"WHAT A VISION THAT WAS"

COLOR THE MOON RED, WHITE & BLUE: 'THE EAGLE HAS LANDED'

Tranquility Base, The Moon (JFK+50) At 4:17 p.m. EST on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11's "Eagle" landed on the surface of the Moon with American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on board.  A third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained with the mother ship in orbit around the Moon.

The first words spoken on the Moon and transmitted back to Earth was those of Neil Armstrong...

"Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed."

JFK+50 NOTE

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, in an address to the Congress, said..."This nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out,  of landing a man on the moon..." 

On July 20, 1969, that goal was achieved.  As Sargent Shriver, JFK's Peace Corps director later said..."What a vision that was!"

SOURCE

"The Eagle Has Landed, USA On The Moon," JFK+50, July 20, 2011, www.jfk50.blogspot.ocm/ 

 Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin Salutes Flag on The Moon

July 20, 1969

Photo by Neil Armstrong

NASA

"LIFTOFF ON APOLLO 11"

APOLLO 11 LAUNCH 50 YEARS AGO

Cape Kennedy, Florida  (JFK+50) On July 16, 1969, "the engines ignited and (a) massive 2840-ton rocket rose into the blue sky" here at the Cape.  Liftoff came at 9:32 a.m. (E.D.T.)  The capsule communicator announced..."Liftoff on Apollo 11 at 32 minutes past the hour."  

Former president Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Spiro Agnew were on hand to witness the launch while 700,000 observed from the around around the Space Center.  On board Apollo 11 were astronauts Neil Armstrong*, Buzz

Aldrin** and Michael Collins***. 

Attached to the Apollo 11 spacecraft was the Lunar Module, Eagle.  Apollo was designated the Command Service Module.  Mike Collins would stay aboard the CSM orbiting the Moon while Neil and Buzz descended to the lunar surface aboard Eagle.

The three Americans were destined to fulfill President John F. Kennedy's vision of landing a man on the moon by the end of the 1960s.

*Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio.  He served in the US Navy in the Korean War. NA was a graduate of Purdue University and later after becoming a test pilot joined the astronaut corps in 1962. His 1st space flight was on Gemini 8 in 1966. 

**Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was born in Montclair, NJ on Jan 20, 1930. He is a graduate of West Point where he majored in mechanical engineering. 

Buzz served in Korea and flew 66 combat missions.  He joined the astronaut program in 1963.

***Michael Collins was born in Rome, Italy, the son of a US military officer, on October 31, 1930.  He attended West Point and joined the US Air Force.

MC was accepted to the astronaut program in 1963 and his 1st space flight came on Gemini 10.

SOURCES

"One Small Step:  Celebrating the First Men on the Moon," by Jerry Stone, Templar Publishing, Great Britain, 2009.

"The Eagle Has Landed: Happy Anniversary, Apollo 11," by Nate Rawlings, July 20, 2011,  www.newsfeed.time.com/

Apollo 11 Saturn Liftoff

July 16 1969

Space Complex 39A

Cape Kennedy

NASA Photo

     

IT WILL NOT BE ONE MAN GOING TO THE MOON, IT WILL BE AN ENTIRE NATION

JFK CALLS FOR AMBITIOUS SPACE EXPLORATION

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy spoke to a joint session of the Congress of the United States calling for an "ambitious space exploration program" which would include a Rover nuclear rocket* and weather satellites.

The President said...

"Now it is time...for a great new American enterprise, a time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement.  I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."

JFK did not sugar coat the cost of this proposal.  He said that nothing else would be "so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

The President saw this effort as truly national.  He said...

"It will not be one man going to the moon, it will be an entire nation.  For all of us must work to put him there."

JFK+50 NOTE

U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969 fulfilling the first part of President Kennedy's goal.  Following close behind was Buzz Aldrin.  Michael Collins, the third member of the Apollo 11 crew, remained in lunar orbit.


*Project Rover (1955-1972) was conducted at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory by the Atomic Energy Commission & NASA.  The 1st phase of the project, known as "Kiwi",  involved the building & testing of 8 nuclear reactors between 1959 & 1964.

SOURCE

"May 25, 1961:  JFK's Moon Shot Speech to Congress", by space.com staff, May 25, 2011, www.space.com/

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon
July 20, 1969
Photo by Neil Armstrong
NASA Image

RETURN FROM THE MOON

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 2019

APOLLO 11 RETURNED FROM THE MOON 47 YEARS AGO

Honolulu, Hawaii (JFK+50) When President John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 that the United States of America would land a man on the moon "in this decade", he also added "and return him safely to the earth." JFK sadly did not live to see it.

