Where were you when humans first landed on the Moon?
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
On the day before the landing I was in the Spanish coastal village of Sitges, just south of Barcelona. I was on a 30 day leave and I began my trip back to our Fulda Gap site the following day. On that final day in that sunny heaven, I purchased a crude pencil drawing of our capsule, with a stick figure man beside it, from a small boy, who ran joyfully to his beaming mother. The mother and I shared a moment of eye contact that I cannot explain other than to say that she thanked me so much for making her little boy so happy in that moment. Tucked away somewhere, in the bottom of a box, at the back of my storage facility, someone one day will discover the first commercial work of Spain's most famous modern artist. I fantasize that from time to time. Perhaps I set his little feet upon the path that day. I hope. In the middle of that night, it seems to me that it was around 4 the following morning, I was at a gas station, across the river from Lyon, France. The city was dark as pitch. Suddenly, church bells began to ring, sirens blared, lights came on all over the city. I asked the attendant what was going on, what was happening? I had forgotten what was to come. He excitedly explained that “men have landed on the moon”. It struck me then, as it does now, what a grand and unifying occasion it was. I was proud that it was “my” guys that had done the deed, but I was, and am, equally proud of the species that accomplished the feat. I was a very serious young man in those days and cynical and hard from my work and experiences, but that moment sticks with me still and gives me some hope for us all. Men have landed on the moon! All that day, I drove through small towns where American flags hung from windows, and even though I had International plates, I also had the customary nationality sticker on the VW bus. People were joyful, it seemed to me. They waved and cheered as I edged through the traffic, down narrow streets. I had been cheered before, but never had it felt so good. Perhaps you can tell that I would give a fortune to return to that day or the day before....?
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Hmmm. Considering the date, I was out of 8th grade, preparing to enter high school, and spending my summer vacation writing a report on space travel for a class I got caught ditching all year just before the end of the school year. I watched every minute of the coverage on a black & white RCA television (yes, with rabbit ears and foil), that had a fine tuning knob which had to be adjusted every two minutes to keep the channel in tune. Later that summer I rigged a series of strings and pulleys to allow me to twiddle the fine tuning without getting off the couch. :-D It was awesome to watch, and lots more interesting than that stupid report I was writing...
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
My family was on a camping trip in the midwest. Another family had a hardsided camper and had hooked up a TV outside of the camper. The whole campground gathered around the TV and watched it. Since we were outside, we could look at the full moon in the sky and wonder at the fact that they were up there. :)
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
I was over at my best friend's house watching it on a black and white. I had just turned 15 and was somewhat distracted by my friend's attractive mom sitting next to me. At that age, 'distractions' happened a lot! ;P
Forgetfulness is losing your car keys. Dementia is finding them and not knowing what you should do with them.
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
If I recall correctly that was a Sunday in the USA. I was a married college kid working weekends in a grocery store to pay the rent. I was studying for a degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics. My interest was designing airplanes but most of my class mates hoped to go into the space program. I rigged up a tiny B&W TV in the office near the checkout counter. It was so small I really couldn't see it, just listened. I seemed to be the only one interested - the customers just wanted me to pay attention to my job and let them get on their way. Never in my worst nightmare would I have predicted that the USA would abandon the space program and end up paying the Russians for rides.:mad:
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
Sitting about a mile from where I am right now in Manchester, in front of a (then) 15yo 405-line VHF telly, watching washed out black and white pictures, having been woken up specially at 3am (UK time) by my parents to watch it as it happened. James Burke was the commentator, and I recall not wanting to stay up to watch the action replay 3 hours later! I was 8 years old in 1969. However, the TV aerial was on the roof, not sitting on top of the set. You young'uns will never know what you missed - aye!
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
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11 years old and sitting in front of the living room television - a 14" black & white TV with rabbit ears (sporting the requisite strip of aluminum foil between them, of course).
Christopher Duncan
www.PracticalUSA.com
Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes
Copywriting Services -
If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
I was on the void. Yes, I wasn't born yet, but I beleive I was somewhere looking for a good candidate to be my host egg. ;P
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
This was the summer before my senior year in college. I had been interested in the space program since the beginning (I was eight or so when the first satellites were launched). I remember watching Telstar go over my parents' house as my first direct witness to it. I think I was in high school at that time. Anyway, the night of the Moon landing I was sitting in my parents' house watching on the little TV we had at the time. However my most clear memory of it was when my older sister came home from work that afternoon crying because she could not watch it because she had to work the next day. She watched it anyway. I was late to work the next day but she made it on time. I guess it was the realization that she thought it was important too that makes me remember it.
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
When was that? Like before WWI or something? OK, I'm moving along now. :)
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
I was 12 years old at the time. I was so happy that the government declared it a holiday. No school, yeah. But all was in vain. It was summer vacation. No school anyway. What a downer. It sounds like what they say about retirement. You never get a vacation.
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
I grew up in Israel, and we were watching the television broadcast of the landing just the same. I was 7 at the time and remember the occasion, getting together to watch this historic event.
--- Adar Wesley
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If you weren't born yet, you can just move along ;P This question was prompted by something a couple of threads down. The Apollo 11[^] mission was launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon July 20, 1969, 20:17 UTC. The "one small step for man" took place about six and a half hours latter on July 21, 02:39 UTC; the ETV lasted two and a half hours. Less than a day after landing, the Lunar Module lifted off the Moon's surface on July 21, 17:54 UTC and landed again on Earth in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 16:50:35 UTC. The mission launched just after my second birthday, and watching the television broadcasts are my earliest clear memories. Where were you?
In the "Gold Coin" in Kansas City, eating dinner, watched it on the bar TV. I was 30 then.