic Grounds, Cork

11,000

1910

Leinster

Wexford

7-0 : 6-2

Limerick

Munster

Jones' Road, Dublin

1911

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-3 : 1-1

Tipperary

Munster

Fraher Field, Dungarvan

1912

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-1 : 1-3

Cork

Munster

Jones' Road, Dublin

18,000

1913

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-4 : 1-2

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

12,000

1914

Munster

Clare

5-1 : 1-0

Laois

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

1915

Leinster

Laois

6-2 : 4-1

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

1916

Munster

Tipperary

5-4 : 3-2

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

5,000

1917

Leinster

Dublin

5-4 : 4-2

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

1918

Munster

Limerick

9-5 : 1-3

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

1919

Munster

Cork

6-4 : 2-4

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

14,300

1920

Leinster

Dublin

4-9 : 4-3

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

22,000

1921

Munster

Limerick

8-5 : 3-2

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

19,000

1922

Leinster

Kilkenny

4-2 : 2-6

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

26,119

1923

Connacht

Galway

7-3 : 4-5

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

7,000

1924

Leinster

Dublin

5-3 : 2-6

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

9,000

1925

Munster

Tipperary

5-6 : 1-5

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

20,000

1926

Munster

Cork

4-6 : 2-0

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

26,829

1927

Leinster

Dublin

4-8 : 1-3

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

23,824

1928

Munster

Cork

6-12 : 1-0

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

15,259

1929

Munster

Cork

4-9 : 1-3

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

14,000

1930

Munster

Tipperary

2-7 : 1-3

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

21,730

1931(R)(R)

Munster

Cork

1-6 : 1-62-5 : 2-55-8 : 3-4

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

26,46033,12431,935

1932

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-3 : 2-3

Clare

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

34,392

1933

Leinster

Kilkenny

1-7 : 0-6

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

45,176

1934(R)

Munster

Limerick

2-7 : 3-43-4 : 2-6

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

34,86730,250

1935

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-5 : 2-4

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

46,591

1936

Munster

Limerick

5-6 : 1-5

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

51,235

1937

Munster

Tipperary

3-11 : 0-3

Kilkenny

Leinster

FitzGerald Stadium, Killarney

67,629

[nb 5]

1938

Leinster

Dublin

2-7 : 3-3

Waterford

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

37,129

1939

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-7 : 3-3

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

39,302

1940

Munster

Limerick

3-7 : 1-7

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

49,260

1941

Munster

Cork

5-11 : 0-6

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

26,150

1942

Munster

Cork

2-14 : 3-4

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

27,313

1943

Munster

Cork

5-16 : 0-4

Antrim

Ulster

Croke Park, Dublin

48,843

1944

Munster

Cork

2-13 : 1-2

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

26,896

1945

Munster

Tipperary

5-6 : 3-6

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

69,459

1946

Munster

Cork

7-5 : 3-8

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,415

1947

Leinster

Kilkenny

0-14 : 2-7

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

61,510

1948

Munster

Waterford

6-7 : 4-2

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

61,742

1949

Munster

Tipperary

3-11 : 0-3

Laois

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

67,168

1950

Munster

Tipperary

1-9 : 1-8

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

67,629

1951

Munster

Tipperary

7-7 : 3-9

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

68,515

1952

Munster

Cork

2-14 : 0-7

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

71,195

1953

Munster

Cork

3-3 : 0-8

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

71,195

1954

Munster

Cork

1-9 : 1-6

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

84,856

1955

Leinster

Wexford

3-13 : 2-8

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

72,854

1956

Leinster

Wexford

2-14 : 2-8

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

83,096

1957

Leinster

Kilkenny

4-10 : 3-12

Waterford

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

70,594

1958

Munster

Tipperary

4-9 : 2-5

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

47,276

1959(R)

Munster

Waterford

1-17 : 5-53-12 : 1-10

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

73,70777,285

1960

Leinster

Wexford

2-15 : 0-11

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

77,154

1961

Munster

Tipperary

0-16 : 1-12

Dublin

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

67,866

1962

Munster

Tipperary

3-10 : 2-11

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

75,039

1963

Leinster

Kilkenny

4-17 : 6-8

Waterford

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

73,123

1964

Munster

Tipperary

5-13 : 2-8

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

71,282

1965

Munster

Tipperary

2-16 : 0-10

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

67,498

1966

Munster

Cork

3-9 : 1-10

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

68,249

1967

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-8 : 2-7

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,241

1968

Leinster

Wexford

5-8 : 3-12

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

63,461

1969

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-15 : 2-9

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

66,844

1970

Munster

Cork

6-21 : 5-10

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,062

1971

Munster

Tipperary

5-17 : 5-14

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

61,393

1972

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-24 : 5-11

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

66,137

1973

Munster

Limerick

1-21 : 1-14

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

59,009

1974

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-19 : 1-13

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

62,071

1975

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-22 : 2-10

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

63,711

1976

Munster

Cork

2-21 : 4-11

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

62,684

1977

Munster

Cork

1-17 : 3-8

Wexford

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

63,198

1978

Munster

Cork

1-15 : 2-8

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,155

1979

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-12 : 1-8

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

53,535

1980

Connacht

Galway

2-15 : 3-9

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,895

1981

Leinster

Offaly

2-12 : 0-15

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

71,348

1982

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-18 : 1-13

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

59,550

1983

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-14 : 2-12

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

58,381

1984

Munster

Cork

3-16 : 1-12

Offaly

Leinster

Semple Stadium, Thurles

59,814

[nb 6]

