50 Years ago, Apollo 11

[canuck750]

Next Sunday CNN will be showing their made for TV documentary Apollo 11. I watched it on pay for view this weekend and was blown away by the restored film. I was just a ten year old kid watching the lunar landing on a grainy black and white TV with my family gathered around the television. It is hard to believe that it was 50 years ago.

I clearly recall building the Saturn 5 model kit my uncle bought me for Christmas in 1968 and my school friends and I building the Mercury and Gemini model kits and reading everything we could about the space program. In 1967 my family went to Expo 67 in Montreal and took in the American and Soviet pavilions with the impressive space craft displays. The documentary uses original film to tell the storey of the thousands of people and hundreds of contractors who made it happen.

I also just finished the book 'Shoot for the Moon', it traces the space program from Sputnik to Apollo 11, again a stunning achievement. What NASA accomplished is probably the greatest technical achievement mankind has ever reached.

I wish we could experience something similar today,

[Idontwantapickle]

I'm looking forward to the film. The lunar landing is one of my earliest memories!

Hunter

[oldbike54]

 Still an amazing feat .

 Dusty

[zedXmick]

Can’t wait to see that, I was 6 years old and watched it with my grandpa on our 13 in b/w TV. He was crying during the broadcast. He was born in 1910 and couldn’t believe that mankind actually landed on the moon. One of my earliest and dearest memories for sure.

[Chuck in Indiana]

My friend Ed the Rocket Scientist was one of the principle scientists on the Apollo missions. He's pretty jazzed about all this, and can't understand why the kids that work for him are ambivalent about it. I had to remind him that this stuff was only a footnote in the history books when they were in high school. 

[Rick in WNY]

When I was in 6th grade, Gene Cernan made a stop at our little school to talk about going to the moon.

I got to hold real "Moon Rocks" encased in acrylic and after everyone else left, got a special chance to talk with him one on one for a while. Heady stuff for a 12 year old kid.

Yeah, this will be one of the few things I will make a point to watch on the TV...

[leroysch]

To have "figured it out" in about a decade is amazing.

I remember countries taking ads out in Time magazine congratulating the US on the accomplishment.

[OldMojo]

I wish we could experience something similar today,

The distances we're exploring now preclude any real-time TV event like the Moon landing, but....

We have pictures from the surface of Titan!!

[LowRyter]

It's odd that since the Shuttle program that the US hasn't had any manned space vehicles.

[Rick in WNY]

Not entirely off-topic here... does anyone else here play with Kerbal Space Program? 

[bad Chad]

The distances we're exploring now preclude any real-time TV event like the Moon landing, but....

We have pictures from the surface of Titan!!

That is NOT  pic from the surface of Titan, no such pic exist yet.  It is a pic from the surface of Mars.  Titan is covered in a form of ice, and no probes have yet tried to put down their, although that will hopefully change in the next few years.

[vstevens]

That is NOT  pic from the surface of Titan, no such pic exist yet.  It is a pic from the surface of Mars.  Titan is covered in a form of ice, and no probes have yet tried to put down their, although that will hopefully change in the next few years.

I seem to remember the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbiting Saturn and releasing the Huygens probe to the surface of Titan.  Not trying to be contrary, but I think this is an image of Titan.

[LowRyter]

I seem to remember the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft orbiting Saturn and releasing the Huygens probe to the surface of Titan.  Not trying to be contrary, but I think this is an image of Titan.

I think you're right

https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens/Titan_first_images_-_slideshow

[Huzo]

To have "figured it out" in about a decade is amazing.

I remember countries taking ads out in Time magazine congratulating the US on the accomplishment.

It sure is..
Equally amazing is Gene Kranzs’ comment when asked about the amazing technology required for the missions, when he looked blankly at the camera and said....?
“We lost it..” 

[Zoom Zoom]

Yep, a truly amazing feat, especially considering the short amount of time they had to develop the program. The moon landing was an amazing moment in time, and a pivotal moment in history.

