Where It All Began: The Apollo 11 Launchpad 39A

July 16, 2009

40 years ago today (July 16), the awesome Apollo 11 Saturn V blasted off from Launchpad 39A, sending Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon and into the history books. Four short days later, the crew of Apollo 11 would arrive on the lunar surface, captivating the world and ejecting mankind into a new era. This was the first time man had ever set foot on another world, and another five would follow. Unfortunately, 1972 is the last time man stood on the lunar regolith. Will the launch pads at the Cape play host to the next big lunar missions soon? Only time will tell...

From NASA's Earth Observatory:

On June 9, 2002, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite captured this true-color image of launch pad 39A and neighboring pad 39B. Both launch pads sport networks of buff-colored roadways dissecting marshy fields. At the center of each launch pad, roads converge and support buildings cluster. Outside the launch pads, vegetation is deep green, thanks to the warm, humid local climate. Sunlight bounces off the rippling waves of the Atlantic Ocean, and illuminates the relatively smooth surfaces of the inland water bodies on the cape. A white wave breaks along the cape’s shore.