1985

Leinster

Offaly

2-11 : 1-12

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

61,451

1986

Munster

Cork

4-13 : 2-15

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

63,451

1987

Connacht

Galway

1-12 : 0-9

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

63,596

1988

Connacht

Galway

1-15 : 0-14

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

63,545

1989

Munster

Tipperary

4-24 : 3-9

Antrim

Ulster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,496

1990

Munster

Cork

5-15 : 2-21

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

63,954

1991

Munster

Tipperary

1-16 : 1-15

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,500

1992

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-10 : 1-12

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

64,534

1993

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-17 : 1-15

Galway

Connact

Croke Park, Dublin

63,460

1994

Leinster

Offaly

3-16 : 2-13

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

54,458

1995

Munster

Clare

1-13 : 2-8

Offaly

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,092

1996

Leinster

Wexford

1-13 : 0-14

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,849

1997

Munster

Clare

0-20 : 2-13

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,575

1998

Leinster

Offaly

2-16 : 1-13

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

65,491

1999

Munster

Cork

0-13 : 0-12

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

62,989

2000

Leintser

Kilkenny

5-15 : 1-14

Offaly

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

61,493

2001

Munster

Tipperary

2-18 : 2-15

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

68,515

2002

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-20 : 0-19

Clare

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

76,254

2003

Leinster

Kilkenny

1-14 : 1-11

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

79,383

2004

Munster

Cork

0-17 : 0-9

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

78,212

2005

Munster

Cork

1-21 : 1-16

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

82,275

2006

Leinster

Kilkenny

1-16 : 1-13

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,275

2007

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-19 : 1-15

Limerick

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,127

2008

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-30 : 1-13

Waterford

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,186

2009

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-22 : 0-23

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,106

2010

Munster

Tipperary

4-17 : 1-18

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

81,765

2011

Leinster

Kilkenny

2-17 : 1-16

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

81,214

2012(R)

Leinster

Kilkenny

0-19 : 2:133-22 : 3-11

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

81,93282,274

2013(R)

Munster

Clare

0-25 : 3-165-16 : 3-16

Cork

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

81,65182,276

2014(R)

Leinster

Kilkenny

3-22 : 1-282-17 : 2-14

Tipperary

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,17981,753

2015

Leinster

Kilkenny

1-22 : 1-18

Galway

Connacht

Croke Park, Dublin

82,300

2016

Munster

Tipperary

2-29 : 2-20

Kilkenny

Leinster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,300

2017

Connacht

Galway

0-26 : 2-17

Waterford

Munster

Croke Park, Dublin

82,300

tag: table

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ The Championship was left unfinished due to many of the players travelling to the United States in an attempt to raise money for a revival of the Tailteann Games[3]

Jump up ^ The match was abandoned by the Cork team due to rough play by their opponents, with Wexford leading 2-2 to 1-6 (at the time, one goal equalled five points, so Wexford led 12 to 11). Cork were later awarded the title

Jump up ^ Cork led by 2-3 to 1-5 when the Dublin side left the field in protest at a disputed goal, leaving the match unfinished. As a result, Cork were awarded the title

Jump up ^ Cork won the initial game, but after an objection was raised about Cork keeper Daniel McCarthy being a reservist for the British Army, a replay was ordered, won by Kilkenny

Jump up ^ Newly built FitzGerald Stadium in Killarney hosted the All-Ireland final due to a builders' strike at Croke Park[4]

Jump up ^ The centenary-year All-Ireland final was played in Semple Stadium as a gesture to the town where the GAA was founded[5]

tag: ol


document_title: Mean platelet volume

question_text: what does mpv stand for in a cbc test

question_tokens: what does mpv stand for in a cbc test

text: Mean platelet volume

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a machine-calculated measurement of the average size of platelets found in blood and is typically included in blood tests as part of the CBC. Since the average platelet size is larger when the body is producing increased numbers of platelets, the MPV test results can be used to make inferences about platelet production in bone marrow or platelet destruction problems.[1]

tag: p

text: MPV is higher when there is destruction of platelets. This may be seen in inflammatory bowel disease,[2] immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), myeloproliferative diseases and Bernard-Soulier syndrome. It may also be related to pre-eclampsia, and recovery from, transient hypoplasia.[3]

text: Abnormally low MPV values correlate with thrombocytopenia when it is due to impaired production as in aplastic anemia. In addition, low MPV can correlate with abnormally small platelet size, sometimes a symptom of a spectrum referred to as Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS),[4] caused by a genetic mutation of the WAS gene.

