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Today, 35 years ago
I know the history books say they landed on the moon on July 20th, but because of the changes in time-zones it was it was July 21st here. About 7am, actually.
It was my 8th birthday. I got up to watch the landing on the old black&white HMV television. There wasn't a lot to see, actually. Wide shots of Mission Control with a large number or white-shirted men sitting in front of lines of consoles, their voices coming through the speakers, and a few close-ups of various news casters I didn't know since they were in the US. I knew James Dibble and Brian Henderson, and these guys weren't them.
"Dad? Why did they say '30 seconds'?"
"I don't know."
The seconds ticked by as the the voices called out numbers. Finally there was a moment of silence.
"Houston, this is Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed."
Dad and I looked at each other and said "Wow."
Then he handed me a Hot Wheels gravity drag track and 2 cars.
A moon landing and loot. Not a bad haul for an 8th birthday.
Something I learned while watching The Dish again was that Michael Collins didn't have a telly in the command module. He had to wait until they got back to Earth before he saw any of the moonwalk.
Michael Collins in my hero.
It was my 8th birthday. I got up to watch the landing on the old black&white HMV television. There wasn't a lot to see, actually. Wide shots of Mission Control with a large number or white-shirted men sitting in front of lines of consoles, their voices coming through the speakers, and a few close-ups of various news casters I didn't know since they were in the US. I knew James Dibble and Brian Henderson, and these guys weren't them.
"Dad? Why did they say '30 seconds'?"
"I don't know."
The seconds ticked by as the the voices called out numbers. Finally there was a moment of silence.
"Houston, this is Tranquility Base. The Eagle has landed."
Dad and I looked at each other and said "Wow."
Then he handed me a Hot Wheels gravity drag track and 2 cars.
A moon landing and loot. Not a bad haul for an 8th birthday.
Something I learned while watching The Dish again was that Michael Collins didn't have a telly in the command module. He had to wait until they got back to Earth before he saw any of the moonwalk.
Michael Collins in my hero.
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And...the entire crew of Apollo 11 were heroes. We forget that sometimes, I think.
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Happy Birthday, Den!!
Cool story
Hope this day finds you another cool story to share.
Have the best
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(bloke hug)
*makes a jug of wine coolers for the bat*
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Hope you have a BUNCH more, in good health and happiness---
Jim
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Bats are flying 'round the glen
Happy to be home again
'Cause they have be truly smitten
From being saved by ol' Den Whitton!
Happy Birthday! *Squeakbuzzzzzzzbuzzzziiik*
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Happy Happy Batty :-)
Mako
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(And Michael Collins is one of my heroes, too.)
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I remember that day. I watched it with my family downstairs in our new house in Mason, Michigan, USA. We had the latest technology; a rotating TV antenna on the roof, and a Zenith color TV set. Yeah, it was color all right, as long as the color was magenta.
And nobody said anything. Not at all. We just watched.
But I remember another day like yours; a day when I had a birthday dinner with the family, but I didn't want to go to it because I was watching TV, waiting for a space shot. My folks assured me it had been put off so long that I could have dinner, open presents, and still see the space shot.
I can't remember who was there, I can't remember what we had or what my presents were, but I remember watching the space shot. It was May 5, 1961, my fifth birthday and the day Alan Shepherd went up.
It's fuzzy, and I'm not sure my memories are correct any more. But that's my memory, and I'm sticking to it.
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I also remember that day when we touched down on the moon, especially that 30 seconds warning. I was old enough and into the space program deep enough to know that it was 'Oh Shit' time. Basically land it or bug out. Huston wasn't the only place there were blue faces that day. And Dad wanted to know what was wrong! Dang, you're a pilot. Does a low fuel indicator mean anything to you?
Now I just wish we'd get some of that final frontier spirit back.
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and that makes me cranky.
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(it's tragic seeing the big rockets rusting away to nothing in the park, though, and there's a distinct lack of recognition for the indigenous people who used to live on the range before they started nuking it)
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oh yeah.
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=>end rant before I go too far<=
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I'll be eternally pissed off that I'm too young to have caught the moon landings. Ahh, well; maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get to see the first human on Mars...
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Happy birthday!