"That is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Photo: NASA (UIT 760583)
"That is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Photo: NASA (UIT 760583)
"The Eagle has landed", declared Neil Armstrong as the Apollo lunar module "Eagle" touched down on the Moon, marking the most spectacular conquest of space by humankind — a conquest many claim would never have been possible without the radio.
Thirty years ago, on 20 July 1969, at 20 h 17 min 40 s, explorers from Earth, Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. ("Buzz") Aldrin, landed on the Moon. In lunar orbit in the ferry spacecraft which would return them to Earth, was Michael Collins.
Less than seven hours later, at 02 h 56 min 19 s UT on 21 July, Armstrong cautiously placed his foot on the Moon as he stepped off the Eagle. "That is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Minutes later Aldrin joined Armstrong on the surface. They spent more than two hours on the lunar surface, taking photographs, collecting rock and soil samples and deploying scientific instruments; 21 kg of the Moon were collected for return to Earth.
The mission to the Moon began in May 1961, when President John F. Kennedy pledged to place a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth before that decade was out.
At that time, only one American had even approached the threshold of space. Astronaut Alan Shepard on 5 May 1961 in a 15-minute sub-orbital flight reached an altitude of 187 km.
One Soviet spaceman, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, earlier on 12 April 1961, had completed a single orbit of the Earth.
Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon
Photo: NASA (ITU 760584)
Six Mercury flights between 1961 and 1963 proved human beings could survive in space; ten manned Earth-orbiting Gemini flights in 1965 and 1966 proved human beings could work in space, that they could control spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with another, that they could stay in space for up to two weeks and that they could work outside the spacecraft and do meaningful work on these "space walks".
Three unmanned flights, testing the Saturn-1B rocket and Apollo command and service modules, were also conducted.
Each flight built on the experience and knowledge of the previous flight. Government and industry learned to organize and manage the ground-based facilities and human resources needed to support this national effort.
Unmanned Apollo flights were made to test the Saturn-5 Moon rocket and the lunar module. Manned flights began with Apollo-7 when astronauts Walter Schirra, Don Eisele and Walter Cunningham orbited the Earth in an Apollo command module for ten days beginning 11 October 1968.
In December 1968, on the first manned flight of the Saturn-5, following only two unmanned flights of the rocket, astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first men to go out to the Moon. Their mission, flown without the lunar module, completed ten orbits of the Moon on 25 and 26 December.
Two more manned Apollo-Saturn-5 flights ¾ Apollo-9 with astronauts James McDivitt, David Scott and Russell Schweickart which tested the full Apollo spacecraft and rendezvous and docking techniques in Earth orbit and Apollo-10 with astronauts Thomas Stafford, John Young and Eugene Cernan which tested the system in orbit about the Moon — paved the way for Apollo-11.
Objective of Apollo-11 was stated simply: "Perform a manned lunar landing and return".
Nearly 400 000 people in industry and government had worked towards this moment. At 13 h 32 UT, 16 July 1969, the world watched as Apollo-11, with its crew of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, lifted off Earth.
Four days later Apollo-11 was circling the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin entered the lunar module Eagle, and Collins was left alone in the command module Columbia.
A few minutes later, the Eagle began the two-hour descent to the surface.
Armstrong and Aldrin were on the Moon for 21 hours and 36 minutes. They lifted off at 17 h 54 UT on 21 July. After joining command module pilot Collins in the Moon-orbiting Columbia, the Apollo-11 crewmen set out for their home planet.
Landing was in the Pacific Ocean at 16 h 50 min 35 s UT on 24 July. President Richard Nixon, who had talked by telephone to Armstrong and Aldrin while they were on the Moon, was aboard the recovery ship USS Hornet to greet the Moon explorers.
The national goal established by President Kennedy was met. Twice before the end of the 1960s, humankind explored the lunar surface.
Those two landings and the four that followed in the early 1970s gave lunar scientists around the world a variety of sample material, photographs, and electronic data that are still being studied to learn yet more about the Moon.
The team of Apollo-11: from left to right, Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin
Photo: NASA (ITU 760593)
Apollo, in early planning, was scheduled for ten landing attempts; but one and then two more were cancelled because of cuts in NASA funding. Apollo's final cost was USD 25 billion. Some of the preliminary findings from Apollo include:
End-of-Apollo data did not rule out any of the three major theories on the Moon's origin: separation, capture from circumsolar orbit, or formation from a dust cloud surrounding Earth.
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* This text is adapted from a story from the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), published in August 1979 in what was then the Telecommunication Journal, Vol. 46, No. VIII, pages 464–465. |
Ilija Stojanovic
Photo: A. de Ferron
Celebrating two anniversaries in the same year is quite an achievement in itself. And doing so as a tireless "Master Class Chairman" must surely add special value to that achievement. On 31 August 1999, Ilija Stojanovic celebrated his 75th birthday and fifty years of scientific work.
As an outstanding expert in telecommunications, Mr Stojanovic has closely associated his professional career with ITU activities, a link from which ITU has benefited greatly. There is something symbolic in this association: Mr Stojanovic was born in the vicinity of Nikola Tesla's birthplace, and ITU largely exploits the benefits of the wireless transfer of energy, one of the numerous undertakings of Mr Tesla.