text: A typical range of platelet volumes is 9.7–12.8 fL (femtolitre), equivalent to spheres 2.65 to 2.9 µm in diameter. Normal range is given as 7.5-11.5 fL.[5]


document_title: Apollo 11

question_text: who was the astronaut who stepped on the moon with his left foot in 1969

question_tokens: who was the astronaut who stepped on the moon with his left foot in 1969

text: Apollo 11

text: Framework

text: Crew

text:
Position
Astronaut

Commander
Neil A. Armstrong
Second spaceflight

Command Module Pilot
Michael Collins
Second spaceflight

Lunar Module Pilot
Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr.
Second spaceflight

text: Apollo 11 was the second all-veteran multi-person crew (the first being Apollo 10) in human spaceflight history.[8] A previous solo veteran flight had been made on Soyuz 1 in 1967 by Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov.[9]

text: Collins was originally slated to be the Command Module Pilot (CMP) on Apollo 8 but was removed when he required surgery on his back and was replaced by Jim Lovell, his backup for that flight. After Collins was medically cleared, he took what would have been Lovell's spot on Apollo 11; as a veteran of Apollo 8, Lovell was transferred to Apollo 11's backup crew and promoted to backup commander.

text: Backup crew

text:
Position
Astronaut

Commander
James A. Lovell, Jr.

Command Module Pilot
William A. Anders

Lunar Module Pilot
Fred W. Haise, Jr.

text: In early 1969, Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective August 1969 and announced that he would retire as an astronaut on that date. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was delayed past its intended July launch (at which point Anders would be unavailable if needed) and would later join Lovell's crew and ultimately be assigned as the original Apollo 13 CMP.[10]

text: Support crew

text:
Charlie Duke, Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM)
Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)
Owen K. Garriott (CAPCOM)
Don L. Lind (CAPCOM)
Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)
Bruce McCandless II (CAPCOM)
Harrison Schmitt (CAPCOM)
Bill Pogue
Jack Swigert
William Carpentier (SURGEON)

tag: ul

text: Flight directors

text:
Cliff Charlesworth (Green Team), launch and EVA
Gene Kranz (White Team), lunar landing
Glynn Lunney (Black Team), lunar ascent

text: Call signs

text: After the crew of Apollo 10 named their spacecraft Charlie Brown and Snoopy, assistant manager for public affairs Julian Scheer wrote to Manned Spacecraft Center director George M. Low to suggest the Apollo 11 crew be less flippant in naming their craft. During early mission planning, the names Snowcone and Haystack were used and put in the news release,[11] but the crew later decided to change them.

text: The Command Module was named Columbia after the Columbiad, the giant cannon shell "spacecraft" fired by a giant cannon (also from Florida) in Jules Verne's 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon.[12] The Lunar Module was named Eagle for the national bird of the United States, the bald eagle, which is featured prominently on the mission insignia.

text: Insignia

text: The Apollo 11 mission insignia was designed by Collins, who wanted a symbol for "peaceful lunar landing by the United States". He chose an eagle as the symbol, put an olive branch in its beak, and drew a lunar background with the Earth in the distance. NASA officials said the talons of the eagle looked too "warlike" and after some discussion, the olive branch was moved to the claws. The crew decided the Roman numeral XI would not be understood in some nations and went with "Apollo 11"; they decided not to put their names on the patch, so it would "be representative of everyone who had worked toward a lunar landing".[13] All colors are natural, with blue and gold borders around the patch.

text: When the Eisenhower dollar coin was released in 1971, the patch design provided the eagle for its reverse side.[14] The design was also used for the smaller Susan B. Anthony dollar unveiled in 1979, ten years after the Apollo 11 mission.[15]

text: Mementos

text: Neil Armstrong's personal preference kit carried a piece of wood from the Wright brothers' 1903 airplane's left propeller and a piece of fabric from its wing,[16] along with a diamond-studded astronaut pin originally given to Deke Slayton by the widows of the Apollo 1 crew. This pin had been intended to be flown on Apollo 1 and given to Slayton after the mission but following the disastrous launch pad fire and subsequent funerals, the widows gave the pin to Slayton and Armstrong took it on Apollo 11.[17]

text: Mission highlights

text: Launch and flight to lunar orbit

text: In addition to many people crowding highways and beaches near the launch site, millions watched the event on television, with NASA Chief of Public Information Jack King providing commentary. President Richard M. Nixon viewed the proceedings from the Oval Office of the White House.

text: A Saturn V launched Apollo 11 from Launch Pad 39A, part of the Launch Complex 39 site at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, at 13:32:00 UTC (9:32:00 a.m. EDT local time). It entered Earth orbit, at an altitude of 100.4 nautical miles (185.9 km) by 98.9 nautical miles (183.2 km), twelve minutes later.[1] After one and a half orbits, the S-IVB third-stage engine pushed the spacecraft onto its trajectory toward the Moon with the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn at 16:22:13 UTC. About 30 minutes later, the transposition, docking, and extraction maneuver was performed: this involved separating the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM) from the spent rocket stage, turning around, and docking with the Lunar Module still attached to the stage. After the Lunar Module was extracted, the combined spacecraft headed for the Moon, while the rocket stage flew on a trajectory past the Moon and into orbit around the Sun.[4]

text: On July 19 at 17:21:50 UTC, Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit. In the thirty orbits[18] that followed, the crew saw passing views of their landing site in the southern Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis) about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the crater Sabine D (0.67408N, 23.47297E). The landing site was selected in part because it had been characterized as relatively flat and smooth by the automated Ranger 8 and Surveyor 5 landers along with the Lunar Orbiter mapping spacecraft and unlikely to present major landing or extravehicular activity (EVA) challenges.[19]

text: Lunar descent

text: On July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module Eagle separated from the Command Module Columbia. Collins, alone aboard Columbia, inspected Eagle as it pirouetted before him to ensure the craft was not damaged.

