Happy 40th birthday Woodstock baby, if you exist
by Michael Hill,Associated Press Writer
Friday July 17, 2009

BETHEL, N.Y. (AP) — Welcome to middle age, Woodstock Baby — if you’re really out there.
The babies reportedly born at the Woodstock festival 40 years ago remain the most enduring mystery from that chaotic weekend that defined a generation. Depending on the source, there was one birth on that patch of upstate New York farmland between Aug. 15-17, 1969. Or two. Or three. Or none.

There is some tantalizing evidence. Singer John Sebastian is captured on film announcing that some cat’s old lady just had a baby, a kid destined to be far out. A couple of surviving eyewitnesses say there were births. The concert’s medical director told reporters at the scene there were two births: one at a local hospital after the mother was flown out by helicopter; the other in a car caught in the epic traffic jam outside the site crowded with more than 400,000 people.

FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE

Courtesy of The Bethpage Rotary Club

“Bestowed with pride to the people of our town by the Bethpage Rotary Club, and commemorating the…anniversary of the world’s first manned moon landing by the Apollo Lunar Module designed and built right here by the Grumman Aerospace Corporation (Bethpage, New York)

July 20, 1969: A historic day for America. While the world watched, astronaut Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon. Years later, as the breathtaking success of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission is remembered and celebrated, several heritage companies of today’s Northrop Grumman are recognized for the vital roles they played in the achievement.

FOR MORE INFO CLICK HERE

The following is an interesting story from click2houston.com

NY Lunar Module Builders Remember 1969 Landing
FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press Writer

POSTED: Saturday, July 18, 2009

BETHPAGE, N.Y. — John Devaney and his colleagues weren’t exactly sure what Neil Armstrong would set foot on when he climbed down the ladder of the lunar module to the surface of the moon.

“We didn’t know what the moon was made of,” recalled the retired Grumman engineer, one of the thousands who helped make the module that landed on the moon 40 years ago Monday.

“Guys were writing us letters, MBAs, saying the astronauts are going to sink up to their waists in 5 or 6 feet of moon dust,” he said. “I always point out to people that Armstrong hung onto the ladder and he took his one foot off and then made his speech.”

The men who built a dozen lunar modules at a Long Island defense plant better known for making jet fighters were somewhat bashful about their place in history.

“We didn’t realize the significance at the time,” says Devaney, now 74. “We knew it was important, blah blah blah, but later on it became more important.”

After winning a contract in 1962, nearly 3,000 engineers and more than 7,000 people in all created more than a dozen hand-built lunar modules at a cost of about $2 billion, keeping President John F. Kennedy’s vow to put a man on the lunar surface by the end of the decade.

Because it was designed solely to fly in space after hitching a ride aboard a massive Saturn rocket, the lunar module, or LEM, was made of lightweight metals and other materials. No seats were necessary, because the astronauts didn’t have to worry about gravity. An early design featured large windows, but engineers downsized the view for astronauts to mere portals.

“Every one of these LEMS that landed on the moon was different,” says Gerry Sandler, 75, who worked intimately on many aspects of the project and retired as president of Grumman Data Systems. Later models left room for a lunar rover — think golf cart in space — and more space for toting hundreds of pounds of moon rocks back to Earth.

Sandler believes Grumman, now a part of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Industries, was chosen to build the lunar module because of its expertise making planes to land on aircraft carriers. The F-14 of “Top Gun” movie fame was a Grumman aircraft.

“They knew how to build small structures and landing gear that got knocked around and that was what was needed to land on the moon,” Sandler says.

The lunar module was actually two spaceships in one. The bottom, or descent stage, with the spidery legs, got the astronauts to the lunar surface. The top part, or ascent stage, featured a small rocket ship that ferried two astronauts back to the orbiting command module where one astronaut stayed behind.

FOR THE FULL STORY CLICK HERE

According to CBS News “At one time, his audience was so large, and his image so credible, that a 1972 poll determined he was “the most trusted man in America” – surpassing even the president, vice president, members of Congress and all other journalists. In a time of turmoil and mistrust, after Vietnam and Watergate, the title was a rare feat – and the label stuck.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY AND A FASCINATING VIDEO

Cape Canaveral Tour 16 Nov 63 (Photograph by Cecil Stoughton, White House, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.)

The 4th part of our lead up to the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon comes to us courtesy of the JFK Library and Museum

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged the nation to land a man on the Moon and return him safely to earth before the end of the decade. Appealing to the spirit of adventure, to patriotic pride and to the cause of freedom, his words ignited one of the greatest technological mobilizations in U.S. history. Eight years later, on July 20, 1969, two American astronauts landed on the Moon’s surface.Here are three ways that you can join the JFK Presidential Library in celebrating the anniversary of this historic milestone.

Log on to WeChooseTheMoon.org

Relive the Apollo 11 adventure by logging on to www.WeChooseTheMoon.org, the JFK Presidential Library’s new interactive website that will recreate Apollo 11’s lunar mission, minute by minute, with an interactive experience using archival audio, video, photos and “real-time” transmissions. The site goes live on July 16, 2009 at 8:02 a.m. and will take off at 9:32 a.m. – exactly 40 years to the minute after the historic launch.

Visit our new exhibit “Moon Shot – JFK and Space Exploration”

This special exhibit in the Museum at the JFK Presidential Library celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing and President Kennedy’s grand vision that made the achievement possible.

Featuring three, never-before-displayed NASA prototype drawings of gear developed for the 1965 Mercury Atlas-9 Mission, this exhibit illustrates the elements of imagination and engineering that combined to achieve the successful Moon landing.

Click for more information about “Moon Shot — JFK and Space Exploration.”

