Apollo 11


Vort
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Sixteen years ago, I flew my family to Orlando to go to Disneyworld. My lovely bride surprised me with a van rental for a trip out to Cape Canaveral, where we visited the Kennedy Space Center. I remember little about Disneyworld, but I will never forget KSC. And without any doubt, the highlight of that particular visit was our tour of the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where my memories of early childhood are preserved in the actual goods—including a full Saturn V rocket, suspended from the ceiling for over 300 feet of the building it's in.

I distinctly remember the moon landing. I remember as a six-year-old boy, watching live (as I thought at the time; I now suspect it was actually a news rerun) as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon's surface and pronounced his famous phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." I was a small child, but I was well aware of the historic nature of the moment, when something was happening that had never happened before in all of human history. I have always thought that my patriotic feelings were a result of the time period I was born in, but it's entirely possible that the fruits of the Apollo program cemented deep in my mind and spirit the conviction that America, whatever her flaws, could provide something good to the whole world, something important, something that would endure through the ages, long after those who had a hand in doing it were returned to dust.

I believe today is a day that all Americans, and indeed any member of the human race, can celebrate and look back 50 years ago with profound satisfaction. In the words of my funny 18-year-old daughter, today's the day we discovered the moon! Happy birthday, Moon!

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What a great post.  If I may share memories from my own "America in Space" file...

I was also a small boy when the U.S. landed men on the moon, but I remember it as if it were yesterday.  My extended family had gathered in the home of my aunt and uncle to watch the landing live. Hearing the first words from the moon was more riveting than I can describe, but my most vivid memory was a stray comment from one of the news anchors.  It may have been Walter Cronkite, I'm not sure.  In 1969 the world was still deep in the Cold War, and all the communist nations across the globe had decided to ignore the moon landing completely and not even mention it in the news broadcasts to their own people.  "And what a terrible shame it is," said the news anchor, "that one-third of humanity is being denied these live pictures of one of the most momentous events in human history."

By a strange turn of events, I came to work for NASA at the Johnson Space Center here in Houston.  My boss's boss's boss's boss's boss was Gene Kranz, the head guy of the Mission Control Center who famously said "Failure is not an option" during the Apollo 13 crisis.  He's still alive.  I heard him on the radio today talking about the anniversary of the moon landing, and I was astonished at how little his voice had changed since the 1980s when had I worked in his organization.  It brought back memories of my very first meeting with him, which had been very odd indeed.  He opened our meeting with a lengthy fist-thumping commentary on the glories of cigarettes and coffee, which (among other things) led me to believe he was not Mormon.  I suppose this is a strange thing to remember, but I had been dating a Church member at that time and she was slowly teaching me the Word of Wisdom and why I needed to give up coffee if I wanted the relationship to move forward.

In 2012 I happened to be in California when the space shuttle Endeavor was flown for the last time on the back of a 747 from Sacramento to Los Angeles.  I had wandered outside to see it fly over but I wasn't expecting very much.  The 747 flew rather low, and when it finally materialized in the distant blue haze it seemed like the largest thing I had ever seen in the sky.  As soon as I could see the sheer enormity of the shuttle, a lump formed in my throat and tears began to stream down my face.  I had never been tearfully proud of my country before that moment, but I suddenly realized that the United States had earned its place among the great civilizations of humanity and that it will almost certainly appear in history books for the next million years, long after the follies of communism have evaporated from human memory.  Our achievement fifty years ago was that profound.  It should be remembered with awe.  

 

   

 

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14 hours ago, Vort said:

Sixteen years ago, I flew my family to Orlando to go to Disneyworld. My lovely bride surprised me with a van rental for a trip out to Cape Canaveral, where we visited the Kennedy Space Center. I remember little about Disneyworld, but I will never forget KSC. And without any doubt, the highlight of that particular visit was our tour of the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where my memories of early childhood are preserved in the actual goods—including a full Saturn V rocket, suspended from the ceiling for over 300 feet of the building it's in.

I distinctly remember the moon landing. I remember as a six-year-old boy, watching live (as I thought at the time; I now suspect it was actually a news rerun) as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon's surface and pronounced his famous phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." I was a small child, but I was well aware of the historic nature of the moment, when something was happening that had never happened before in all of human history. I have always thought that my patriotic feelings were a result of the time period I was born in, but it's entirely possible that the fruits of the Apollo program cemented deep in my mind and spirit the conviction that America, whatever her flaws, could provide something good to the whole world, something important, something that would endure through the ages, long after those who had a hand in doing it were returned to dust.

I believe today is a day that all Americans, and indeed any member of the human race, can celebrate and look back 50 years ago with profound satisfaction. In the words of my funny 18-year-old daughter, today's the day we discovered the moon! Happy birthday, Moon!

It was my childhood dream to work in the space program and to someday travel into space.  My dream was never realized and now I have no desire at all to travel in space as a mortal.  Thank you for your post Vort.  I have great plans for participating in the expansion of space and time - just not as a mortal.  I believe that more we learn of our universe the more we will understand the G-ds that have created it and our role in continuing that creation.  

But I would point out that our universe is very hostile to life as we understand it here on earth.  Life as we know it is the rarest and most precious of all elements in the universe and such life will only find liberty, freedom and increased intelligence through faith in Christ and his teachings.  If we cannot correlate religion and truth it is because we have not allowed ourselves to learn and understand either science, religion or both.

 

The Traveler

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