text: As the descent began, Armstrong and Aldrin found that they were passing landmarks on the surface four seconds early and reported that they were "long"; they would land miles west of their target point.

text: Five minutes into the descent burn, and 6,000 feet (1,800 m) above the surface of the Moon, the LM navigation and guidance computer distracted the crew with the first of several unexpected "1202" and "1201" program alarms. Inside Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, computer engineer Jack Garman told guidance officer Steve Bales it was safe to continue the descent, and this was relayed to the crew. The program alarms indicated "executive overflows", meaning the guidance computer could not complete all of its tasks in real time and had to postpone some of them.[20]

text: Due to an error in the checklist manual, the rendezvous radar switch was placed in the wrong position. This caused it to send erroneous signals to the computer. The result was that the computer was being asked to perform all of its normal functions for landing while receiving an extra load of spurious data which used up 15% of its time. The computer (or rather the software in it) was smart enough to recognize that it was being asked to perform more tasks than it should be performing. It then sent out an alarm, which meant to the astronaut, I'm overloaded with more tasks than I should be doing at this time and I'm going to keep only the more important tasks; i.e., the ones needed for landing ... Actually, the computer was programmed to do more than recognize error conditions. A complete set of recovery programs was incorporated into the software. The software's action, in this case, was to eliminate lower priority tasks and re-establish the more important ones ... If the computer hadn't recognized this problem and taken recovery action, I doubt if Apollo 11 would have been the successful moon landing it was.[21][a]

text: Landing

text: When Armstrong again looked outside, he saw that the computer's landing target was in a boulder-strewn area just north and east of a 300-meter (980 ft) diameter crater (later determined to be West crater, named for its location in the western part of the originally planned landing ellipse). Armstrong took semi-automatic control[26] and, with Aldrin calling out altitude and velocity data, landed at 20:17:40 UTC on Sunday July 20 with about 25 seconds of fuel left.[5]

text: Apollo 11 landed with less fuel than other missions, and the astronauts encountered a premature low fuel warning. This was later found to be the result of greater propellant 'slosh' than expected, uncovering a fuel sensor. On subsequent missions, extra anti-slosh baffles were added to the tanks to prevent this.[5]

text: Throughout the descent, Aldrin had called out navigation data to Armstrong, who was busy piloting the LM. A few moments before the landing, a light informed Aldrin that at least one of the 67-inch (170 cm) probes hanging from Eagle's footpads had touched the surface, and he said: "Contact light!" Three seconds later, Eagle landed and Armstrong said "Shutdown." Aldrin immediately said "Okay, engine stop. ACA – out of detent." Armstrong acknowledged "Out of detent. Auto" and Aldrin continued "Mode control – both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm – off. 413 is in."

text: Charles Duke, CAPCOM during the landing phase, acknowledged their landing by saying "We copy you down, Eagle."

text: Armstrong acknowledged Aldrin's completion of the post landing checklist with "Engine arm is off", before responding to Duke with the words, "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Armstrong's unrehearsed[27] change of call sign from "Eagle" to "Tranquility Base" emphasized to listeners that landing was complete and successful. Duke mispronounced his reply as he expressed the relief at Mission Control: "Roger, Twan— Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot."[5][28]

text: Two and a half hours after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin radioed to Earth:

text: This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.[29]

text: He then took communion privately. At this time NASA was still fighting a lawsuit brought by atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair (who had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis) demanding that their astronauts refrain from broadcasting religious activities while in space. As such, Aldrin chose to refrain from directly mentioning taking communion on the Moon. Aldrin was an elder at the Webster Presbyterian Church, and his communion kit was prepared by the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dean Woodruff. Aldrin described communion on the Moon and the involvement of his church and pastor in the October 1970 edition of Guideposts magazine and in his book Return to Earth. Webster Presbyterian possesses the chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the Sunday closest to July 20.[30]

text: The schedule for the mission called for the astronauts to follow the landing with a five-hour sleep period as they had been awake since early morning. However, they elected to forgo the sleep period and begin the preparations for the EVA early, thinking that they would be unable to sleep.

