A panorama of the surface of the Moon as viewed by the Apollo 17 mission (December 1972). Ever wonder if these astronauts ever fell down on the job? We might have an answer... (NASA)
50 years ago today — July 20, 1969 — Neil Armstrong made history by becoming the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon. Then he fell on his bum...
Haha, just kidding. Then he said the words: That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.
Next, Neil's partner Buzz Aldrin joined him on the surface, and the pair planted an American flag and had a walk around. You can see some of these moments in the video below.
It's still pretty incredible right? But did you notice a little warning from Neil in the video? It happens at 0:56, when he says, "You do have to be rather careful to keep track of where your centre of mass is. Sometimes it takes about two or three paces to make sure that you've got your feet underneath you."
In other words, if you're not careful walking on the Moon, you might, you know, fall on your bum! Maybe some of the other astronauts in the Apollo program should have taken note of that...
ApolloooOOOOOOPS!
Human crews would travel to the Moon five more times (Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, 17). All of these astronauts were brave, skilled, and achieved a feat that hasn't been tried again for 47 years. (Though that may change soon...)
But that doesn't mean that they always kept their feet. In fact, just as Neil warned, they fell down a lot. So join us in celebrating this incredible event with this video of Apollo astronauts taking a spill!
Happy Moon landing day, every—whoah!
Hahaha 😆