» Episode 24 – One Small Step

On July 20, 1969, one of the greatest accomplishments in human history was witnessed around the world, when NASA’s Apollo 11 astronaut Crew successfully landed its Eagle Lunar Lander on the surface of the moon. As the dust settled, the astronauts peered out the double-paned, triangular windows of their landing craft and witnessed a desolate, grey plain littered with rocks, craggy knolls, and rolling hills. This pale, lifeless wasteland contrasted sharply with the inky black expanse of space.

Climbing down the steps, testing the soil, and then planting both feet on the lunar soil, Astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first steps. He was the first human to step foot on the moon.

As a tribute to these brave astronauts and in the spirit of adventure and exploring roads less travelled, or in this case – roads as of yet never travelled – let’s take a trip around our solar system. We will speculate what it would be like to walk around on the surface of other planets and moons.

Eagle lunar lander touches down on the moon

Neil Armstrong taking his first steps on the moon

Our solar system

WP [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Harman Smith and Laura Generosa (nee Berwin), graphic artists and contractors to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with Pluto removed by User:Frokor [Public domain]

The Moon

**Source:** NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Surface of the Moon

Photo of the Chinese Yutu rover on the Moon’s surface in 2013

**Source:** *Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration/The Science and Application Center for Moon and Deepspace Exploration/Emily Lakdawalla*

Photo of lander unit taken by the Yutu rover

Mercury

**Source:** *NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington*

Surface craters of Mercury

Artist impressions of Mercury surface

View of the Sun from Mercury (artistic rendition)

Venus

Venus with cover of clouds

Venus without cover of clouds

Photo of Venus surface taken by Soviet Venera 13 probe

View of the Sun from Venus (artistic rendition)

3-D radar image (color enhanced) of Maxwell Montes on Venus

**Source:** Southern Methodist University

Mars

Pictures and self-portraits of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover showing the surface of Mars

Mars Curiosity rover simulator: https://eyes.nasa.gov/curiosity/

View of the Sun from Mars (artistic rendition)

Olympus Mons

Jupiter and moons

Jupiter

Artistic renditions of surface of Jupiter

Jupiter’s huge storm, the “great red spot”

**Source:** *NASA / JPL-Caltech / Björn Jónsson*

Image comparing size of Earth to Jupiter’s red spot

**Source:** NASA/SwRI/MSSS/Gerald Eichstädt/Seán Doran/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

Io (moon of Jupiter)

**Source:** NASA / JPL / University of Arizona [Public domain]

View of Jupiter from Io’s surface (artistic renditions)

Ganymede (moon of Jupiter)

Ganymede’s surface (artistic renditions)

Europa (moon of Jupiter)

Simulated view of Europa’s surface (artistic rendition)

View of the Sun and Jupiter from Europa (artistic rendition)

Callisto (moon of Jupiter)

**Source:** NASA/JPL/DLR(German Aerospace Center) [Public domain]

Craters on surface of Callisto (artistic rendition)

Ice spires on Callisto’s surface (artistic rendition)

Artist’s impression of a base on Callisto

Music Credits:

“Also sprach Zarathustra,” Op. 30 – Richard Strauss
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor “Quasi una fantasia”, a.k.a. Moonlight Sonata – Ludwig van Beethoven
“Oh Canada” – National Anthem of Canada
All other music from the YouTube Audio Library and the Immortal Soles Podcast

The Moon

Mercury

Venus

Mars

Jupiter and moons

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