New Delhi: With celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, which sent man to the Moon for the first time, underway, the Press Information Bureau of India has shared a series of press releases that show how India commemorated the achievement. The Apollo 11 mission, with its crew of Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins, was launched on July 16, 1969 and ended eight days later, on July 24. The Moon-landing itself happened on July 20.
#FromPIBArchives : #MoonLanding50
: The historic landing of #Apollo11 on the #moon on July 20, fifty years ago, left footprints on our press releases from that period as well.They ranged from announcement of a commemorative stamp, special programmes, to an official statement pic.twitter.com/Iko8twhSwF— PIB India (@PIB_India) July 19, 2019
The first press release, issued on July 21, 1969 – a day after Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the natural satellite – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hailed the mission as “one of the most exciting and significant moments in the history of man”. (Interestingly, the press releases contain Indian calendar dates, too: July 21, 1969 is also recorded as Asadha 30, 1891.)
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Gandhi’s message celebrates the “irrepressible spirit of man”, which she says “leaps from one celestial body to another in a small vehicle of its own making”. She also says the moment calls for some humility and self-search. “Has man who seeks heavenly suburbs, made his own Earth more habitable, friendly and beautiful? Let us direct this power of man which soars starwards into strengthening the bonds of peace and brotherhood on Earth.”
On the next day, July 22, 1969 (Asadha 31, 1891), another press release announces that the All India Radio will broadcast a discussion on the Moon landing. The discussion, in English, was titled ‘Flight To Moon’ and was broadcast on July 23 at 9:45 pm. Participants in the discussion included planning commission member B.D. Nag Chaudhury, Solid-State Physics Laboratory director S.C. Jain, National Physical Laboratory scientist V.G. Bhide and Delhi University professor F.C. Auluck.
A fortnight later, on August 7, 1969 (Sravana 16, 1891), the PIB says the films division newsreel will present the “significance of man’s footsteps on the Moon” in a “vivid manner”. The newsreel, titled ‘Footprints on the Moon’ was released on August 8, and also covered the visit of US President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat Ryan to India.
In the last of the press releases shared by the bureau, the posts and telegraph department announced on November 2, 1969 (Kartika 11, 1891) that, to commemorate the “epoch making achievement of moon landing”, it would release a special stamp on November 19.
The 20-paise stamp was to be printed in raw sienna colour, with a vertical design, according to the department. “It will depict a man on the moon’s surface. A part of space and the earth will be shown in the background.”
The stamp’s release date (November 19, 1969) was planned to coincide with the Apollo 12 mission’s scheduled landing on the Moon. This mission – carrying astronauts Charles Conrad Jr, Richard F. Gordon Jr and Alan L. Bean – was launched on November 14 and also completed its mission successfully.
In the background information provided by the press release, it remarks that 15 years before the landing happened, “talk of sending man to the moon would have been dismissed as ‘moon-shine'”.