Celebrating the 1969 Moon Landing Anniversary

[Kiwi cop]

I read today an article about Buzz Aldrin celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings (20th of July 1969).

Buzz Aldrin commemorates Apollo 11 moon landing milestone on 55th anniversary with heartfelt message

Buzz Aldrin pays tribute to the Apollo 11 mission on its anniversary, invoking Kennedy's famous speech and expressing gratitude to all who helped achieve the historic moon landing.

www.foxnews.com

The only problem is, according to my calculations, 1969 to 2025 is actually 56 years.

And on the topic of the moon landings, over the weekend I saw published a photograph taken by a craft orbiting the moon, above two of the Apollo programs landing bases, putting to rest permanently the conspiracy theories that have abounded for the last 56 years.

 

[biku324]

But how do we know that craft was orbiting the moon??? (Cue scary music and whacko agreement)

 

[Rudi]

I remember watching it on TV. As a little kid, I was so proud to be an American Like now..

 

[ameridaddy]

I even remember the names and can see the faces of the three people who were sitting there watching with me. That's more amazing at my age than going to the moon was then.

 

[Hair Trigger]

The news must have corrected their title, because when I opened the link it said "56th Anniversary". That was quite an accomplishment for a spacecraft designed using slide rules and paper blueprints and with computer power that isn't equal to the cheapest pocket calculator you can buy today. What makes it even more amazing is that we haven't been back since Apollo and today's "Moon rockets" can't seem to make it out of Earth orbit.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Oh, yeah, I remember it well. I was on "guard duty", more like watch-the-front-door-of-the-barracks-duty, and there was a little TV that I was able to watch all day, which was really fun. Then, somewhere between 2100 and 2200 hours, IIRC, our drill sergeants showed up, rousted us out of bed, not insisting on proper dress, and marched us over to a classroom where we watched the landing, etc. Must have been dozens of us, sitting there, trying to enjoy it AND stay awake..... and then they planted the flag.

Sergeant Boucher (unforgettable 19-year-old Vietnam veteran, a very large young man (and weren't we all so young then, hmmm?) booms out:

COMPANY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TENCH HUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PREEEEZENT HUUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I mean, really, you never used a real word there, right? )

And there we were, all raggedy and sleepy, saluting the American flag on the Moon.

One of my favorite memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kiwi cop]

The news must have corrected their title, because when I opened the link it said "56th Anniversary". That was quite an accomplishment for a spacecraft designed using slide rules and paper blueprints and with computer power that isn't equal to the cheapest pocket calculator you can buy today. What makes it even more amazing is that we haven't been back since Apollo and today's "Moon rockets" can't seem to make it out of Earth orbit.

Pocket calculator? My Apple Watch has more computing power than the Apollo craft computers did.

Some of the current rockets get there, like the current spacecraft orbiting the moon. Wish I could recall where and when I saw the piece online.

Project Artimes will get back there. I remember touring the research and development building at Johnson Space Centre in 2018. I have been planning to go back there some time as the Apollo control room was undergoing refurbishment at he time, but in neither 2022 or last year did I manage to get there.

A return visit is planned every trip to the US through Houston.

Hopefully 2026 will be the year.

 

[Onomea]

I was 17, in NYC, in a bar in Greenwich Village, with my older brother, watching on a little B&W TV above the bar.

 

[CajunBass]

I was 17 also. At home, recording the whole thing on a reel to reel audio tape (the only thing in those days, at least the only thing I knew of). I was just using a microphone, so it picked up not only the TV, a 19" B&W model, but everything, everyone in the room said as we watched. At the time that annoyed me, but looking back it would have been a great look into what everyone was thinking at the time. It was a 7 1/2 reel, so there was a lot of space to record. I was the only one still watching when Armstrong and Aldrin came down the ladder. The others had long gone to bed.

I don't think I ever played that tape. My mother no doubt threw it away probably years later, having no idea what was on it. And no way to play it. The tape recorder was long gone too.

 

[gwpercle]

I thought by now we would have Cities on the moon ...
Boy that didn't work out did it !
Gary

 

[03hemi]

My tribute is wearing my Moonwatch today.
Go Buzz, but he's gotten a little "flakey" in his old age it seems?
Why is he running around telling everyone it never happened, especially after punch'n some guy out for saying the same thing?

 

[Hair Trigger]

Some of the current rockets get there, like the current spacecraft orbiting the moon. Wish I could recall where and when I saw the piece online.

Project Artimes will get back there. I remember touring the research and development building at Johnson Space Centre in 2018. I have been planning to go back there some time as the Apollo control room was undergoing refurbishment at he time, but in neither 2022 or last year did I manage to get there.

I was talking about the man-rated rockets .

I do hope they can get a man back to the Moon, but it seems like we've fallen backwards over the years since Apollo.
The Shuttle had its place, but the only thing I can see that came out of that program was the reusability. The launchers had their issues that were somewhat akin to the design problems and quality control that were responsible for the Apollo 1 fire. But the Saturn rocket itself went from design concept to launch pad in six years and there was not a single failure through the end of the Apollo program. Heck, the third launch of the Saturn V put three men in lunar orbit. We haven't come close to that since then, with all the improvements in technology.