Apollo 11: 40 Years Ago

http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song

@Curt: A sad reminder with that footage of Walter Cronkite who died tonight at 92 years old.

July 17th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

openid.aol.com/runnswim

Getting ready to get married. The first night of our honeymoon, July 20, 1969, was Neal Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind. Ever since then, it’s been easy to remember our anniversary. The “MSM” won’t let us forget. This week, it’s #40 — for both them and us.

LW/HB

July 17th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Glenn Cassel AMH1(AW) USN RET

I was about two months shy of 15, and I did watch it launch. On the 20th, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, I was at the 40th Wedding Anniversary of my paternal Grandparents at my uncle’s house. I split for the basement rec room right after loosing the jacket and tie and taking two turns on the shirt sleeves so I could watch that historic an amazing event. And to get away from all those little old ladies who had a thing about pinching my cheeks!

July 18th, 2009 at 3:58 am

pdill

Scott your answer is really funny! Slightly off topic, but that reminded me also that those were still the days of “party lines”, of which I’m sure no cell phone age kid today could possibly relate.

I was a bored kid and decided to “scapbook” the whole thing, after one of my friends told me the news clippings would be worth a lot of money some day. Funny I kept that darn thing packed away until the recent last move; finally gave it a pitch , but it was fun to look at it again.

Now that the Mr. Gorskey/Neil Armstrong “Good Luck” tale has been debunked, who had any idea that the first ‘meal on the moon’ was taking place?

Congrats to Larry and family on the 40th!

July 18th, 2009 at 4:54 am

Wordsmith

Interesting story, via Brutally Honest :

Buzz Aldrin had with him the Reserved Sacrament. He radioed: “Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

Later he wrote: “In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture, ‘I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.’ I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O’Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly…Eagle’s metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.”

July 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am

ditto

If you like a little dementia, click this link:

July 19th, 2009 at 4:03 am

Didn’t Aldrin later claim they spotted an UFO?

July 19th, 2009 at 4:17 am

yonason

Why don’t YOU do some work for a change, and after you research it thoroughly get back to us.

July 19th, 2009 at 5:36 am

@GaffaUK: I’m surprised you are not questioning whether the entire moon landing was faked. No doubt you can fall back on the unassailable sources of some Scottish coal miner and your beloved Iranians for proof that it was.

July 19th, 2009 at 8:06 am

@yonason: That’s asking too much from poor Gaffuk. Apparently, the “Westnet ” IP he is using blocks all sites but those of obscure Scottish coal miners and various assorted America haters.

Asking him to do even simple research is also above the pay grade of the typical video game professional.

July 19th, 2009 at 9:59 am

yonason

LOL. I see what you mean… It’s a real powerhouse.

July 19th, 2009 at 10:15 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkV1ybBnHI

@Yonason

Why don’t YOU do some work for a change, and after you research it thoroughly get back to us.

Wow – that took 3 seconds to find.

July 19th, 2009 at 8:15 pm

http://www.westnet.com.au/about/media/press/301008.pdf
http://www.whirlpool.net.au/survey/2008/

@Mike

That’s asking too much from poor Gaffuk. Apparently, the “Westnet ” IP he is using blocks all sites but those of obscure Scottish coal miners and various assorted America haters.

Somewhat of a tangent isn’t that Mike? I thought you don’t do tangents? lol

As for Westnet – it’s not that big in Australia but has been ranked highly as IP service plenty of times.

So what’s your IP? Reuters?;)

However I don’t get my news from my IP’s home website. Do you?

Although interesting Aussie Government is trying to put together a filter. Not that it will be hard to bypass if they ever do.

http://news.theage.com.au/technology/australias-plans-to-filter-internet-under-fire-20080102-1jwl.html

Anway nice tangent – how about we get back to discussing Apollo 11 rather than have a meaningless tangent on ISPs.

July 19th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

yonason

OK, youi are capable of finding things, if you want to. Now, lets review your initial question…
“Didn’t Aldrin later claim they spotted an UFO?”
…in order to ask what you meant by it, and whether that video supports your implied insult or not.

So, what did you mean by it? …that he was a fruitcake? …like “wasn’t he the guy who talked to the Pillsbury Dough Boy?”

I can’t see any other reason for you to just throw that out. But when you watch the video you so easily found, you realize (or should) that he wasn’t a fruitcake at all, because they all saw it, and even took pictures of it. NASA even took it seriously, and well they should because they had no idea whether it was a potential threat or not.

So, what was your point? if you hadn’t meant it to be a snide insult, what did you mean? Being childishly insulting is, after all, your style. And if that was what you meant, thank you for demonstrating what a clearly idiotic comment it was in the first place, which you should have realized had you found and correctly understood that video BEFORE posting.

Of course, it it wasnt an intended insult, WHAT WAS YOUR POINT?

July 19th, 2009 at 9:20 pm

@yonason: I agree… It smelled to me like another of Gaffuk’s snide attempts to cast derision on this momentous achievement of AMERICAN ingenuity and technology.