text: Lunar surface operations

text: The astronauts planned placement of the Early Apollo Scientific Experiment Package (EASEP)[31] and the U.S. flag by studying their landing site through Eagle's twin triangular windows, which gave them a 60° field of view. Preparation required longer than the two hours scheduled. Armstrong initially had some difficulties squeezing through the hatch with his Portable Life Support System (PLSS). According to veteran Moon-walker John Young, a redesign of the LM to incorporate a smaller hatch had not been followed by a redesign of the PLSS backpack, so some of the highest heart rates recorded from Apollo astronauts occurred during LM egress and ingress.[32][33]

text: Several books indicate early mission timelines had Buzz Aldrin rather than Neil Armstrong as the first man on the Moon.[34]

text: At 02:39 UTC on Monday July 21, 1969, Armstrong opened the hatch, and at 02:51 UTC began his descent to the lunar surface. The Remote Control Unit controls on his chest kept him from seeing his feet. Climbing down the nine-rung ladder, Armstrong pulled a D-ring to deploy the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) folded against Eagle's side and activate the TV camera, and at 02:56:15 UTC he set his left foot on the surface.[35][36] The first landing used slow-scan television incompatible with commercial TV, so it was displayed on a special monitor and a conventional TV camera viewed this monitor, significantly reducing the quality of the picture.[37] The signal was received at Goldstone in the United States but with better fidelity by Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia. Minutes later the feed was switched to the more sensitive Parkes radio telescope in Australia.[38] Despite some technical and weather difficulties, ghostly black and white images of the first lunar EVA were received and broadcast to at least 600 million people on Earth.[39] Although copies of this video in broadcast format were saved and are widely available, recordings of the original slow scan source transmission from the lunar surface were accidentally destroyed during routine magnetic tape re-use at NASA.

text: While still on the ladder, Armstrong uncovered a plaque mounted on the LM Descent Stage bearing two drawings of Earth (of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres), an inscription, and signatures of the astronauts and President Nixon. The inscription read:

text: Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.

text: After describing the surface dust as "very fine-grained" and "almost like a powder,"[36] six and a half hours after landing,[1] Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and declared, "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."[b][40][41][42][43]

text: Armstrong intended to say "That's one small step for a man", but the word "a" is not audible in the transmission, and thus was not initially reported by most observers of the live broadcast. When later asked about his quote, Armstrong said he believed he said "for a man", and subsequent printed versions of the quote included the "a" in square brackets. One explanation for the absence may be that his accent caused him to slur the words "for a" together; another is the intermittent nature of the audio and video links to Earth, partly because of storms near Parkes Observatory. More recent digital analysis of the tape claims to reveal the "a" may have been spoken but obscured by static.[44][45]

text:
That's one small step ...

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: About seven minutes after stepping onto the Moon's surface, Armstrong collected a contingency soil sample using a sample bag on a stick. He then folded the bag and tucked it into a pocket on his right thigh. This was to guarantee there would be some lunar soil brought back in case an emergency required the astronauts to abandon the EVA and return to the LM.[46]

text: Twelve minutes after the contingency sample was collected,[1] Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface, and described the view with the simple phrase, "Magnificent desolation."[36]

text: In addition to fulfilling President Kennedy's mandate to land a man on the Moon before the end of the 1960s,[47] Apollo 11 was an engineering test of the Apollo system; therefore, Armstrong snapped photos of the LM so engineers would be able to judge its post-landing condition. He removed the TV camera from the MESA and made a panoramic sweep, then mounted it on a tripod 68 feet (21 m) from the LM. The TV camera cable remained partly coiled and presented a tripping hazard throughout the EVA.

text: Armstrong said that moving in the lunar gravity, one-sixth of Earth's, was "even perhaps easier than the simulations ... It's absolutely no trouble to walk around."[36] Aldrin joined him on the surface and tested methods for moving around, including two-footed kangaroo hops. The PLSS backpack created a tendency to tip backwards, but neither astronaut had serious problems maintaining balance. Loping became the preferred method of movement. The astronauts reported that they needed to plan their movements six or seven steps ahead. The fine soil was quite slippery. Aldrin remarked that moving from sunlight into Eagle's shadow produced no temperature change inside the suit, though the helmet was warmer in sunlight, so he felt cooler in shadow.[36]

text: The astronauts planted a specially designed U.S. flag on the lunar surface, in clear view of the TV camera. Some time later, President Richard Nixon spoke to them through a telephone-radio transmission which Nixon called "the most historic phone call ever made from the White House."[48] Nixon originally had a long speech prepared to read during the phone call, but Frank Borman, who was at the White House as a NASA liaison during Apollo 11, convinced Nixon to keep his words brief, to respect the lunar landing as Kennedy's legacy.[49] Armstrong thanked the President, and gave a brief reflection on the significance of the moment:

text: Nixon: Hello, Neil and Buzz. I'm talking to you by telephone from the Oval Room at the White House. And this certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made. I just can't tell you how proud we all are of what you've done. For every American, this has to be the proudest day of our lives. And for people all over the world, I am sure they too join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is. Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world. And as you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people on this Earth are truly one: one in their pride in what you have done, and one in our prayers that you will return safely to Earth.

text: Armstrong: Thank you, Mr. President. It's a great honor and privilege for us to be here, representing not only the United States, but men of peace of all nations, and with interest and curiosity, and men with a vision for the future. It's an honor for us to be able to participate here today.

text: The MESA failed to provide a stable work platform and was in shadow, slowing work somewhat. As they worked, the moonwalkers kicked up gray dust which soiled the outer part of their suits, the integrated thermal meteoroid garment.

