Five decades ago, the Apollo 11 Mission landed on the Moon before the astonished gaze of 600 million viewers who could not believe their eyes. Man was not only able to reach this natural satellite of the Earth, but also to transmit this milestone worldwide when technology was still very incipient in many ways.
Thus, one out of every five people in the world -including Chilean viewers- saw Neil Armstrong for the first time on the Moon, thus initiating a new stage in universal history.
Although no South American country was included in the satellite signal sent from the United States, a group of engineers from Entel’s Longovilo ground station in Chile made it possible to see it in our country against all odds.
While descending the stairs of the spacecraft, Armstrong activated the television camera that retransmitted the images and then described everything he saw when he stepped on the ground, at 22:56 Chilean time on Sunday, July 20, 1969. It was at that moment when he noted the famous phrase: “It is a small step for man, but a great leap for mankind”.
“That we Chileans were able to witness this historic moment was the result of the perseverance of a group of young Entel engineers who never believed that it was technically impossible as was said. This is also a reflection of the company’s behavior during its history and also today, always challenging us to go further and to bring technology closer to everyone", says Entel’s CEO, Antonio Büchi.
In the days prior to the moon landing, it was a topic of conversation everywhere and even the President of the Republic, Eduardo Frei Montalva, authorized the suspension of all long distance calls in order to be able to capture the signal and not be left out of the historic moment. Those who lived it must still remember the family gathered in front of the television that night.
“Even the American engineers working with us didn’t believe we were going to make it. We aimed at the edge of the Coastal Mountain Range, we passed through a small portezuelo between the hills and from there it reached us, it was a marvel when we received the signal of this transmission, it was like entering the future" recalls one of the Longovilo engineers who made the feat possible, Andrés Bavari.
The astronauts began human exploration on the moon by traveling the terrain for more than two hours, during which time they collected 22 kilos of soil and lunar rock samples and installed scientific instruments to detect earthquakes, solar particles and a laser reflector.
At present, the ground station continues to allow connectivity to isolated areas such as Easter Island, Puerto Williams and Antarctica, as well as geographically complex locations that cannot be reached by any other type of technology.
Check out our special on Longovilo and the transmission of the arrival of Man on the Moon: entel.cl/alunizaje
9 Jul, 2019
Five decades ago, the Apollo 11 Mission landed on the Moon before the astonished gaze of 600 million viewers who could not believe their eyes. Man was not only able to reach this natural satellite of the Earth, but also to transmit this milestone worldwide when technology was still very incipient in many ways.
Thus, one out of every five people in the world -including Chilean viewers- saw Neil Armstrong for the first time on the Moon, thus initiating a new stage in universal history.
Although no South American country was included in the satellite signal sent from the United States, a group of engineers from Entel’s Longovilo ground station in Chile made it possible to see it in our country against all odds.
While descending the stairs of the spacecraft, Armstrong activated the television camera that retransmitted the images and then described everything he saw when he stepped on the ground, at 22:56 Chilean time on Sunday, July 20, 1969. It was at that moment when he noted the famous phrase: “It is a small step for man, but a great leap for mankind”.
“That we Chileans were able to witness this historic moment was the result of the perseverance of a group of young Entel engineers who never believed that it was technically impossible as was said. This is also a reflection of the company’s behavior during its history and also today, always challenging us to go further and to bring technology closer to everyone", says Entel’s CEO, Antonio Büchi.
In the days prior to the moon landing, it was a topic of conversation everywhere and even the President of the Republic, Eduardo Frei Montalva, authorized the suspension of all long distance calls in order to be able to capture the signal and not be left out of the historic moment. Those who lived it must still remember the family gathered in front of the television that night.
“Even the American engineers working with us didn’t believe we were going to make it. We aimed at the edge of the Coastal Mountain Range, we passed through a small portezuelo between the hills and from there it reached us, it was a marvel when we received the signal of this transmission, it was like entering the future" recalls one of the Longovilo engineers who made the feat possible, Andrés Bavari.
The astronauts began human exploration on the moon by traveling the terrain for more than two hours, during which time they collected 22 kilos of soil and lunar rock samples and installed scientific instruments to detect earthquakes, solar particles and a laser reflector.
At present, the ground station continues to allow connectivity to isolated areas such as Easter Island, Puerto Williams and Antarctica, as well as geographically complex locations that cannot be reached by any other type of technology.
Check out our special on Longovilo and the transmission of the arrival of Man on the Moon: entel.cl/alunizaje
Five decades ago, the Apollo 11 Mission landed on the Moon before the astonished gaze of 600 million viewers who could not believe their eyes. Man was not only able to reach this natural satellite of the Earth, but also to transmit this milestone worldwide when technology was still very incipient in many ways.
Thus, one out of every five people in the world -including Chilean viewers- saw Neil Armstrong for the first time on the Moon, thus initiating a new stage in universal history.
Although no South American country was included in the satellite signal sent from the United States, a group of engineers from Entel’s Longovilo ground station in Chile made it possible to see it in our country against all odds.
While descending the stairs of the spacecraft, Armstrong activated the television camera that retransmitted the images and then described everything he saw when he stepped on the ground, at 22:56 Chilean time on Sunday, July 20, 1969. It was at that moment when he noted the famous phrase: “It is a small step for man, but a great leap for mankind”.
“That we Chileans were able to witness this historic moment was the result of the perseverance of a group of young Entel engineers who never believed that it was technically impossible as was said. This is also a reflection of the company’s behavior during its history and also today, always challenging us to go further and to bring technology closer to everyone", says Entel’s CEO, Antonio Büchi.
In the days prior to the moon landing, it was a topic of conversation everywhere and even the President of the Republic, Eduardo Frei Montalva, authorized the suspension of all long distance calls in order to be able to capture the signal and not be left out of the historic moment. Those who lived it must still remember the family gathered in front of the television that night.
“Even the American engineers working with us didn’t believe we were going to make it. We aimed at the edge of the Coastal Mountain Range, we passed through a small portezuelo between the hills and from there it reached us, it was a marvel when we received the signal of this transmission, it was like entering the future" recalls one of the Longovilo engineers who made the feat possible, Andrés Bavari.
The astronauts began human exploration on the moon by traveling the terrain for more than two hours, during which time they collected 22 kilos of soil and lunar rock samples and installed scientific instruments to detect earthquakes, solar particles and a laser reflector.
At present, the ground station continues to allow connectivity to isolated areas such as Easter Island, Puerto Williams and Antarctica, as well as geographically complex locations that cannot be reached by any other type of technology.
Check out our special on Longovilo and the transmission of the arrival of Man on the Moon: entel.cl/alunizaje