(Friedrich Friedli, HB9TNA)
July 20, 1969, 50 years ago, first landed people on a foreign celestial body, the moon. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to put their boots in the moon dust, leaving their famous footprints behind.
The first moon landing 50 years ago burned into the collective memory of humanity, it was a spectacle of engineering.
On millions of TV screens worldwide - at that time still a relatively new technology - but also on the radio, spectators and radio listeners watched in live the event never thought possible by many people.
The question arises as to how the astronauts were able to send TV signals from the moon back to Earth. While preparing for our amateur radio exam, we had studied the behavior of the electromagnetic waves and understood that the shortwave from the ionosphere to the earth are reflected. As far as can be remembered, the microwaves at that time were not or hardly used for communication purposes. So how did the Apollo team succeed in broadcasting TV signals from space and communicating with radio operations in Houston via radio signals?
HB4FR, the amateur radio club of the military aviation museum "Clin d'Ailes" in Payerne VD, not only posed this question on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. He therefore decided to openly attend to these and other interesting questions as part of a memorial day of the event, one of the greatest triumphs of humanity. How was it that the first emblem of a country on the moon was the Swiss coat of arms? What triggered the first moon landing of people in space research, what has happened in this regard to this day, and what will happen next? What have Swiss industry and research contributed to Apollo 11?
These are many interesting questions that will be answered on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at the Military Air Force Museum «Clin d'Ailes».
The visitor receives answers to these questions during three lectures in the national languages German and French as well as through an exhibition.
- Dr. André Galli, space physicist at the University of Bern, will talk about "The Apollo 11 Solar Wind Composition Experiment" (SWC) and other highlights of space research at the University of Bern ».
- Lorenz Born, HB9DTN, Engineer Mobile Terminal Equipment, will, not for the first time, highlight the topic of "Apollo Telecommunications System and On-Board Computer".
- Claude Nicollier, HB9CN, astronaut, astrophysicist and professor EPFL, co-founder of the "Clin d'Ailes" museum and its President-in-Office, will showcase the «space flight to Apollo 11 to today» and dare to "look ahead to the future of space travel".
In addition, the visitor has the opportunity to participate in interactive activities, e.g. replacing astronaut Neil Armstrong by making a virtual moon landing, or in the lunar orbit, in the place of astronaut Michael Collins to pilot the Apollo 11 command module.
Hunger and thirst will probably arise on this interesting day. HB4FR and the museum crew will do both better than quenching them with MRE (Meals Ready to Eat, the freeze-dried astronaut meals) and recycled water.
HB4FR believes that the first moon landing of humans, which began as a race between the superpowers and has become one of the greatest triumphs of humanity and engineering, deserves to be recalled fifty years later. On Saturday, October 12, 2019, in the military aviation museum "Clin d'Ailes" in Payerne VD.
Please refer to the german or french pages for the detailed and final program