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Apollo 11 engines found and recovered from 4km deep

 

Hey, Moon Landing Deniers… here’s an interesting tid-bit and an epic project. The historic engines that propelled Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on their trip to the moon (with Michael Collins orbiting above them) have not only been found but recovered. These F-1 engines fell back to Earth at 5,000 miles per hour and sank four kilometers underwater in the Atlantic. (The Apollo 11 crew splashed down later in the Pacific on July 24, 1969.)

It was not immediately clear when or where the objects might be displayed, but Mr Bezos said when he launched the project last year that he hoped they could be viewed at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The engines that rocketed astronaut Neil Armstrong and his crew toward the moon in 1969 were located deep in the Atlantic Ocean using sophisticated sonar equipment.

These were recovered with private money.

Mr Bezos used private funds to raise the F-1 engines from their resting places 4,267 metres below the surface of the ocean, even though he has maintained that they remain the property of NASA.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden welcomed the news.

“This is a historic find and I congratulate the team for its determination and perseverance in the recovery of these important artefacts of our first efforts to send humans beyond Earth orbit,” he said.

“We look forward to the restoration of these engines by the Bezos team and applaud Jeff’s desire to make these historic artefacts available for public display.”

Buzz Aldrin, second man to walk on the Moon, is a skeptic. When he was ambushed by a moon-landing denier, he punched him.

Neil A. Armstrong,  Michael Collins, and Buzz. Aldrin Jr. 1969

UPDATE: I hear a rumor that because the serial numbers are eroded it’s not possible to confirm exactly which rocket they were attached too… wait and see. (Thanks Anton and Snafu).

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