OT: Doesn't seem like 40 years have passed...

[Bruce Scott]

...but it was on 20 July 1969 that we watched Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touch down on the moon. For me it was in the digger's communal TV room in the Albert Jacka, VC Club at Kapyong Barracks, Puckapunyal.

[Lobo]

Hi All,

I was working at Cedar Point in Ohio.....a summer job for a WVU college student!

[Hobie]

I was at my grandparents' farm near Fly Creek, NY. It was SO exciting...

[Old Savage]

That is funny, I was 21 then and 40 years have passed for me too. How can that be?

[rjohns94]

My Uncle was a mortician in annapolis, md. i was at his house watching. I don't remember if I was more fascinated with moon landing or the double homicide that he was working on.

[Marc]

I didn't watch it. I was at Special Forces training center at Fort Bragg.

[Old Ironsights]

As I was two and mostly blind, I was probably out blowing things up in the back yard...

TV was never very important to my people ...

[Hillbilly]

I remember it distinctly. My granpas' birthday is today. We were at Riverside Park in St Joe Michigan most of the day. The extended family tossed a birthday/family reunion at the park... so we listened to the live parts on the radio off and on between food and activities. When we got home later we watched TV.

My grandad was born in 1912...he was 57 that day. Our culture went from horses and T model Fords to moon shots in his lifetime... seems like we stalled and even regressed, our most sucessful technology since he passed a few years ago has been the "XBox" and that seems to be a shame to me.

[Modoc ED]

I was 26-years old, in the Navy, and stationed in Edzell, Scotland.

My sister-in-law to this day doesn't believe that we went to the Moon. She still believes that is was staged on a sound stage in Las Vegas, NV. She's a bit bent but she's a great cook.

[deerwhacker444]

I was 4 years from being born.....Gees, you folks are old...!

That would have been neat to see though....

[C. Cash]

I was one year old and living with my family at our new duty station: Williams Air Force base in Arizona. No recollection, but I do remember some of the later splashdowns on TV.

[Old Savage]

Here they are at Apollo park in Lancaster



And in a very odd quirk of fate as we headed back to town I took this picture. Part of the lights you see are a baseball stadium where Buzz Aldrin was throwing out the first ball.

[J Miller]

I was on summer vacation between my Junior and Senior High School years. I honestly don't even remember watching it. Logic says I did, but I don't remember.

Joe

[Blaine]

I had just graduated HS....we all went over to "My Other Mom's" house because they had a color tv.....I was so proud.....I just knew we would build on that and go to Mars posthaste.......I guess the Space Program is something else we're going to turn over to the darn Chinese

[Old Ironsights]

What do y'all expect from a program that was "Nationalized"? Success?

We "Succeeded" at beating the Russkies to the moon. After that NASA was/is just another boondoggle. Why? Because THERE IS NO PROFIT IN A GOVERNMENT PROGRAM.

Back Before NASA there was a REAL "space race" going on between the Aerospace Biggies. Kubric was well aware of how things could/should have gone when he made 2001.

PanAm commercial space planes flying passengers to the Howard Johnson Hotel/Space Station.

There is more money in minerals in the asteroid belt than anyone can imagine... and the Government(s) sure as heck don't want any bloody Capitalists from exercising their right to risk it all for the big haul...

[Jayhawker]

I was still in high school but vividly remember watching them touch down and the entire moon walk. I was a bit of a geek then, busily building models of the lunar lander and Saturn rockets and dreaming. Of course, I was also dreaming of Woodstock about that time. Too young to fly with Armstrong or Timothy O'Leary. Probably just as well.

[hocbj23]

Just had gotten out of the service,moved into my first home and my bride and I were watching on "our" first TV.What a rush.Life was good and I was sure it would only get better.H-m-m-m,well may have missed it a little there.bj

[Blaine]

What do y'all expect from a program that was "Nationalized"? Success?

We "Succeeded" at beating the Russkies to the moon. After that NASA was/is just another boondoggle. Why? Because THERE IS NO PROFIT IN A GOVERNMENT PROGRAM.

Back Before NASA there was a REAL "space race" going on between the Aerospace Biggies. Kubric was well aware of how things could/should have gone when he made 2001.