Surely our socialist loving friend is aware that a UFO does not necessarily mean an alien craft.

Or maybe he’s not aware of that and thinks we are all under alien mind control.

I sometimes wonder if he is.

July 19th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

yonason

Yeah, but then again, maybe he was just “debating?”

Or, maybe he’s an extreme ASPIE? (A lot of the geekier types are, though some of us can conceal it better than others – or we just think we can)

I (conveniently) forget what my score was, but you can get some idea by taking this test…
http://aq.server8.org/

….or this one….
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Actually, if he is an ASPIE (highly likely given his choice of profession) it’s entirely possible he really may not even realize he’s such a pain in the butt (even despite our frequently telling him same).

Oh, and being an ASPIE isn’t in itself a “bad” thing, it’s just what one does with it…
http://aspiesinc.blogspot.com/2006/10/famous-aspies.html

July 19th, 2009 at 9:51 pm

@ Mike & Yonason

C’mon guys stop being so sensitive.

Firstly – seems you both need a bit of stroking of your ruffled feathers. The Apollo 11 was a tremendous achievement not just of mankind but in particular the USA. A country I am actually very fond of and like to go on holiday there when I can. The moon landing will be remembered for many centuries – probably forever in human achievement. I just hope we can go further – as it’s been a while – but the challenges of humans of going to say Mars is massive but I believe we – as a species – will crack it.

Secondly – it wasn’t intended a snide comment at all. I threw it in there to spark debate. As it’s fascinating detail not often known. Now I’m skeptical of aliens coming to earth – they seem to like Utah I lot. But anyway I do believe out there – there are other intelligent species – it’s just that space is so vast. And then again – we don’t know what technology they have developed – as an aircraft would seem unbelievable to a cave-man.

As for Asperger’s – that pretty low – even for you Yonason. What was your score? I’ll give them a go later – but I remember doing such an online test a while back for fun and getting I think it was 9% – so maybe I’m just naturally annoying to people like you.

July 20th, 2009 at 12:24 am

@GaffaUK: “Debate?” Debate about what?

The topic here is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the moonlanding. NOT UFO’s!

I suppose if I put up a post about UFO’s you would want to know what we thought about the rising price of eggs!

July 20th, 2009 at 7:35 am

yonason

“..seems you both need a bit of stroking of your ruffled feathers.”

Yoiu keep your grubby little paws away from my feathers, or you just might lose ‘em – I’m that “sensitive”.

There he goes, again…
.”..to spark debate” ? ? ? ?

Say what? Why? What’s to “debate” about remembering a great technological achievement? You really are a complete idiot. (And I doubt it was 9%. Probably more like 90%)

UPDATE – GaffaUK has kindly permitted me to release his address to America in honor of the moon landing, …just to spark an honest “debate.”

July 20th, 2009 at 7:47 am

@Mike

The topic here is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the moonlanding. NOT UFO’s!

lol – so the personal recollections of Buzz Aldrin – 1 of the 3 astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission is apparently off topic whilst what ISP I use isn’t. How utterly bizarre!

@Yonason

What’s to “debate” about remembering a great technological achievement?

Sure – so during all these celebrations there have been NO debates surrounding this amazing achievement. Because I mean what is there to debate? lol <sarcasm off? Like whether to go back to the moon or go to mars. About the nature of celebrity in contrasting Armstrong with Aldrin. About whether the cost of space travel is worthwhile. And so forth. This is a political website which has plenty of discussion. I think that makes you the humourless IDIOT if you fail to see this.

July 20th, 2009 at 7:31 pm

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Magnificent-Desolation/Buzz-Aldrin/e/9780307463456

@GaffaUK: If you are interested in Buzz Aldrin, buy one of his books:

But again, that would be tangential to our observation of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.

July 20th, 2009 at 8:27 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

@Mike

Good suggestion. Buzz is an amazing guy. It’s a shame that Armstrong seems so shy – I can appreciate that the fame has it’s downside and daily hassle it would cause – but still. Oh well. Anyway I liked the way Buzz dealt with one of those foolish people who claim the landing was fake.

July 21st, 2009 at 12:50 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTKedyQQkZQ&feature=related

And of course – Ali G with Buzz…lol

Does the moon really exist?

July 21st, 2009 at 12:52 am

yonason

? ? ? ? ?

I’ve seen him get desperate before, but that nutty comment takes the cake.

July 21st, 2009 at 5:45 am

yonason

I wanna see the Gaffer go tell Buzz Aldrin he wants to “debate” with him, heh heh heh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ez-NpFVwQw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.debbieschlussel.com%2F&feature=player_embedded

H/T – Debbie Schlussel’s blog
http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/07/sad_but_true_vi.html

July 21st, 2009 at 7:51 am

@yonason: Good ole Buzz!

July 21st, 2009 at 7:59 am

yonason