text: They deployed the EASEP, which included a passive seismograph and a Lunar Ranging Retroreflector (LRRR). Then Armstrong walked 196 feet (60 m) from the LM to snap photos at the rim of Little West Crater while Aldrin collected two core tubes. He used the geological hammer to pound in the tubes – the only time the hammer was used on Apollo 11. The astronauts then collected rock samples using scoops and tongs on extension handles. Many of the surface activities took longer than expected, so they had to stop documenting sample collection halfway through the allotted 34 minutes.

text: Three new minerals were discovered in the rock samples collected by the astronauts: armalcolite, tranquillityite, and pyroxferroite. Armalcolite was named after Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins.

text: During this period, Mission Control used a coded phrase to warn Armstrong that his metabolic rates were high and that he should slow down. He was moving rapidly from task to task as time ran out. However, as metabolic rates remained generally lower than expected for both astronauts throughout the walk, Mission Control granted the astronauts a 15-minute extension.[50] In a 2010 interview, Armstrong, who had walked a maximum of 196 feet (60 m) from the LM, explained that NASA limited the first moonwalk's time and distance because there was no empirical proof of how much cooling water the astronauts' PLSS backpacks would consume to handle their body heat generation while working on the Moon.[51]

text: Lunar ascent and return

text: Aldrin entered Eagle first. With some difficulty the astronauts lifted film and two sample boxes containing 21.55 kilograms (47.5 lb) of lunar surface material to the LM hatch using a flat cable pulley device called the Lunar Equipment Conveyor. Armstrong reminded Aldrin of a bag of memorial items in his suit pocket sleeve, and Aldrin tossed the bag down; Armstrong then jumped to the ladder's third rung and climbed into the LM. After transferring to LM life support, the explorers lightened the ascent stage for return to lunar orbit by tossing out their PLSS backpacks, lunar overshoes, one Hasselblad camera, and other equipment. They then pressurized the LM and settled down to sleep.[52]

text:
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
In Event of Moon Disaster

text: President Nixon's speech writer William Safire had prepared In Event of Moon Disaster for the President to read on television in the event the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon.[53] The contingency plan originated in a memo from Safire to Nixon's White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman, in which Safire suggested a protocol the administration might follow in reaction to such a disaster.[54][55] According to the plan, Mission Control would "close down communications" with the LM, and a clergyman would "commend their souls to the deepest of the deep" in a public ritual likened to burial at sea. The last line of the prepared text contained an allusion to Rupert Brooke's First World War poem, "The Soldier".[55] The plan included presidential telephone calls to the astronauts' wives.

text: While moving within the cabin, Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the main engine for lift off from the Moon. There was concern this would prevent firing the engine, stranding them on the Moon. Fortunately, a felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.[52] Had this not worked, the Lunar Module circuitry could have been reconfigured to allow firing the ascent engine.[56]

text: After about seven hours of rest, the crew was awakened by Houston to prepare for the return flight. Two and a half hours later, at 17:54 UTC, they lifted off in Eagle's ascent stage to rejoin Collins aboard Columbia in lunar orbit.

text: After more than 21½ total hours on the lunar surface, they had left behind scientific instruments that included a retroreflector array used for the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment and a Passive Seismic Experiment Package used to measure moonquakes. They also left an Apollo 1 mission patch, and a memorial bag containing a gold replica of an olive branch as a traditional symbol of peace and a silicon message disk. The disk carries the goodwill statements by Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon and messages from leaders of 73 countries around the world. The disc also carries a listing of the leadership of the US Congress, a listing of members of the four committees of the House and Senate responsible for the NASA legislation, and the names of NASA's past and present top management.[57] (In his 1989 book, Men from Earth, Aldrin says that the items included Soviet medals commemorating Cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin.) Also, according to Deke Slayton's book Moonshot, Armstrong carried with him a special diamond-studded astronaut pin from Slayton.

text: Film taken from the LM Ascent Stage upon liftoff from the Moon reveals the American flag, planted some 25 feet (8 m) from the descent stage, whipping violently in the exhaust of the ascent stage engine. Aldrin looked up in time to witness the flag topple:[1] "The ascent stage of the LM separated ... I was concentrating on the computers, and Neil was studying the attitude indicator, but I looked up long enough to see the flag fall over."[18] Subsequent Apollo missions usually planted the American flags at least 100 feet (30 m) from the LM to prevent them being blown over by the ascent engine exhaust.

text: After rendezvous with Columbia, Eagle's ascent stage was jettisoned into lunar orbit on July 21, 1969, at 23:41 UTC. Just before the Apollo 12 flight, it was noted that Eagle was still likely to be orbiting the Moon. Later NASA reports mentioned that Eagle's orbit had decayed, resulting in it impacting in an "uncertain location" on the lunar surface.[58] The location is uncertain because the Eagle ascent stage was not tracked after it was jettisoned, and the lunar gravity field is sufficiently non-uniform to make the orbit of the spacecraft unpredictable after a short time. NASA estimated that the orbit had decayed within months and would have impacted on the Moon.

