I remember Apollo XI

This is more about getting a thread going, than elaborating on my own
experiences.
I was thirteen at the time. At the launch, if not one of the other
missions, reporters were interviewing "Charlie Brown" who was supposed
to be about 120 years old and a former slave. Watching the rocket take
off, he asked "what keeps that thing up there?" I thought, that's
actually a good question if you don't know about escape velocity.

While watching that first landing on TV, I had a common "this is really
neat!" attitude but also thinking how much it cost. It was shown around
three AM since I was in Germany. The first step being made by another
"Neil" was cool too. Even as I heard "One small step for [?] man, one
giant leap for mankind" I was thinking: it's almost a great line but
doesn't sound quite right, he needed to say "for a man, ..." Also, the
chicks seemed left out, why not say "for all humankind? Heh, will
controversy over that line ever end? The controversy over what we
should do now may never end either ... Is that Ares rocket really as
flawed as some people say? It's controversial. To think, we just
can't seem to get our act together.

BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on
what happened then and later, and what it means now:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories.

Neil B. wrote:
BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on
what happened then and later, and what it means now:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories.


You know, even before Carl Sagan's corpse was completly cold, Michio
Kaku had spotted the niche that had been vacated in the popular science
ecosystem, and headed straight for it.

Pat

"Neil B." wrote in message
...
This is more about getting a thread going, than elaborating on my own
experiences.
I was thirteen at the time. At the launch, if not one of the other
missions, reporters were interviewing "Charlie Brown" who was supposed
to be about 120 years old and a former slave. Watching the rocket take
off, he asked "what keeps that thing up there?" I thought, that's
actually a good question if you don't know about escape velocity.


I can remember my dad trying to use his 35mm camera to take pictures
off the tv of the landing. Didn't work very well. Of course, we've
come so far with tv's and the digital age. Now I can get streaming
videos over the computer. Three inch blurry little videos that stop and
start every couple of seconds, if you wait the several minutes for it
to download that is. Boy, we've come so far. At work I stand around
almost 2 hours a day watching brand new computers chew and chew.
They generally are down for service till 10:00 am (until out IT crew has
arrived), and go back down about 3:00 pm (before our IT crew goes
home). Well... at least at home our computers are so great, provided they've
been de-fragged, de-visused, de-malwared, de-cookied and de-spywared
.....nightly.


While watching that first landing on TV, I had a common "this is really
neat!" attitude but also thinking how much it cost.


My earliest memories where about that time. For instance, when Nixon
won the election I remember my dad hollering 'oh no the republicans
are going to win"! I was just terrified at the thought that if the democrats
lost we wouldn't be a democracy anymore. And that might put an end
to the war, that scared me too. Since my earliest memories we were
always at war, that seemed the norm to me. And I remember how
upset my dad was at MLK and Bobby getting killed. Back then when
the tv broke with a 'Special News Report" I would shake in my....
hushpuppies.



It was shown around
three AM since I was in Germany. The first step being made by another
"Neil" was cool too. Even as I heard "One small step for [?] man, one
giant leap for mankind" I was thinking: it's almost a great line but
doesn't sound quite right, he needed to say "for a man, ..." Also, the
chicks seemed left out, why not say "for all humankind? Heh, will
controversy over that line ever end? The controversy over what we
should do now may never end either ... Is that Ares rocket really as
flawed as some people say? It's controversial.


It looks like they decided in advance who the contractor would be.
And didn't check to see if a single solid booster was practical till
later. I think that's supposed to be the other way around, but oh
well, what's a few billion wasted here and there?



To think, we just
can't seem to get our act together.


Bush started a military space race with the Chinese. We have to go
to the Moon now to own the ultimate high ground for missile defense
tracking and so on. Oh well, what's another forty year long cold war
going to cost anyway? The last one was so cheap and safe. We shouldn't
fear another one.

Why not repeat the worst mistakes of the last century?

The military and big aero seem to think it'll be good for them.



BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on
what happened then and later, and what it means now:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories.