Apollo 11 Moon Landing Published on State Library of NSW (https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au)

CollectionExhibition

A membership card for the First Moon Flights Club

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Membership card for the Pan-Am 'First Moon Flights Club' 1969

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Apollo 11 Moon Landing Published on State Library of NSW (https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au)

es\/default\/files\/styles\/large\/slnswrosetta\/FL14237581?itok=rq6Uf_PN","responsive__quarter_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__quarter_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14237581?itok=J72fGmKT","responsive__half_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__half_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14237581?itok=korr48qa","responsive__full_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__full_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14237581?itok=8AB6cWuf"},"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/digital.sl.nsw.gov.au\/delivery\/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=FL14237581&dps_func=stream","mediaMime":"image\/jpeg","transcriptUrl":null,"width":"3500","height":"2507"} View collection item detail [3]FL14237581

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On 20 July 1969 the Apollo 11 spaceflight became the first in history to land humans on the surface of themoon. The mission was the peak of the space race that began in the 1950s between Cold War rivals the UnitedStates and the Soviet Union.

Pan American Airways accepted the first ‘reservation’ for future flights to the moon in 1964 from Austrianjournalist Gerhard Pistor. Almost 100,000 people around the world joined the Pan Am waiting list called ‘FirstMoon Flights Club’. Although no deposits were required, tickets were strictly non-transferable, and details werescant. Would-be passengers receiving their tickets in the mail were advised that there was no date as-yet, andfares ‘may be out of this world’.

After travelling for 76 hours and 240,000 miles from Earth to the lunar surface, Neil Armstrong took his historic stepfor mankind on 21 July 1969. With Buzz Aldrin joining him 19 minutes later, the astronauts spent just over twohours walking on the moon, collecting samples and data while pilot Michael Collins flew the command moduleColumbia in lunar orbit. They returned to Earth after more than eight days in space, splashing down in the PacificOcean on 24 July 1969.

The dramatic re-entry of Apollo 11 into the Earth’s atmosphere was witnessed by 82 passengers and crewtravelling on Qantas Flight 596 over the mid Pacific Ocean. Their bird’s eye view lasted 3 minutes and 46seconds, with Captain Frank A. Brown providing detailed commentary that was relayed to radio stations around

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Apollo 11 Moon Landing Published on State Library of NSW (https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au)

Australia. Passengers also dined from the special lunar-themed menu and were presented with a commemorativecertificate bearing a reproduction of the plaque placed on the moon.

FL14239976 [4]

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Copy of plaque placed on the moon by Apollo 11 astronauts, July 1969{"type":"image","clickUrl":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/collection-items\/copy-plaque-placed-moon-apollo-11-astronauts","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=eZlwZ6LD","thumbnailLarge":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/large\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=uWZZfIJE","mediaDerivativeUrls":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/thumbnail\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=eZlwZ6LD","large":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/file

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Apollo 11 Moon Landing Published on State Library of NSW (https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au)

s\/styles\/large\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=uWZZfIJE","responsive__quarter_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__quarter_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=5WxUud6n","responsive__half_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__half_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=tHCv7jka","responsive__full_hd":"https:\/\/www.sl.nsw.gov.au [2]\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/responsive__full_hd\/slnswrosetta\/FL14239976?itok=y4ACY-QX"},"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/digital.sl.nsw.gov.au\/delivery\/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=FL14239976&dps_func=stream","mediaMime":"image\/jpeg","transcriptUrl":null,"width":"3500","height":"2739"} View collection item detail [5]FL14239976

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Not long after returning to Earth, the three astronauts embarked on a 37-day ‘Giant Leap’ world tour spanning 24countries. The Apollo 11 astronauts made a brief 2-hour stop in Perth before visiting Sydney on 1 November 1969.Greeted at the airport by Prime Minister Gorton, the astronauts managed to fit in a news conference, civicreception, motorcade, luncheon and film narration at the Wentworth Hotel, before departing for Guam on 2November.

An estimated 600 million people around the globe (20 per cent of the world’s population at the time) watched orlistened to the lunar landing broadcast. It was covered extensively by media and splashed across the pages ofnewspapers and magazines.

The Library holds a range of material relating to the Apollo 11 mission, reflecting Australia's excitement andfascination in the space race as it happened.

Maria Savvidis, Curator, State Library of New South Wales

Source URL:https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/blogs/apollo-11-moon-landing#comment-0

Links[1] https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/printpdf/179276 [2] http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au [3] https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/membership-card-pan-am-first-moon-flights-club [4] https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/files/images/fl14239976 [5]https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/copy-plaque-placed-moon-apollo-11-astronauts

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