Learn more about JFK’s role in the Space Race

Click to access the JFK Presidential Library’s collection of archival audio and photos related to JFK’s role in the space program. Listen in on a White House taped conversation as President Kennedy explains to NASA officials why landing on the Moon first is so important to the United States.

NASA photo

It was 40 years ago this month that man first stepped foot on the Moon, and celebrations around the country are reminding Americans of just how amazing the feat was. For those who need a refresher, the Apollo 11 mission took off from Cape Canaveral at the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969, shooting Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin into outer space with the help of the Saturn V rocket. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin had the singular pleasure of traipsing along the rocky lunar surface, while poor Collins orbited above.

Here on Long Island the Cradle of Aviation Museum will present “The Early Days of Apollo…” with Apollo 7 Astronaut Walt Cunningham, Wednesday, July 22nd, 7:30 PM, Admission $10.00/$8.00 for museum members.

The early days of the Apollo space program were some of the most challenging and exciting days at NASA. From the devastating fire on Apollo 1 to the first successful Apollo 7 flight manned by astronauts Walt Cunningham, Wally Schirra and Donn Eisele you’ll hear first hand how early adversity quickly became long lasting success for the Apollo program.

Walt Cunningham is probably best known as America’s second civilian astronaut. In addition to serving as Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 7, Walt served as chief of the Skylab branch of the Astronaut office. He became a Marine Corps fighter pilot in 1953 retiring with the rank of Colonel and has accumulated more than 4,500 hours of flying time and 263 hours in space.

Seating is limited and reservations are required. For information and to reserve your seat, please call 516-572-4066.

Around the country…

A helpful item in the Dallas News points out several of the best places to mark the milestone. On Thursday, Buzz Aldrin (Buzz is a cool nickname) will be on hand at the Kennedy Space Center to stand beneath the Saturn V, along with seven other Apollo astronauts who will all share their nail-biting stories about blasting into space. The event with mark the opening of a new exhibit of Apollo memorabilia, including the Apollo 14 command module, Alan Shepard’s space suit, and a list of tips on how to display the American flag on the moon. On July 20, the anniversary of the first moon walk, visitors can chomp on a record-setting 40-inch, 55-pound moon pie, with 14 pounds of marshmallows and six pounds of chocolate. Yum!

At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, meanwhile, visitors can soak up all sorts of space knowledge and even view the famous lectern from which John F. Kennedy announced in 1962 that the United States would go to the moon by the end of the decade. A special Level 9 Tour at the space center takes visitors to several behind-the-scenes nooks, including the astronaut training areas where space cadets sharpen their zero-gravity skills. Located next door, Space Center Houston has museum exhibits, a mock-up of the International Space Station, and the famous Mission Control center.

Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (one of the city’s coolest museums) is marking the occasion with a collection of photographs, space suits, and dozens of Apollo 11 objects. Whatever you do, do not forget to buy a bag of astronaut ice cream in the gift shop. It’s one of the greatest things to emerge from the space program.

image courtesy of NASA

Part II of our series on Apollo 11 will focus on the Command Module “Columbia”

The Apollo 11 command module Columbia served as the living quarters for the three-person crew during most of the first human lunar landing mission. On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins climbed into Columbia for their eight-day journey. The command module (CM) was one of three parts of the complete Apollo spacecraft. The other two were the service module (SM) and the lunar module (LM). The SM contained the main spacecraft propulsion system and consumables (oxygen, water, propellants, and hydrogen). Armstrong and Aldrin used the LM to descend to the Moon’s surface. The CM was the only portion of this historic spacecraft that returned to Earth.

The cone-shaped spacecraft is divided into three compartments: forward, crew, and aft. The forward compartment is at the cone’s apex, the crew compartment is in the center, and the aft compartment is in the base, or blunt end, of the craft. The forward compartment contained the parachutes and recovery equipment. The crew compartment has a volume of 5.9 cubic meters (210 cubic feet) – about the size of a standard automobile interior. It contains three couches for the crew during launch and landing. The couches are arranged so that each astronaut faces the main instrument panel. During flight, the astronauts could fold up the couches to make more room in the spacecraft. Near the feet of the couches, in the lower equipment bay, there was enough room to stand up.

FOR THE COMPLETE STORY CLICK HERE

courtesy of NASA

Later this month, July 20th, will mark the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s famous walk on the moon…something that had  huge impact on my life for so many reasons. In honor of the occasion, we will be doing a 10 day countdown to the event with updated information everyday here on “technology” section of the  website, the blog and on Facebook. Please feel free to add your thoughts, comments and memories.

From a technology perspective,  Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. The first steps by humans on another planetary body were taken by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969. The astronauts also returned to Earth the first samples from another planetary body. Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission – to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth – and paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow.

I remember vividly the day. It was a Sunday night and I was at Summer camp in New Hampshire. Sunday nights were usually movie nights but this day was different. Instead of watching an old Jerry Lewis comedy, the camp rented a bunch of TV sets (black & white if you can believe it) situated inside of a building we called Titus Hall…the same place we did square dancing on Saturday nights and featured performances by the Camp Walt Whitman players…that year we did our own version of “Tommy” by the Who, the rock opera that had only be released a few months prior.

So there I was, all of 12 years old watching something that would have a profound effect on me both personally and professionally…and what was the most incredible, I was sitting in a building in the middle of nowhere New Hampshire watching a man walk on the moon for the first time in history.

According to Wikipedia: The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. It was the fifth human spaceflight of Project Apollo and the third human voyage to the Moon. It was also the second all-veteran crew in manned spaceflight history. Launched on July 16, 1969, it carried Mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to land on the Moon, while Collins orbited above.

The mission fulfilled President John F. Kennedy’s goal of reaching the moon by the end of the 1960s, which he expressed during a speech given before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961 “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”

More tomorrow

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