PanAm commercial space planes flying passengers to the Howard Johnson Hotel/Space Station.

There is more money in minerals in the asteroid belt than anyone can imagine... and the Government(s) sure as heck don't want any bloody Capitalists from exercising their right to risk it all for the big haul...

You'd dump on the cure for cancer if the Gubment found it first If you are ignorant about how much "socialized" space contributed to health, science, medicine...EVERYthing, then please read up on it before looking silly.

[Old Ironsights]

I am not discounting the side benefits/unintended consequences. But those things would have happened ANYWAY - and probably sooner and cheaper if the Government had not "owned" all space exploration and the resources devoted to it.

Did you know that both Rockwell and GD had their OWN versions of the Space Shuttle on the boards and in pre-production before NASA went "All Big Boosters All The TIme" and scuttled the idea for the next nearly 20 years?

The Government is the single slowest and most expensive way of doing ANYTHING except fighting wars.

[Blaine]

I am not discounting the side benefits/unintended consequences. But those things would have happened ANYWAY - and probably sooner and cheaper if the Government had not "owned" all space exploration and the resources devoted to it.

Did you know that both Rockwell and GD had their OWN versions of the Space Shuttle on the boards and in pre-production before NASA went "All Big Boosters All The TIme" and scuttled the idea for the next nearly 20 years?

The Government is the single slowest and most expensive way of doing ANYTHING except fighting wars.

I'll grant you most of that.....It was important, at the time, to show up the commies in everyway possible: In Cuba, SE Asia, The Space Program, etal.......And, afterall, we dood it, and no one has been there since, and private space Co. could go anytime they want and won't.....

[Old Ironsights]

...And, afterall, we dood it, and no one has been there since, and private space Co. could go anytime they want and won't.....

Absolutely incorrect. Only recently have private companies been ALLOWED to use reusable launch vehicles and parabolic-arc filghts. (among a whole host of other restrictions)

http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=332

… NASA still fights for industry control by crowding out private businesses. One of its tactics is to price shuttle launches below market value. In 1985, Milton R. Copulos found that NASA had been charging $38 million a flight when the actual cost of a launch was over $150 million. Some companies were even reported to have received free shuttle service in exchange for favors like sharing research or payload equipment.14 Unlike private businesses that must cover their costs, NASA can afford to underprice its services and pass the difference on to taxpayers. Such policies perpetuate government control as private entrepreneurs find themselves unable to compete.
Another method NASA uses to entrench its monopoly is by banning advertisements on space vehicles. Instead of allowing for corporate logos and markings, only the words "United States" or "USA" along with the aesthetically pleasing NASA graphic can grace shuttle orbiters.15 This policy, meant to standardize vehicle appearance, actually prevents private companies from securing additional funding in the form of corporate sponsorships. Indeed, there is plenty of advertising money to go around: during 1997, more than $185 billion was spent on advertising in the U.S. More than 30 advertisers paid a record $1.3 million per half-minute of ad time for the telecast of the Super Bowl alone.16 As John Tierney recently suggested in Reason Magazine, many outdoor gear makers and high tech firms would have an incentive to have their names and products associated with space missions, yet government policy keeps both their logos and investment money out of the market.17
Regulation also helps to insulate NASA from market competition. Before the Space Commercialization Act of 1998, private companies could deliver an Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) into orbit, but were not allowed to return it to earth. This built-in bias in favor of single-use equipment contributed to the high costs of launching payloads and stifled private development of better technology. The Commercial Space Act changed this by authorizing the FAA to license reusable launch vehicles (RLVs). At least five different companies conducted RLV flight and component hardware tests in 1998, yet none are ready to be licensed for commercial use.18
As these examples show, NASA has tried to hold on to its monopoly at the expense of the private sector. Americans must now decide who will lead the way in the new race for space. As ProSpace delineates, "As citizens we have a choice: endless fights over 1-3% annual increases in the NASA budget, or 20-30% annual growth in commercial space that will be self-perpetuating after market forces take over in the arena of space development."19

Maybe losing $94mil in office equipment is a good way to use tax money to develop Velcro…http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/5000072.html

