E-learning Curve Blog at Edublogs

Today, 16th July 2009 is the 40th Anniversary of the launch of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon. I’d like to commemorate this by pointing you towards some fascinating sites about the event.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m a Space nut; I believe the ongoing endeavor to explore, live, and work in space to be the epitome of the human spirit and our imperative to learn and to understand that  which is currently beyond out ken. I also share a birthdate (but not the age) with Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon and utterer of the infamous "One small step…" epigram. And because this is the E-Learning Curve Blog, I’m also going to discuss this event in the context of learning technology, particularly the role of asynchronous media in supporting cognitive events. But I’m not doing that last bit: today, I’m going to sit back and enjoy the events of July 1969.

Now read on…

The first site you can check out is the "official" NASA 40th Anniversary website, which has a variety of informative resources that will teach you about the historic mission. When you ‘land’ (sorry) on the page, you’ll find a brief of the historical events surrounding the mission, as well as a listing of anniversary events for those of you lucky enough to be close to these commemorations. To supplement its own coverage, NASA has also posted several videos of user-generated videos detailing peoples’ impressions of the lunar landing and why it was so important to them.

Next Google Moon. When you search for Apollo 11 on Google Moon, you’ll find basic information such as the astronauts’ biographies. Once you zoom in on their landing site in Mare Tranquillitatis (the Sea of Tranquility), you’ll find nearly 20 landmarks that describe everything from where the TV camera was placed, where Armstrong’s famous first footprints were left, to where location of Eagle, their Lunar Module. It also has images of all the landmarks. It’s a nice way to learn more about Apollo 11.

The Project Apollo Archive is the most extensive collection of high-quality Apollo images, featuring images scanned for Eric Jones’ Apollo Lunar Surface Journal. Many image and multimedia resources on this website are courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, specifically the NASA History Office, Kennedy Space Center and Johnson Space Center. The site also features:

• Mission Chronology
• Crews
• Spacecraft
• Diagrams and Maps
• Memorabilia
• A (very tough) Lunar Lander Simulator
• Links
• Mailing Lists / Groups

Back on Earth and in the here-and-now, Steve Eves build and launched a 1/10th Scale working model of the Saturn V rocket. This is possibly the only build of the rocket that is completely re-usable, as all the stages safely parachuted back to earth (the original rockets’ components either burned up in Earth’s atmosphere, crashed into the Moon, or are still in orbit around the Sun. 

Best of all, please check out We Choose the Moon – "an interactive experience recreating the historic Apollo 11 mission to the Moon in real time."

Using Flash, and a range of social media technologies and products, the site does an amazing job of recreating the experience of going to the Moon. As I sit here writing this blog post, I’m tuned in to the pre-launch sights and sounds. The site is Flash based, has three Twitter feeds (cleverly taking the audio from CapCom, Columbia (the command module) and Eagle (the lunar lander), as well as an Adobe Air-based desktop and FaceBook widget.

Fantastic.

Finally, if you’re of a mischievous turn of mind, check out how The Onion is remembering Phurba Dorje, the unsung hero of the lunar landing who, according to Buzz Aldrin "…was as much a member of that team as anyone. Probably more than [Michael] Collins was."

Normal service tomorrow: just going to enjoy myself at We Choose the Moon today!
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