Education companies Encyclopaedia Britannica and Seymour & Lerhn have released free-to-access resource for schools, exploring the story of the 1969 Moon landing.
Encyclopaedia Britannica’s project, Space Next 50, is an interactive online learning platform that delves into the history and science of space exploration, providing quizzes, videos and biographies.
It focuses on the drama of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union, and explores the conspiracy theories that the Moon landing was faked.
Using mixed media, the platform features a complete timeline of events that led to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, which begins in 1920 with pioneering rocket scientist Robert Goddard and includes John F. Kennedy’s 1961 speech pledging America would land on the moon “before this decade is out”.
The resource from Encyclopaedia Britannica uses archival footage of the moon taken in 1969 and other missions since. It pays close attention to the hidden figures in the Space Race, including three African-American women, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who played key roles behind the scenes.
Space Next 50 is available at www.britannica.com/explore/space
Educational VR company Seymour & Lerhn has also developed a free resource, harnessing VR and AR technology to take pupils on their own space journey.
The fantastic thing about new technologies is you can now take part in something virtually that only a handful of people will ever experience in real life.
– Charlie Power, Seymour & Lerhn
A free AR app is available to download, that will allow users to experience the scale of a full-size lunar lander.
Accessible via YouTube or in VR mode, 360º video lets students explore the docking hatch, emerge from lunar lander The Eagle, and step foot on the Moon alongside Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Seymour & Lerhn associate, Charlie Power, said: “The fantastic thing about new technologies is you can now take part in something virtually that only a handful of people will ever experience in real life.
“Six hundred million people around the world watched Apollo 11 land on the Moon 50 years ago, and this digital content allows you to go one step further. You can now stand next to the iconic lunar lander, see what those three astronauts experienced as they touched down and discover the experiments they conducted in the day they were there.”
The Apollo 11 video tour and app are free to access throughout July.
More information is available at www.seymourlerhn.com/moon-landing
