Cheshire Memories: You could follow in Armstrong and Aldrin's footsteps and send a message to the moon

By Crewe Chronicle on Jul 8, 09 11:38 AM in 1900-1999

FORTY years ago on July 21, 1969, more than half a billion people watched in awe as Neil Armstrong took 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind' as he became the first man to step on to the Moon.

And as those first grainy black and white TV images of the Apollo 11 mission were broadcast around the world, NASA scientists were relying on South Cheshire's eye in the sky, Jodrell Bank Observatory, to track the lunar module on the Moon's surface.

Scientists at the Goostrey centre were able to pick up signals from the Moon and ensure that one of the defining moments of the 20th Century went according to plan
A Jodrell Bank spokesman said: "With the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing fast approaching, it is a fitting time to look back at a defining moment for the observatory and. indeed, our generation.

"At the time of the landings the Lovell Telescope was being used to track the Russian Lunar spacecraft and it was our original 50ft telescope that was used to track Apollo 11 and Eagle. It was able to calculate the Eagle's landing position and observe the deviations in the flight path due to Armstrong taking control of the craft."

The historic images beamed back from the Moon were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong.

He stepped on to the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 2.56am, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.

He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep.

Born out of the radar experiments of the Second World War, Sir Bernard Lovell's Jodrell Bank has played an unrivalled role in British space exploration since it was established in the 1950s. The telescope now scans the Universe looking at black holes, exploding stars and any space activity.

The centre is commemorating the first Moon landing with a family Moonbeam Day on Sunday, July 19.

From noon, there will be presentations by special guests, including Professor Colin Pillinger, one of the few Britons who worked on the Apollo programme, and Sir Bernard Lovell.

There will also be exclusive messages from astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Professor Stephen Hawking, plus rocket workshops for children and planetarium shows.
To mark the special anniversary the centre is offering star-gazers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to send their voices to the moon. If there is extraterrestrial life out there, what would you say to them?

The writers of the best five entries will be invited to read their messages and hear them turned into radio signals, transmitted towards the Moon and reflected off its surface.

After travelling through space at the speed of light, the returning signals will be caught just a few seconds later using the giant Lovell Telescope.

The winners will also get an exclusive tour of the magnificent telescope.

You can post your entries by logging on to www.direct.gov.uk/sciencesowhat.

For tickets for Moonbeam Day at Jodrell Bank on Sunday, July 19, priced £4 adults and £2 children, phone 01477 571339.

The picture shows Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin plant the US flag on the Moon in images beamed back to Earth by South Cheshire's Jodrell Bank Observatory.

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