SA played its part in getting man to the moon
Nasa used the Hartebeeshoek tracking station in its space programmes and astronauts carried a supply of Pratley Putty
19 July 2019 - 05:05
July 20 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and humankind’s first footsteps on a celestial body other than Earth. The scale of this achievement should not be underestimated, nor should SA’s role in this grand endeavour be forgotten.
In 1961 when president John F Kennedy announced the goal of placing a man on the moon before the end of the decade, US astronauts had only spent a total of 15 minutes in low earth orbit using converted missile rockets. The technology necessary to get to the moon, and land on it, existed only on paper, if at all. ..
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