text: On July 23, the last night before splashdown, the three astronauts made a television broadcast in which Collins commented:

text: ... The Saturn V rocket which put us in orbit is an incredibly complicated piece of machinery, every piece of which worked flawlessly ... We have always had confidence that this equipment will work properly. All this is possible only through the blood, sweat, and tears of a number of a people ... All you see is the three of us, but beneath the surface are thousands and thousands of others, and to all of those, I would like to say, "Thank you very much."

text: Aldrin added:

text: This has been far more than three men on a mission to the Moon; more, still, than the efforts of a government and industry team; more, even, than the efforts of one nation. We feel that this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown ... Personally, in reflecting on the events of the past several days, a verse from Psalms comes to mind. "When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the Moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man that Thou art mindful of him?"

text: Armstrong concluded:

text: The responsibility for this flight lies first with history and with the giants of science who have preceded this effort; next with the American people, who have, through their will, indicated their desire; next with four administrations and their Congresses, for implementing that will; and then, with the agency and industry teams that built our spacecraft, the Saturn, the Columbia, the Eagle, and the little EMU, the spacesuit and backpack that was our small spacecraft out on the lunar surface. We would like to give special thanks to all those Americans who built the spacecraft; who did the construction, design, the tests, and put their hearts and all their abilities into those craft. To those people tonight, we give a special thank you, and to all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, God bless you. Good night from Apollo 11.[18]

text: On the return to Earth, a bearing at the Guam tracking station failed, potentially preventing communication on the last segment of the Earth return. A regular repair was not possible in the available time but the station director, Charles Force, had his ten-year-old son Greg use his small hands to reach into the housing and pack it with grease. Greg later was thanked by Armstrong.[59]

text: Splashdown and quarantine

text: On July 24, the astronauts returned home aboard the Command Module Columbia just before dawn local time (16:51 UTC[4]) at 13°19′N 169°9′W / 13.317°N 169.150°W / 13.317; -169.150 (Apollo 11 splashdown), in the Pacific Ocean 2,660 km (1,440 nmi) east of Wake Island, 380 km (210 nmi) south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 km (13 nmi) from the recovery ship, USS Hornet.[1] This is near the village of Vatia in American Samoa.[60] The American Samoa-flag which was brought to the moon by Apollo 11 is on display at the Jean P. Haydon Museum in Pago Pago, the territorial capital of American Samoa.[61]

text: At 16:44 UTC the drogue parachutes had been deployed and seven minutes later the Command Module struck the water forcefully. During splashdown, the Command Module landed upside down but was righted within 10 minutes by flotation bags triggered by the astronauts. "Everything's okay. Our checklist is complete. Awaiting swimmers", was Armstrong's last official transmission from Columbia. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to the Command Module to prevent it from drifting. Additional divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and position rafts for astronaut extraction. Though the chance of bringing back pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, it was considered a possibility and NASA took great precautions at the recovery site. Divers provided the astronauts with Biological Isolation Garments (BIGs) which were worn until they reached isolation facilities on board the Hornet. Additionally, astronauts were rubbed down with a sodium hypochlorite solution and the Command Module wiped with Betadine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The raft containing decontamination materials was then intentionally sunk.[62]

text: A second Sea King helicopter - "Helicopter 66" - hoisted the astronauts aboard one by one, where a NASA flight surgeon gave each a brief physical check during the 0.5 nautical miles (930 m) trip back to the Hornet.

text: After touchdown on the Hornet, the astronauts exited the helicopter, leaving the flight surgeon and three crewmen. The helicopter was then lowered into hangar bay #2 where the astronauts walked the 30 feet (9.1 m) to the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) where they would begin the earth-based portion of their 21 days of quarantine.[63] This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo 12 and Apollo 14, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life and the quarantine process dropped.[62][64]

text: President Richard Nixon was aboard Hornet to personally welcome the astronauts back to Earth. He told the astronauts, "As a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before."[65] After Nixon departed, the Hornet was brought alongside the five-ton Command Module where it was placed aboard by the ship's crane, placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. The Hornet sailed for Pearl Harbor where Columbia and the MQF were airlifted to the Manned Spacecraft Center.[62]

text: In accordance with the Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, a set of regulations promulgated by NASA on July 16[66] to codify its quarantine protocol, the astronauts continued in quarantine out of concern that the Moon might contain undiscovered pathogens and that the astronauts might have been exposed to them during their Moon walks. However, after three weeks in confinement (first in the Apollo spacecraft, then in their trailer on the Hornet, and finally in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center), the astronauts were given a clean bill of health.[67] On August 10, 1969, the Interagency Committee on Back Contamination met in Atlanta and lifted the quarantine on the astronauts, on those who had joined them in quarantine (NASA physician William Carpentier and MQF project engineer John Hirasaki[68]), and on Columbia itself.[69] Loose equipment from the spacecraft would remain in isolation until the lunar samples were released for study.[69]

text: Celebration

text: On August 13, they rode in parades in their honor in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.[70][71] On the same evening in Los Angeles there was an official State Dinner to celebrate the flight, attended by members of Congress, 44 governors, the Chief Justice of the United States, and ambassadors from 83 nations at the Century Plaza Hotel.[71] President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro T. Agnew honored each astronaut with a presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[71] This celebration was the beginning of a 45-day "Giant Leap" tour that brought the astronauts to 25 foreign countries and included visits with prominent leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. Many nations honored the first manned Moon landing with special features in magazines or by issuing Apollo 11 commemorative postage stamps or coins.[72][73]

text: On September 16, 1969, the three astronauts spoke before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill. They presented two US flags, one to the House of Representatives and the other to the Senate, that had been carried to the surface of the Moon with them.

