40th Moon Landing Anniversary

[ceemac]

Probably most of you will realise that this year is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic moon landing.

I was 12 and we all got up at something like 4am to see it live on TV - I can remember how it really did excite people at the time and fire the imagination. That Christmas, I got an Airfix model of the SaturnV rocket that blasted them there - wish to God I had kept it!

The mission was from July 16-24 and the crew was Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins who never got to walk on the moon .

At this very point in the mission ie 17 July 1969, the spacecraft was about 76,500 nautical miles from the earth - the crew were in a 'rest period'

You can follow the historic mission in 'real time' here. This site allows you to track the mission and listen to radio transmissions as they occur etc. It's a brilliant site if you're at all interested in this.

There are those who won't be of course, and those who'll say the moonlanding never happened - I'm just glad to have experienced the whole event and the wonderment it created all around the world.

It still fascinates me, and the subsequent stories of the three men who went there (now in their 80's), is very interesting.


C

 

[Akasya]

On that fantastic day, i walked into work at " The Times " in London, i had followed the landing on TV. I noticed that all of the clocks had been stopped at the time " GMT " that the landing occurred. As a sixteen year old lad i thought " i will never forget this ", i didn't.

I wonder what fantastic things still remain to happen, that those younger than myself can marvel at, and bookmark their lives by.

Steve.

PS: Thanks NASA, and mankinds heroic endeavour, the ride has been worth it.

 

[ceemac]

Some of you may have guessed by now I'm a big fan of the moon landings - I'm really only trying to recapture my childhood!

Here's some interesting things we now use that were a direct result of space programs (with originating program in brackets);

• cordless tools and appliances (Apollo)
• satellite tv (Telstar)
• smoke detectors (Skylab)
• water filter systems (Apollo)
• laser heart surgery (NASA jet propulsion lab)
• needle biopsies (hubble telescope technology)
• catscans and mri's (Apollo)
• improved artificial limb technology (Shuttle)
• LED cancer treatment (Shuttle)
• foetus monitor (Int Space Station)
• chromosome analysis (jet propulsion lab)
• image processing software (Apollo)
• scratch resistant lenses (Nasa Ames Research Centre)
• aircraft lightning protection (Nasa Langley Research Centre)
• aircraft collision avoidance system (Nasa Ames Research Centre)
• golfball aerodynamics (Shuttle)
• firefighter breathing system (NASA Johnson Space Flight Centre)

There are many many more uses as the result of space programs but I'm too tired now :bored:


C

 

[Mack]

Velcro! Or did that come from the aliens in the roswell crash?

 

[ceemac]

I think you may be on to something there Mack!


C

 

[FPM]

I just found this video about all the technology in the moonlanding 40 years ago.
Check it out.

MoonPander - youtube.com/watch?v=DdaBwh20nIk

 

[pebble]

Mack, It is a known fact that VELCRO came from Alien technology from the crash in Roswell......along with some other unusual things.

Ceemac, again another excellent post, i was just reminding a facebook friend about this incident.
I couldnt remember the year or dates. But we were at our summer camp in Kalabaka, all the kids there were either Italian or french. there were two constant american families tht were american. My two sisters and I, and another kid named Michael and his brother. (turkish mother, american father) but for all intents and purposes, american like us.
The priest called us in to his private quarters, like a living room/dining area, it was a cosy room.
we had never been invited into his private sanctuary.
he had a big old radio on, and he said. I want you to listen to this. this is a very important event, and it is your country and your countrymen doing this, then he kind of explained.....

BASED on the dates you have given us - I was ten, so we all sat around, and listened, and it was in english (voice of america maybe) Padre Julio didnt even speak english, i never questioned why he was listening to an english broadcast. so here we were, 5 kids sitting around listening to this. I am sure at the time we didnt realize that we would never ever forget this moment. I cant remember what my emotions were, other than just awe that we were listening to someting in english, and then that it was an import thing happening. and we all kind of sat around and listened. i think padre julion got more emotional than we did. BUT HE WAS RIGHT, I NEVER FORGOT........

I recently hooked up to Michael on f/b......AND reminded him about this

My sister and i Just talked about this last week, she too remembers it, we thought how funny that padre Julio would do this for us.

 

[Alan Fidler]

Feels a little like deja vu, i started a thread recently titled "Moments in time" noting the fact that this month was the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing and asking if you remembered where you were at the time.
Never mind... for my part i was a 9 year old kid in school sat in front of a black and white TV ( we didn't have one at home til i was 10 ) with the rest of the school watching avidly and finding it hard to believe how and more importantly WHY anyone would want to go there in the first place..?? remember, i was, like all kids at that age inquisitive but also impressionable.
I remember saving my pocket money to go out and buy a model kit of the Saturn rocket too... probably made a mess of it too, too "much glue" my dad would tell me.

Alan.