It was on this day in 1969 that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon.
They were part of the Apollo 11 crew. An estimated 600 million people watched live coverage of the moon landing. (I was among them, freshly back from Vietnam, sitting on the floor of our small unfurnished apartment overlooking a parking garage on Chicago’s North Side, gasping in amazement.)
The future of mankind lies out there, in space, and yet man is so myopic, so timid and self-absorbed, that despite that brave step forward, he has since taken two steps back. Once again, the keys to the future lie in understanding the lessons of the past.
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July 20, 2010 at 07:56
ponderablepolitics
I remember the excitement at school when this amazing dream became a reality. We watched the landing at home on a black and white TV and we thought the world had changed.
July 22, 2010 at 00:19
Tony Bielat
I watched it at home on the northwest side of Chicago in my parents four-flat apartment building … with lots of family. The landing was awesome. I also remember the lift-off from the moon … also on live TV. I was worried that the rocket wouldn’t fire and they’d be stuck up there. I think our engineering was better before we had all these sophisticated computers.
Thanks for asking, Chuck.