text: Moon race

text: The Soviet Union had been competing with the US in landing a man on the Moon but had been hampered by repeated failures in development of a launcher comparable to the Saturn V.[74] Meanwhile, they tried to beat the US to return lunar material to the Earth by means of unmanned probes. On July 13, three days before Apollo 11's launch, they launched Luna 15, which reached lunar orbit before Apollo 11. During descent, a malfunction caused Luna 15 to crash in Mare Crisium about two hours before Armstrong and Aldrin took off from the Moon's surface to begin their voyage home. The Jodrell Bank Observatory radio telescope in England was later discovered to have recorded transmissions from Luna 15 during its descent, and this was published in July 2009 on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11.[75]

text: Spacecraft location

text: The Command Module Columbia was displayed at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), Washington, D.C. It was in the central Milestones of Flight exhibition hall in front of the Jefferson Drive entrance, sharing the main hall with other pioneering flight vehicles such as the Wright Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell X-1, the North American X-15, Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7, and Gemini 4. Armstrong's and Aldrin's space suits are displayed in the museum's Apollo to the Moon exhibit. The quarantine trailer, the flotation collar, and the righting spheres are displayed at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center annex near Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.

text: In 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) imaged the various Apollo landing sites on the surface of the Moon, for the first time with sufficient resolution to see the descent stages of the lunar modules, scientific instruments, and foot trails made by the astronauts.

text: In March 2012 a team of specialists financed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos located the F-1 engines that launched Apollo 11 into space. The engines were found below the Atlantic Ocean's surface through the use of advanced sonar scanning.[76] His team brought parts of two of the five engines to the surface. In July 2013, a conservator discovered a serial number under the rust on one of the engines raised from the Atlantic, which NASA confirmed was from the Apollo 11 launch.[77][78]

text: Columbia was moved in 2017 to the NASM Mary Baker Engen Restoration Hangar at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA, to be readied for a four-city tour titled Destination Moon: The Apollo 11 Mission. This will include Space Center Houston (October 14, 2017, to March 18, 2018), the Saint Louis Science Center (April 14 to September 3, 2018), the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh (September 29, 2018, to February 18, 2019), and the Seattle Museum of Flight (March 16 to September 2, 2019).[79][80]

text: 40th anniversary events

text: On July 15, 2009, Life.com released a photo gallery of previously unpublished photos of the astronauts taken by Life photographer Ralph Morse prior to the Apollo 11 launch.[81]

text: From July 16–24, 2009, NASA streamed the original mission audio on its website in real time 40 years to the minute after the events occurred.[82] In addition, it is in the process of restoring the video footage and has released a preview of key moments.[83]

text: On July 20, 2009, the crew of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins met with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.[84] "We expect that there is, as we speak, another generation of kids out there who are looking up at the sky and are going to be the next Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin", Obama said. "We want to make sure that NASA is going to be there for them when they want to take their journey."[85]

text: The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum set up a Flash website that rebroadcasts the transmissions of Apollo 11 from launch to landing on the Moon.[86]

text: A group of British scientists interviewed as part of the anniversary events reflected on the significance of the Moon landing:

text: It was carried out in a technically brilliant way with risks taken ... that would be inconceivable in the risk-averse world of today ... The Apollo programme is arguably the greatest technical achievement of mankind to date ... nothing since Apollo has come close [to] the excitement that was generated by those astronauts – Armstrong, Aldrin and the 10 others who followed them.[87]

text: On August 7, 2009, an act of Congress awarded the three astronauts a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award in the United States. The bill was sponsored by Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Florida Rep. Alan Grayson.[88][89]

text: In July 2010, air-to-ground voice recordings and film footage shot in Mission Control during the Apollo 11 powered descent and landing was re-synchronised and released for the first time.[90]

text: Gallery

text:
Spectators camp out to watch the launch

Seating credential issued to viewers of the Apollo 11 launch

Launch Control Center before liftoff

Collins, Aldrin and Armstrong consult with pad leader Guenter Wendt after Countdown Demonstration Test

Roll-out of Saturn V AS-505 from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad

The Earth as seen from Apollo 11 on the third day out

Play media

Neil Armstrong describes the Moon's surface before setting foot on it

Play media

President Nixon speaks to Armstrong and Aldrin from the Oval Office

The Washington Post on Monday, July 21, 1969: "'The Eagle Has Landed'—Two Men Walk on the Moon"

Neil Armstrong's certification: "I certify that this World Scout Badge was carried to the surface of the Moon on man's first lunar landing, Apollo XI, July 20, 1969."

First Man on the Moon Commemorative Issue of 1969

Apollo 11 crew at the White House in 2004