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.

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

]]> http://www.sobelmedia.com/2009/07/09/one-small-step-for-man-apollo-11-40th-anniversary/feed/ 0