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MaryM
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| Posted: July 09 2009 at 4:30pm | IP Logged
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...man first walked on the moon?
Later this month is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's landing on the moon. All of you reading this over 40 forum should have been born (since it's the 40th  ) though I know some of you were still just wee babes... I was only 5 and I "remember" to some extent. I definitely remember watching Apollo launches, landings and splash downs. But they tend to blend together and I don't necessarily remember the first. I do remember what a big deal those first landings were and how everyone gravitated to watch it. I associate Walter Cronkite's distinct voice with the NASA space program as those were the broadcasts we watched. Listening to that throws me back in time.
Walter Cronkite broadcast on YouTube
As I mentioned in the Apollo 11 history thread we are talking some time this month to remember this anniversary and study the space program, lunar landings, and general moon/space topics.
It got me thinking about how big of a deal "space travel" was when I was a kid. We played a moon landing game all the time. My younger brother and I would get in a closet (the rocket ship, of course) and set our sights on landing on a location we would pick from the large National Geographic lunar map on the wall. Then we would would have our space walks and eat Pillsbury Space Food Sticks and drink Tang. I have even ordered some of the "new" space sticks that have been made to be like the originals so my kids can have some space sticks and Tang for our lunar landing tea.  Does anyone else remember Space Food Sticks? - not many of my peers do. But I laughed hysterically and cried nostalgic tears when I found the Space Food Stick Preservation Society - these people clearly remember these snacks!!! My 21 year old son was up with me when I found this and thought I was nuts. You have to check out the old TV commercials for them on that site - those bring back memories!
I also remember my parents talking about my elderly grandfather, a European immigrant with a heavy accent who made it clear he thought that man landing on the moon was "boolsheet" and in reading the internet these days, I'm amazed at the number of people who also think that.
Anyone else have memories to share???
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mary G
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| Posted: July 09 2009 at 4:54pm | IP Logged
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I remember being mad at mom and dad for making us come in and watch it when we were out playing that evening! Tang was too expensive for our large family and we so envied all the kids who got it all the time.
When I took the littles to Air & Space this past Spring, we spent alot of time in the Apollo section -- and they thought it was just goofy especially as I tried to describe the whole space-race aspect of it. It just didn't translate for my 21st century crew! 
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ALmom
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| Posted: July 09 2009 at 5:28pm | IP Logged
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I watched it - late at night. We had just gotten to my grandparents house after flying nonstop for 24 hours from overseas (across the international dateline) and over numerious time zones. Our sleep schedule was shot anyways and I'm a night owl. I was mesmerized - TV was a novelty in the first place and staying up all night without anyone else around and no one yelling at me for not going to bed was also novel. Everyone else went to bed.
Rockets were old hat - so while the man on the moon was inspiring, I have clearer memories of Apollo 13 (the human interest crisis). The other thing is that well - my dad worked in related areas - and we have always lived among rocket scientists and had just left overseas from where the rocket team worked and tested the rockets. I have lots of relatives connected with NASA or the space program in one way or another at some point. We personally know some of the original Von Braun rocket team members or at least their children. Our whole town is made up of either military and/or contractors or NASA or their contractors.
I really think I was more fascinated by the TV  (we didn't have TV overseas - hadn't run any cables to Kwajalein back then)than the man on the moon at the time. Background info - I stood on the edge of the ocean and watched rockets fly by. We took cover when rockets were fired at us and a bunch of other stuff. A friend's sister got in a heap of trouble for picking a really dumb teen stunt - climbing the fence to see an old, unused military rocket launch pad back in the height of the cold war. Oh and we watched the Soviet "fishing trawlers" out on the edge of international waters knowing they really were spy boats. We did a lot of taking cover during lunch time and getting out of school for this purpose. Rockets just weren't all that novel to me.
Janet
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stellamaris
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| Posted: July 09 2009 at 8:30pm | IP Logged
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I watched it...and every other launch from Gemini on. My dad was an amateur astronomer, and he would wake us up (we were on the West Coast) at about 4 a.m. for every launch of the Space Age...what fantastic memories! I have a love of astronomy to this day. And, of course, I was glued to the TV during the walk on the moon!
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amyable
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I was a few months old and I'm pretty sure my mom said I was sleeping. My MIL likes to tell the story of how she held my then 6 week old dh right up to the TV screen so he could see it.
