Today, 35 years ago

[den]

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.

Comments

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

Happy Whelpday Batty. Hope it's a great one. I've got buffalo steaks and fruit brownies just for you.

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.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

In 1968 Australia became the 4th nation to put a satellite into orbit. The Government then went to the US and British space agencies and asked (in that bloody typical Colonial way we used to have) if it was worth us pursuing high-tech industries, like Satellites and Computers. The answer was that Asutralia should concentrate on doing what it does best, like producing wool and coal and iron ore. "Leave the high tech to us!" and so we did.

and that makes me cranky.

[lostwanderfound.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen the museum at Woomera? There's a fair bit there on the defunct space program, including a few bits of salvaged rocket gear that's actually been in space.

(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)

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/dewhitton/415964.html

oh yeah.

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

The way things are going when we finally meet the other life forms in space it's likely they will be seeing an easterner rather then someone from the US, USSR or such. Japan looks like the country that will be pushing back the frontier of space in the near future while we sit on our hands. It really pisses me off that the US is not willing to fund what, in the long run, would help us to solve many problems here on earth. I don't want to get into the political argument about needs on earth and wasting money on space but the past has certainly shown that space research trickles down into every day life in ways that vastly improve it.
=>end rant before I go too far<=