July 20, 1969 saw Neil Armstrong become the first man to set foot on the moon. He was an American, but Spain and Spanish scientists contributed significantly to making the Apollo 11 mission a success. To this day, the most famous space exploration words are: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. These words were first received in a small village a few kilometers west of Madrid before being broadcast to the rest of the world. Spanish space history began with a personal connection to one of the towering figures of space travel – a Hungarian with a penchant for Spain.
On July 20, 1969, people around the world sat in front of their TVs and close to their radios. Those who experienced the live broadcasts from the moon do not forget the moment when Neil Armstrong and a little bit later Buzz Aldrin as the first humans, set their feet on the moon’s surface. The landing was a triumph for the US space program led by NASA, but the Americans had outside help, amongst others from Australia and Spain.
Preparations for the lunar landing had been ongoing for a number of years, and the Cold War, in which the Soviet Union and the United States were the main opponents, was known to be a significant driving force in the race towards the moon. The rivalry between the two arch-enemies made it important to get as much publicity as possible about the moon landing. To ensure uninterrupted communication with Apollo 11 and broadcast it to viewers and listeners, NASA had established two ground stations outside the United States: one in Australia and one in Fresnedillas de la Oliva, a rather anonymous Spanish village with just over 1,500 inhabitants approx. 50 kilometers west of Madrid.
Together with NASA’s own facilities, these space monitoring stations covered the entire surface of the earth, they were located at about 120 degrees between each station. The United States under President John F. Kennedy regarded both Franco’s Spain and Australia as politically stable regimes for the purpose. In addition to the favorable location, both countries had the expertise needed to participate in the program.
Moon landing in prime time
The facility in Fresnedillas de la Oliva was part of Spain’s space program under the leadership of the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) which was started as early as 1942, not many years after General Franco had seized power.
In 1969, the station was manned by experts tasked with ensuring communications with Apollo 11, the lunar landing craft and the three people on board. The Spaniards in the command center that day were the first to hear the lunar landing craft (called The Eagle) had reached the surface of the moon, when Armstrong said, “The eagle has landed.”
The Spanish major newspaper El Pais wrote about two of the people working for NASA at INTA’s station in Fresnedillas de la Oliva that July day in 1969: José Manuel Grandela and Carlos González. Among other things, they talk about the three American astronauts’ reaction to NASA’s message that they had to take a break before getting out of the lunar landing craft because the historic lunar landing was to take place in prime time for American television viewers.
According to Carlos González, Neil Armstrong said: “I have spent years preparing for this moment. After traveling 400,000 kilometers, I have landed on the moon, not without difficulty, and now you ask me to sleep? ” You can read that article in its entirety here: How Spaniards helped the US get to the Moon.
So, one can wonder how Spain already in the 1960s could provide world-class space expertise.
Spanish connections and a Hungarian in the United States
Theodore von Karman was a superstar in the US space community for many years. He was born in Hungary in 1881, educated as an engineer and physicist, and worked at leading German universities even before the outbreak of World War I. He was drafted by the Austria-Hungarian authorities during the First World War, where he designed one of the world’s very first helicopters.
As early as the late 1920s, von Karman’s work had attracted attention in the United States as well, and in 1930 he received an invitation to become head of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, which was to develop into a world-leading research and educational institution.
During World War II, Theodore von Karman co-founded NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which was to play a key role in the development of the United States space program. Post-war, he was appointed the first chairman of the US Defense Scientific Advisory Committee, and held a number of key positions and assignments in research environments both within NATO and Western space organizations. He also enjoyed international recognition for significant advances in aerodynamics.
Theodore von Karman was well educated, intelligent and successful. He was also a man with interests far beyond his own field. He loved poetry and other literature and was widely known for his disarming demeanor. It was said he had a funny story or a quick reply for every occasion that helped calm tempers and resolve difficult situations.
When US authorities pressured von Karman and his colleagues in the space race against the Soviet Union, according to a US officer who escorted him to a top secret conference, he commented: “Everyone knows that it takes a woman nine months to have a child. But you Americans believe that if you make nine women pregnant, you can have a baby in a month”.
What does von Karman have to do with Spanish spaceflight? Von Karman was a well-traveled man and he loved Spain. In California, where he lived with his sister and mother, the home was decorated in a Spanish style and von Karman visited Spain a number of times.
As the renowned scientist he was, he gained access to heads of state and the foremost scientists both in Spain and other countries. He mediated contact between Spanish experts and scientists in many countries and emphasized to the Spanish government the value of being at the forefront of space-related sciences.
Von Karman was a person listened to in Franco’s Spain as well. In 1959-60, there was contact between NASA and the Spanish authorities. The Americans needed listening and tracking stations beyond their own borders that could ensure continuous communication with a spacecraft. Australia and Spain were elected.
Within a year the first station was operational in Maspalomas, south of Gran Canaria, but following the Americans’ first spaceflight, it was decided to transfer the station to the small Fresnedillas de la Oliva. The reason was, among other things, that there was concern about mass tourism, which began to accelerate in the Canary Islands at this time. Tourists could pose a security risk and disrupt signals.
See more of Spanish spaceflight
Although von Karman died in 1963, about six years before two of Apollo 11’s crew of three set foot on the moon, he made a decisive contribution to the success of the United States and Spain in space. Construction began in 1965 in Fresnedillas de Oliva on a facility specifically designed for manned spaceflight. Two years later, it was completed, in time to participate in the Apollo projects from numbers VII to XVII.
In 2010, a museum opened in Fresnedillas de la Oliva where visitors can learn more about space travel to which Spanish experts have contributed. The museum has, among other things, a model of a landing craft, spacesuits, footprints on the moon’s surface and much more. You can find the museum’s website here: Museo Lunar.
If you are interested in learning more about the Spanish space program, you can continue a short distance west along Highway 521 from Fresnedillas de la Oliva to the slightly larger village of Robledo de Chavela. There you will find the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC). MDSCC is part of NASA and is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) which, among other things, has designed vehicles for use on the planet Mars (Mars Rovers). As mentioned above, Theodore von Karman was one of the founders of JPL. The facilities at Robledo also carry out assignments for the European Space Agency (ESA). Groups can look around in the visitor center at MDSCC on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but tickets must be booked in advance. On weekends and at special events the museum is open to all visitors.
If you want to know more about the Spanish space program, which is headquartered in Torrejón de Ardoz northeast of Madrid, you can read more here: Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA).
And here you can read more about Spanish Aeronautical Inventions.
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