Tranquility Base

Site selection

For more than two years, NASA planners considered a collection of 30 potential sites for the first crewed landing. Based on high-resolution photographs taken by the Lunar Orbiter spacecraft, and photos and data taken by the uncrewed Surveyor landers, this list was narrowed down to five sites located near the lunar equator. They ranged between 45 degrees east and west, and 5 degrees north and south of the center of the Moon's facing side. They were numbered 1 to 5, going from east to west. Site number 2, centered at , was the Sea of Tranquility site ultimately chosen.{{cite press release Since a precision landing was not expected on the first mission, the target area was an ellipse measuring 11.5 mi east and west by 3.0 mi north and south.

On the landing, a combination of thrust from residual pressure in the docking tunnel that connected the Lunar Module with the command module Columbia in orbit, and an imperfect understanding of the Moon's uneven gravitational field, resulted in navigation errors which pushed the powered descent initiation point about 3 mi, and thus the computer-targeted landing spot about 4 mi, downrange (west) of the planned target. The automated targeting system was taking Eagle toward what Armstrong described as a "football-field sized crater, with a large number of big boulders and rocks for about one or two crater diameters around it", which he avoided by assuming manual control and flying a bit farther downrange. The landing was still within the target ellipse.

Name

thumb|Armstrong pilots the [[Lunar Module Eagle|Apollo Lunar Module Eagle]] and lands on the Moon, July 20, 1969, creating Tranquility Base

Armstrong announced the name of the site at 20:17:58 UTC, approximately 18 seconds after his and Aldrin's successful landing, as he announced:

During training, Armstrong and Aldrin had exclusively used the callsign "Eagle" in simulated ground conversations, both before and after landing. Armstrong and Aldrin decided on using "Tranquility Base" just before the flight, telling only Capsule Communicator Charles Duke before the mission, so Duke would not be taken by surprise.

The name has become a permanent designation for the site. Although the name was designated by the Apollo astronauts, the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes the designation "Tranquility Base". It is listed on lunar maps as Statio Tranquillitatis, conforming to the standard use of Latin for lunar place names.

Status

right|thumb|The [[Lunar plaque|plaque left at Tranquility Base]] on the Lunar Module Descent Stage which commemorates the first crewed lunar landing (photographed by Neil Armstrong)

About 100 artificial objects, as well as footprints left by Armstrong and Aldrin, remain at Tranquility Base, and Armstrong commented that during the launch of ''Eagle'''s ascent stage he could see "Kapton and other parts on the LM staging scattering all around the area for great distances." The descent stage of the Lunar Module remains at the original point of landing. According to Aldrin (with apparent confirmation from later Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photos), the US flag planted at the site during their moonwalk was blown over by the ascent rocket exhaust, but remains on the surface of the Moon. A laser reflector was placed at the site to allow precise ongoing measurements of the distance to the Moon from Earth. A solar-powered seismometer was also left to measure moonquakes, but this stopped functioning after 21 days. A disc containing the Apollo 11 goodwill messages was left at the site, and various gear that was no longer needed for the return phase of the mission—including Aldrin's boots—was left behind to lighten the craft for return to lunar orbit.

As the site of the first human landing on an extraterrestrial body, Tranquility Base has cultural and historic significance. The U.S. states of California and New Mexico have listed it on their heritage registers, since their laws require only that listed sites have some association with the state. Texas has not granted similar status to the site, despite the location of Mission Control in Houston, as its historic preservation laws limit such designations to properties located within the state. The U.S. National Park Service has declined to grant it National Historic Landmark status to avoid violating the Outer Space Treaty's prohibition on any nation claiming sovereignty over any extraterrestrial body. It has not been proposed as a World Heritage Site since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which oversees that program, limits nations to submitting sites within their own borders.

Interest in according the site some formal protection grew in the early 21st century with the announcement of the Google Lunar X Prize for private corporations to successfully build spacecraft and reach the Moon; a $1 million bonus was offered for any competitor that visited a historic site on the Moon. One team, led by Astrobotic Technology, announced it would attempt to land a craft at Tranquility Base. Although it canceled those plans, the ensuing controversy led NASA to request that any other missions to the Moon, private or governmental, human or robotic, keep a distance of at least 75 m from the site.

In 2020, the One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act was enacted, protecting Tranquility Base and other Apollo landing sites from damage from US-licensed space activity.

Gallery

Apollo 11 landing site 5076 med.jpg|Lunar Orbiter 5 image from 1967, cropped to show the vicinity of the landing site of Apollo 11, used in mission planning. The image is centered precisely on a small crater called West crater (190 m in diameter), and the Lunar Module Eagle touched down about 550 m west of West Crater. The area shown is approximately 25 km × 25 km across. Apollo 11 landing site 5076 h3.jpg|High-resolution Lunar Orbiter 5 image cropped to show the landing site of Apollo 11. The landing site is indicated by a red dot. The prominent crater at right is called West crater and is about 190 m in diameter. Apollo11-LRO-March2012.jpg|Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photo taken March 7, 2012. The Lunar Module descent stage, Laser Ranging RetroReflector, and Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package can be clearly seen. The craters Little West (at right) and Double (left of LM) are also shown. Buzz Aldrin's bootprint on the Moon, AS11-40-5877.jpg | Buzz Aldrin's footprint at Tranquility Base (photograph by Aldrin) Double aldrin huggin stich2.jpg|Composite image of Double crater, a few meters from Eagle. Photos by Aldrin. Little west Crater composite.jpg|Composite image of Little West Crater, app. 60 meters from Eagle. Photos by Armstrong. Apollo 15 Hasselblad image from film magazine 97 O - lunar orbit view.jpg|Orbital photo from Apollo 15 showing the landing site just below center. The bright crater is Moltke.

In popular culture

Tranquility Base has been depicted in many books, films and television shows, such as in the 1996 novel The Tranquillity Alternative by Allen Steele, the 1998 mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, the 2015 series The Astronaut Wives Club, and the 2018 film First Man.

Tranquility Base is referenced in "Boat on the River" (". . . all roads lead to Tranquility Base...") by the American Rock band Styx, from their 1979 album Cornerstone.

Tranquility Base is referenced in indie rock band Arctic Monkeys' 2018 album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, as the location of a hotel and casino.

Notes

References

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9. [https://history.nasa.gov/afj/ap11fj/21day6-tei.html Apollo 11 Flight Journal – Day 6 part 4: Trans-Earth Injection]. History.nasa.gov (15 March 2011). Retrieved on 2012-04-28.
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11. "NASA Looks to Protect Historic Sites on the Moon". [[Smithsonian (magazine).
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13. Chang, Kenneth. (January 10, 2012). "To Preserve History on the Moon, Visitors Are Asked to Tread Lightly". [[The New York Times]].
14. ''One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act'' {{USStatute. 116. 275. 134. 3357. 2020. 12. 31
15. (July 18, 2019). "Inside the Fight to Save the Moon's Historic Sites".
16. Breihan, Tom. (May 10, 2018). "Premature Evaluation: Arctic Monkeys Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino". [[Stereogum]].