Mr Stojanovic first participated in an ITU conference in Stockholm in 1961 (European VHF/UHF Broadcasting Conference), participation which can be placed in a symbolic context. The plan and the associated provisions for television broadcasting, established by that conference, are still in force as a rare example of a long-standing international instrument which has remained relevant in an environment characterized by rapid technological change. In fact the change is so rapid that, in some cases, no sooner has a decision been taken than it becomes obsolete.
Mr Stojanovic's path to becoming a Master Class Chairman can be traced back to 1984, when he brilliantly chaired the Planning Committee of the Regional Administrative Conference for FM sound broadcasting in the VHF band (for Region 1 and certain countries in Region 3), held in Geneva. This is the conference that modified the part of the Stockholm Agreement (1961) dealing with VHF/FM sound broadcasting.
In 1985, he was elected Chairman of the First Session of the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) on the use of the geostationary-satellite orbit and the planning of the space services utilizing it. Better known as WARC ORB-85, this conference adopted the broadcasting-satellite service (BSS) plan and the associated BSS feeder links plan for Region 2. These plans are still in force and are still responding to the needs of the user community, despite the new challenges emerging almost every day.
In 1988, he was elected Chairman of the Second Session of the World Administrative Radio Conference on the use of the geostationary-satellite orbit and the planning of the space services utilizing it. More popularly known as WARC ORB-88, this conference had numerous tasks: to adopt a BSS feeder links plan for Regions 1 and 3, as well as an allotment plan for the fixed-satellite service for all three regions in several frequency bands. It also had to establish the associated regulatory framework to govern the use of the relevant frequency bands with a view to guaranteeing to all countries, in practice, equitable access to the geostationary-satellite orbit and the frequency bands allocated to space services.
These subjects were so complex that, at one moment, it seemed unlikely the conference would come up with results. However, Mr Stojanovic's tact made it possible to reach decisions on all subjects to the great satisfaction of the ITU membership.
As a university professor teaching the fundamentals of telecommunications for nearly forty years, he participated in many meetings of the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR), which became ITU's Radiocommunication Sector (ITU–R) in 1993.
In 1986, he was elected Chairman of the XVIth Plenary Assembly of the CCIR held in Dubrovnik. If some of the participants in ITU–R activities today still remember the radiance of this jewel of the Adriatic, it is thanks, in part, to the efficiency of the Chairman who succeeded in handling all the issues on the agenda professionally and expeditiously, leaving time for participants to explore the secrets of the local gastronomy and to enjoy the magic of the Dalmatian coast.
As a man with a vision, he took part in several activities dealing with the structural reforms of the Union. Firstly, as Chairman of the ITU Panel of Experts on the long-term future of the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB) from 1986 to 1988, known today as the Radio Regulations Board (RRB). Secondly, as a member of the High Level Committee on the review of the structure and functioning of ITU (1990–1991).
Some of the recommendations of these two bodies culminated in the adoption, by the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference (Geneva, 1992), of structural changes to the Union. In fact, as an ongoing process, the functioning and structure of the Union are under permanent review. A recent example of this is the decision by the 1999 session of the ITU Council (14–25 June) to set up a new working group to continue the review process.
The author of this article announcing the football teams during a match at the Geneva stadium between the ITU staff and delegates to WARC ORB-88. Mr Stojanovic ready for the kick-off
From left to right: Alberto Méndez (Radiocommunication Bureau), Dusan Schuster (Strategic planning and external affairs unit), Celso Azevedo (ex-IFRB), Roberto Blois (presently Deputy Secretary-General of the ITU) and Jorge De Angelis (Radiocommunication Bureau)
As a proven analyst with an in-depth knowledge of radiocommunication services and their evolution, he participated in the Voluntary Group of Experts (VGE) on the simplification of the Radio Regulations (1991–1994). The VGE reviewed the overall concept of the international radio regulatory arrangement and proposed recommendations that have been implemented through the decisions of the 1995 and 1997 World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC).
Here again, new developments require permanent review and the Plenipotentiary Conference (Minneapolis, 1998) in its Resolution 86 requested WRC-2000 and all subsequent WRCs to continually review and update the elements of the ITU radio regulatory framework dealing with the coordination of satellite networks.
Mr Stojanovic's activities in other international forums dealing with telecommunications are equally impressive. He is renowned for his active role in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (particularly the 1978 and 1979 sessions of the committee in New York) and in the Inter-governmental Conference (Paris, 1982) for establishing the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization (EUTELSAT).
As Chairman of the Frequency Allocations Committee (Committee 5) of WARC-79, the marathon conference that lasted three months (September–December 1979), I had the opportunity to experience personally, the expertise, competence and kindness of Mr Stojanovic. At the Regional Administrative Conference for broadcasting in 1984 and WARC ORB-85 and ORB-88, I was delighted to work with him directly, as technical secretary of these three major ITU conferences and appreciated his professionalism, tact and diplomacy.
A toast to you Mr Stojanovic for devoting so much of your time to telecommunications and to steering ITU activities deftly and diligently.
Best wishes for a long and happy continuation both in your private and professional activities.