Never mind that NASA is yet another Unconstitutional Alphabet agency whose functions were being performed quite admirably before it existed and whose functions Private Agencies are increasingly adopting as they find ways around the Socialist Monopoly Bureaucracy.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_pr ... 05784.html
http://www.geocities.com/sande106/NASA.htm
http://www.thepriceofliberty.org/04/04/20/lobo.htm
http://www.whattofix.com/blog/archives/ ... must_k.php
http://news.cnet.com/Do-we-need-NASA/20 ... 11308.html
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/1999/09/21955
http://www.lewrockwell.com/grichar/grichar49.html

[Blaine]

That's funny....Boeing competes quite well with Airbus, who is heavily subsidized by the European Consortium...The FACT is, private satalite launch is MUCH more popular than NASA launch....Japan, Russia, France, Iran, Brazil and more are all launching and doing it cheaper than NASA..... But, we digress, this post was about the Moon Landing.....stop pooping on such a historical occasion

[marlin shooter]

I was 7 years old and vaguely rember watching it at my grandparents house. 40 years ago Ted Kennedy also tried to float the oldsmobile. I wonder why this hasn't got much airtime?
Karl

[Ysabel Kid]

At home, in front of our black & white TV. Something one never forgets!

[Bogie35]

We went to the moon???



bogie

[madman4570]

I was 12,sitting in the living room staring at the tv in awe.
I had this toy rocket that I remember holding.I still have it too. Wont ever forget that!

[claybob86]

I was 11. Watched it in a log cabin in Woody Creek, CO. I had watched most, if not all of the manned launches and splashdowns prior to that, so it felt like a climax to the U.S. space program to me. Apparently, it was, at least for my lifetime.

[Old Time Hunter]

Watched it at my Grandparents lake home, had to stop adjusting my rockers on my '66 Mustang with a 289 HiPo (punched out .040" with 351W heads ported and polished, mechanical highlift cam, originally started out as a 271hp version) to go into the house. Everyone was gathered around the TV, my Grandfather said "B*ll Sh*t their pulling the wool over our eyes", yet my Grandmother had tears running down her face.

[AJMD429]

Our culture went from horses and T model Fords to moon shots in his lifetime... seems like we stalled and even regressed, our most sucessful technology since he passed a few years ago has been the "XBox" and that seems to be a shame to me.

A friend of mine says his grandfather watched the moon landing with him, and when he asked his grandfather what his first memories in life were, he said when he was a child in Kentucky, his parents (Indian) told the kids they had to 'go play up in the hills' for a few days, and not come down until the parents came and told them to. All the other kids in the town (whole town was Indiana) were told the same. He found out later they were afraid that the whites down the road were going to come get revenge because they'd just heard about Custer's massacre. Imagine going from that era to seeing the moon landing.

But you're right, one of my earliest memories is of the moon landing, and now I'm watching socialism tear our nation down socially and economically and morally so we've become a culture of envy, hate, and fear. That wasn't what I grew up with in the 1950's and 60's. . .I think the uphill part from 1880-1970 would have been more fun to live through than this downhill slide.

[AJMD429]

I was 7 years old and vaguely rember watching it at my grandparents house. 40 years ago Ted Kennedy also tried to float the oldsmobile. I wonder why this hasn't got much airtime?
Karl

That's it - I knew it - they DID fake the whole moon thing, just to take the media eyes off Teddy's boat ride...!

[COSteve]

I was in Madagan General Hospital between Ft. Lewis and McChord AFB in Washington State, recovering from my wounds from Viet Nam. My parents came up that weekend to visit me from California and we watched it with the other patients.

It was a very sad day as my driver (I was a tank commander) died that morning from an infection he developed from his wounds. We were both hit at the same time, he much worse than me.

[Sixgun]

I was on summer vacation between my Junior and Senior High School years. I honestly don't even remember watching it. Logic says I did, but I don't remember.

Joe

Yea, me too. I had just turned 15 and had other things on my mind and it wasn't guns.------Sixgun

[Pete44ru]

I had already been out of the service for three years, and had just brought my wife & our second child (a girl) home from her birthing hospital.

So, my green-eyed monster & I watched the landing together while the kids were in bed.

.