In January, a friend and I went over to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum in western Ohio. It is a small place but was worth the trip. Certainly worth a stop if you were passing by there.

There was also a couple documentaries on Discovery, TLC, or one of those a few months back. The first was the development of the Saturn 5 and the second was the development of the LEM. As Spock would say, fascinating. If you get a chance to see these, they are worth your time.

John Henry

[larrys]

I remember the lunar landings, they were awesome events! I was a member of a science book club then. I bought a Revell model kit of the capsule and the lunar lander through the book club. Cool stuff!
Larry

[Huzo]

I can understand how proud you are....!

[pete mcgee]

Hey Huzo,
The Apollo rally is being held at orroll valley behind Canberra, was going to be at Honey Suckle creek tracking station site, but that had to change due to an official commemoration.
Being held on 19 and 20th July.
My old club started it to commemorate the 20th anniversary back in 1989, it gets held every 5 years.
The ducati club is running it this year.
Bring your cold weather camping gear, it has got as low as -12 C in the past, the last one had snow.
Look for a ratty white mk 3 lemans with QLD plates.
Pete.

[bad Chad]

Vstevens, you are correct, I mistakenly claimed no probe had successfully touched down on Titan.   Thanks for straightening me out. 

[ScepticalScotty]

I used to live pretty near "The Dish", the Anglo-Australian Observatory nr Parkes NSW that had a part in those days...Its still a very impressive instrument, still probing the universe....

The movie "The Dish" is great understated aussie humour...

Of course I'm named after an astronaut...

[Rough Edge racing]

 I recently read Rocket Men ( actually listened ,audio book), story of Apollo 8 that was the first to orbit the Moon....Excellent exciting read that makes you feel you are riding with them..

[cloudbase]

Apollo 8 was a good end to a very bad year.

[mjptexas]

Next Sunday CNN will be showing their made for TV documentary Apollo 11. I watched it on pay for view this weekend and was blown away by the restored film. I was just a ten year old kid watching the lunar landing on a grainy black and white TV with my family gathered around the television. It is hard to believe that it was 50 years ago.

I clearly recall building the Saturn 5 model kit my uncle bought me for Christmas in 1968 and my school friends and I building the Mercury and Gemini model kits and reading everything we could about the space program. In 1967 my family went to Expo 67 in Montreal and took in the American and Soviet pavilions with the impressive space craft displays. The documentary uses original film to tell the storey of the thousands of people and hundreds of contractors who made it happen.

I also just finished the book 'Shoot for the Moon', it traces the space program from Sputnik to Apollo 11, again a stunning achievement. What NASA accomplished is probably the greatest technical achievement mankind has ever reached.

I wish we could experience something similar today,

Is this the same film that was in theaters in May?  if so, it is a must see.  I saw it in the theater during its limited run.

[LongRanger]

Just as all of you, and most of the world for that matter, I was in awe in July 1969 when I witnessed Apollo 11's breathtaking and remarkable achievement. To this day, I am offended and angered when I hear conspiracy theories that the moon landing was a hoax.

[Sheepdog]

I lived in the NASA MSC area in Houston at the time. All my classmate's folks worked for NASA, including the Bormans, the Whites, and the Armstrongs. It was an intoxicating time to live in the area...anything seemed possible.

I bought my first motorcycle that year...

[Zoom Zoom]

I recorded this program so I could watch it after returning from the Virginia Rally. Other than the initial introduction, all video and audio are taken from the recordings of the time. I recall some of the images from back then on TV. This is an amazing program and if you can find it, watch it! The amount of people involved is simply staggering. Shots of the control room with row upon row of CRT's and people, and of course the many, many others.

John Henry

[ScepticalScotty]

Oh yeah, just to echo LR, people who deny that humanity ever went to the moon raise my urine to boiling point, to be polite about it. Sometimes there are people that are so stupid that all I can do is point at em and laugh. Moon Landing Deniers are right up there.

Scott Carpenter - banjo playing sceptical humanist.