Today marks the 40th anniversary of the start of a journey that marked the end of one. Apollo 11 lifted off on its way to the moon, signaling the culmination of years of effort to land human beings on the lunar surface.
When President Kennedy presented this challenge in 1961, I was in the ninth grade. We lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico at the time, and, in the mid-1960's, NASA built a test facility near town. Needless to say, our community involved in part of the process to make Apollo successful. Knowing people who were working on the project brought it closer to us.
All the progress toward manned spaceflight were indeed in their infancy during the early parts of the program. Each step along the way was followed eagerly by everyone. From Mercury to Gemini to Apollo, we were all engaged. Much of that had to do with the times as much as excitement of the challenge.
We feared the Russians. The Cold War was ever present. Nuclear war was not in the forefront of everyones thoughts, but it lurked in the background. Early on, the Russians had tended to be one step ahead in space, and I suppose our fears coupled with a desire to win the space race influenced us all.
The sixties was a particularly tumultuous time for us. The Viet Nam war was ever widening and consuming. Social unrest and upheaval showed up in changing mores, racial tensions, and challenging of authority. By the end of the decade, we were a lot different than we were at the start. But Apollo 11 was a glorious bright spot. When the small spacecraft, perched atop the giant Saturn V rocket, started its journey, the entire nation was galvanized at the moment. I think everyone felt a part of a positive part of American history and accomplishment.
Four days later, as the lunar module began its descent toward the moon's surface, my Dad and I were watching on the television. My father kept a journal for most of his life, and I read his entries for these days in July, 1969. He marveled at being able to watch this event as it happened. Dad, ever the keeper of details, kept a play-by-play as the module descended toward the surface, recording the altitude and time data and snippets of mission control conversation. As it got closer, his words were "Damn-this is awful! Can't write!!" His handwriting was impeccable, but when he wrote " -they're on at 18 min after 2 p.m. My God! It's done! My God! Isn't it wonderful-", his penmanship broke down a little. My father was born eleven years after the Wright brothers made the first powered flight, and he witnessed this.
To me, the space program that began with the charge to put a man on the moon demostrated something else . Usually, technological advances are made under times of great duress, such as wartime. But this was one human effort that produced much that didn't require the precursor of human suffering.
1 comment:
In 1965/66 I lived in Philadelphia. My next door neighbor's father, who was in his 80's, lived with her and was very interested in the space program. She asked him if he wished her were young, and he said he did not. He felt that he had lived through a very exciting time, seeing many technological advances.
Sounds like Uncle Walter, although born much later, was like minded.
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