Apollo 11 Moon landing - 40th anniversary.

[Q]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 4:34pm

Anyone else remember this? We watched the whole thing - it was pretty incredible. And then we attended the ticker-tape parade in Manhattan when they returned - which remains one of the most mind-blowing events I've ever witnessed.

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:18pm

I remember it well.

I remember the entire day - the excitement and anticipation.
My grandparents were visiting and we had neighborhood friends over.

As the event drew near, we all gathered around the TV and held our breath. I remember my grandfather wiping tears from his eyes. It was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen!

I remember going to bed that night and looking out the window and straining my eyes to see if I could see the men on the moon. I just couldn't believe it! (Kind of like looking for Santa Claus in the night sky on Christmas Eve...).

The moon has always been magical, but it was an absolute wonder that night.

[mominator]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:19pm

I was six years old. We had aunts and uncles over to watch. Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the moon and uttered those words; and I was running out to our back porch and looking up. My uncle who was a civil engineer (as well as my godfather) came out to show me where Tranquility Base was. Oh yeah I remember! And every July 20th I look up and remember Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins and my Uncle Fran

[NYadgal]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:25pm

...and Walter Cronkite.

Forever in my memory of that day.

[mominator]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:31pm

too true addy!

[Q]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 6:33pm

My mother was FULLY enthralled with the whole 'Camelot' idea of the Kennedy years, and had lapped up every bit of the space race drama in my youth. So, I kind of came by my early infatuation with space from the beginning.

We sat beside each other watching our small B&W TV in absolute wonder - almost not really believing it was actually happening. We ended up watching and sharing all the liftoffs - including the unmitigated tragedy of Apollo 13 - and then sharing the nail-biting as each successive group lost contact for those 2-or-so minutes during re-entry.

Ultimately, our biggest thrill was actually going to the final Apollo liftoff (17) which was at night. The sound, the energy, the group awe in shared wonder - truly a life highlight.

But nothing will beat the sense of wonder of this day 40 years ago, watching and truly believing that anything was possible - and we might eventually break the confines of our limited awareness and existence.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 10:01pm

It was one of the most amazing days of my life. A truly family event, with all of us plastered to the TV, and then like Addy, sitting out in the backyard and looking up.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 10:07pm

The last great American achievement.

You know you're past your prime when your last great achievement was a moonwalk decades ago, as Bill Maher presciently said on Friday.

P

[kec]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 10:41pm

I was 11 years old on a visit to Norway with my dad to see family. I had gotten sick to my stomach (too much Marzipan cake, I think), and was lying on the sofa in the living room. When I woke up, everyone was glued to the tv.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 10:42pm

Not the last. That's way too cynical for me.

I put landing on the moon in the same category as a man teaching high school until his mid-60s, then publishing a book that wins the Pulitzer Prize and is read by millions.

Miraculous things happen.

You and Bill Maher are too cynical to see how wrong you are.

[D2]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 10:56pm

I remember it vividly as well. I was 9, and we were at a christening - my parents were the child's godparents - and everyone was glued to the T.V. They had one of those huge color televisions that was like a piece of furniture, and a remote control! I remember holding the baby, who was mercifully slept through the whole thing.

Later that summer we went to the Kennedy Space Center as part of our family vacation, and it was thrilling. The excitement in the place was still palpable.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/20/09 at 11:24pm

And once again, in trying to peg me as some generality, you fall woefully short of the target.

The use of "last" implies the most recent great achievement and in no way is an indictment of the future, whatever it may hold or an allusion to the FINAL great American achievement. The sentence is perfectly clear. I would have used the word "final" if that's indeed what I meant. Personally, I usually write exactly what I mean.

Who's the cynic now.

P
Updated On: 7/20/09 at 11:24 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 3:43am

Well, the internet is pretty amazing...

:P



At least I can say this about the moon landing...

I was too young to remember it. I can't say that about too many things any more, so I thought I;d just toss that out there.

[Q]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 6:05am

You know what, Diva? In our world, you're still ****ing ancient

[madbrian]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 7:36am

I was eight years old, and like many others I looked up to the moon and expected it to look different somehow. We had a cheap telescope that my parents had probably bought at Woolworth's. We loved it, but somehow it didn't enable us to see Armstrong & Aldrin.

Oh, and here's a video of Buzz Aldrin punching out a 'reporter' who is challenging him that the moon landing was a hoax:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 7:48am

Here's a nice blog about the significance of the landing.
But in my view, the greatest achievement of Apollo is something more important, something that took decades to be recognized, and which is only now coming into focus.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 10:50am

I disagree with you also PGenre.

The internet and a myriad of computer technology breakthroughs, the Liquid crystal display, cell phones, magnetic resonance imaging, Doppler radar and advanced storm-tracking technology, the artificial heart, in vitro fertilization...all of them miracles in their own way and all the last 40 years.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 3:52pm

But then, Joe, he wouldn't have anything to complain about.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 4:09pm

I am all but CERTAIN he would find SOMETHING>

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 4:20pm

I was only thinking about this thread.

I forgot about all of the other chances he has...

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 5:21pm

I champion far more things than I critique, let alone complain about, darlings.

Though filling up threads with complaining ABOUT complaining must be some sort of an accomplishment... WHAT sort, perhaps we shouldn't say.

P

P.S. The Internet is not a solely American achievement the way that putting 2 Americans on the moon was. Nor is it as unprecendented and miraculous a feat, or is not yet perceieved as such. Time will tell.
Updated On: 7/21/09 at 05:21 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 5:49pm

Waa Waaaaaaaaaa

[Unknown User]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 7:28pm

I love the way you criticize us for arguing then argue some more. Which part should I disregard- the part where you embarrass yourself with the high-handed BS about "filling up threads with complaining ABOUT complaining" or the part where you say that the US invented Internet (which is absolutely the most revolutionary invention of the last 40 years) (and the one without which this entire discussion would be impossible) isn't unprecedented and miraculous?

Either way, in a long string of painfully stupid comments, you top yourself today.....









"darling."

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 7:49pm

"I love the way you criticize us for arguing then argue some more."

I did not criticize, I EXPLAINED that you were complaining about complaining (I, apparently, having complained in the first place... though my comments were far more insightful than mere complaints) and yet, here YOU are, complaining again. I was merely defending myself, in the first place, which is fun for sport around these parts. Though for game, not so much.

The rest of your post speaks for itself. Or doesn't.

Kisses. Hugs. Love you, too... darling.

P

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/21/09 at 10:03pm

Pgenre--JoeKv and I don't agree on much, but it seems we both agree on you.

Diva seems to agree too.

You're loathsome.

Updated On: 7/23/09 at 10:03 PM