Forty-seven years ago today, July 24, 1969, the second part of President Kennedy's goal was accomplished as the crew of Apollo 11, including two astronauts who had walked on the lunar surface, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The Columbia spacecraft was retrieved successfully and the crew brought safely aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

The three space travelers were immediately placed in a "mobile quarantine facility" where they would remain for five days.  According to One Small Step, A Scrapbook...

"The crew (had) filled 2 boxes with rocks and soil samples.  If there was life on the Moon, then it might have infected the Earth, so the samples, the crew and their spacecraft all had to go into quarantine."

President Richard M. Nixon was on hand to greet the astronauts in person, but he could only see them through the small window of the MQF.  After the ceremony, the entire facility was transported to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Houston Texas.

Later Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were treated to a ticker tape parade in New York City, the largest ever held in the USA.  Afterwards, the three went on a good-will mission around the world.  

One Small Step tells us that NASA had scheduled nine moon landings to follow Apollo 11, but three were canceled in 1970.   The first American astronaut to fly in space, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was to be one of those who would walk on the Moon.

While we haven't been back to the Moon in a while, One Small Step reported in 2009 that NASA "expects to return to the Moon around the year 2020."

SOURCE

"One Small Step, Celebrating the First Men On the Moon," by Jerry Stone, Roaring Book Press, New York, 2009.

Apollo 11's Columbia Spacecraft

After Splashdown

NASA Photo

A TRIBUTE TO NEIL ARMSTRONG

August 26, 2012

A TRIBUTE TO NEIL ARMSTRONG

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Today we honor Neil Armstrong* who passed away in Cincinnati, Ohio on August 25th.

Neil Armstrong, the 1st human being to walk on the MOON, died at the age of 82 as a result of complications of coronary heart disease.

*Neil A. Armstrong (1930-2012) was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio & graduated from PURDUE UNIVERSITY in 1955.  He earned his Masters Degree at the University of Southern California in 1970.  His major was aeronautical engineering.

                      Neil Armstrong
                 Commander Apollo 11
          Photo by Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.
                       NASA Image

Armstrong served in the US Navy in the Korean War, flying 20 combat missions.  He was a test pilot after the war & chosen for the USAF Man In Space program in 1960.

In 1968, Neil Armstrong was made Commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission which included fellow astronauts Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. & Michael Collins.

As the Lunar Module "Eagle", on automatic pilot,  approached an unsafe landing area on the moon's surface, Armstrong took over control manually & landed safely in the "Sea of Tranquility."

Shortly thereafter on July 20, 1969, Commander Armstrong made his way down the ladder of the LM & said as he placed his foot on the lunar surface:

"THAT'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MANKIND!"

                    Man On The Moon
                        July 20, 1969
                          NASA Photo

In a statement released by the White House, President Barrack Obama said:

"Neil Armstrong was a hero not just of his time, but of all time."

Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, said:

"With courage unmeasured & unbounded love for his country, he walked where man had never walked before."

And these words come from a statement released by the Armstrong family:

"For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil....honor his example of service, accomplishment & modesty & the next time you....see the moon....think of Neil Armstrong & give him a wink."

        Neil Armstrong on the Moon
        Photo by Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.
                      NASA Image

In a Knoxville News-Sentinel front page story today, AP writers Lisa Cornwell & Seth Borenstein write:

"The moonwalk marked America's victory in the COLD WAR space race that began with the launch of the Soviet Union's Sputnik 1....that sent shock waves around the world."

The goal to land a man on the moon & return him safely to the earth before the end of the decade was set by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Although JFK did not live to see it, Neil Armstrong achieved that goal not only for the UNITED STATES of AMERICA but for the people of the EARTH.

JFK's words are often included in documentaries when he made reference to an old Irish story about boys attempting to scale a wall that seemed too "doubtful (&) too hard to try"....they would throw their caps over the wall & then they had no choice but to follow them.

JFK said:

"This nation has tossed its cap over the wall of space & we have no choice but to follow it."

          John F. Kennedy Space Center
                          Front Gate
            Photo by SlammerIII (2006)

JFK+50 COMMENT

Just as JFK was our hero, Neil Armstrong & all the American astronauts were our heroes.

We, along with millions of people around the world, were watching TV coverage on July 20, 1969 as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface.

It was a great moment in history & a proud time to be an American, but as President Nixon said later because of what these 3 American astronauts (Armstrong, Aldrin & Collins) did, all the nations & people of the world "were brought closer together."

Brian Hicks wrote today in his column, "Neil Armstrong, A True American Hero," published in the Charleston, South Carolina 'Post & Courier':

"Neil Armstrong made America & the whole planet proud by landing on the moon & by his actions afterward.  And the Earth is a little smaller without him."

And my friend Amy Teitel wrote in her op-ed piece for UK's "The Guardian":

"Just as Kennedy's death...spurred the nation to achieve his lunar landing goal, Armstrong's death may inspire future generations to start a new chapter in spaceflight history."