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guitarnan
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We watched it. My dad worked on space instruments - he still does, on occasion - and he used to get us up early, early, early to see rockets launched from Vandenberg AFB (4 hours away - we could see the contrails from our yard) if they were carrying his instruments.
Once the Gemini and Apollo missions began, we watched everything possible on TV. Dad had instruments on Gemini, but not Apollo. He has an instrument on the ISS now, too.
We forget, now, how much pride everyone had in the space missions...
I grew up with the space program, and my visit to Kennedy Space Center as an adult was just fantastic - all that wonderful technology, all in one place! A complete dream come true.
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lapazfarm
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| Posted: July 09 2009 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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I had just turned three, but I do remember it very well, believe it or not.Watching the TV with my brother while we were visiting my grandparents.
My husband remembers it vividly at age 6 because it was his birthday!
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Kathryn
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I was about 33 weeks gestation probably so I don't remember. 
May be it's something I'll ask my mom about tomorrow though and then I need to remember to write it down!
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Bridget
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I was 4 but we didn't have TV so, as usual, I'm out of the loop. How very cool that your dad was part of all that Nancy!
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Elena
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I was ten. I remember my mom dragging me and my sister downstairs to watch it on t.v. and I was soooo sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open. The reception wasn't that great either so it was like watching little furry moving things on the screen which just made me sleepier. So for me it wasn't such a wonderful event!
My mom did sign us up for some kind of Time/Life educational stuff and I remember making the lunar vehicle and some of the other stuff by upunching it out of paper and folding the tabs. And there were lots of pictures of the landing to look at and remember.
However, when I was an older and wiser teenager, i did stand in line for a long time to see a moon rock when it came to our community. And frankly, it could have been a rock from outside - it didn't look that spectacular.
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: July 10 2009 at 9:35am | IP Logged
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We were on vacation, visiting Grandma who didn't have a TV. We watched it with childhood friends of my dad and their children. I just remember it seeming sort of surreal. I was 15 at the time. My son was born on the 20th anniversary -- now that really seems surreal - how can he be 20 years old?
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Nancy
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Tami
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I remember watching it in our living room. My father was responsible for the writing and publishing of the technical manuals for the lunar rover and other equipment.
I remember when the astronauts returned and were quarantined, and received a phone call from Pres. Nixon.
And years later I too saw a moon rock. And you're right, Elena, nothing too spectacular to see!
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MaryM
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| Posted: July 10 2009 at 9:47am | IP Logged
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Wow - so many people with connections to the space program - that's really cool. I'm enjoying hearing everyone's memories. 
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Mary M. in Denver
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LisaD
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I remember watching on the little b/w Zenith on a rolling stand that we had for a t.v.!
I also remember Space Food Sticks very well!! I think I remember a peanut butter flavored one. In the past, I've asked other people if they remember them, but no one ever does. And Tang, of course. I wonder what foods my kids will remember and roll their eyes at when they are adults. Fruit by the Foot, maybe? 
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JennGM
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I was two, so don't have those memories, but dh who was 6 remembers very clearly. His parents always made their kids watch these historic moments. We hang a Christmas ornament on the tree he received that year that commemorates the Walk on the Moon.
He also has a GI Joe action figure with a space capsule. The space program really was a large part of our lives back then, wasn't it?
I loved Tang, but only could drink it at my grandmother's house: Mom thought it was unhealthy.
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Anneof 5
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| Posted: July 10 2009 at 12:47pm | IP Logged
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I don't want to admit how old I was but I had just turned 12. I remember watching it on our b&w tv. I also thought I remember hearing one of the astronauts say, "It's a little powdery, I can kick it with my foot" or something to that effect. I always laughed when I heard people say the first words of man on the moon were, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Maybe I just dreamed it but I thought for sure I heard that first statement.
Also, we also only had Tang at Grandma's house. Mom must have thought it was too expensive.
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MaryM
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| Posted: July 10 2009 at 2:32pm | IP Logged
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Anneof 5 wrote:
| I also thought I remember hearing one of the astronauts say, "It's a little powdery, I can kick it with my foot" or something to that effect. I always laughed when I heard people say the first words of man on the moon were, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Maybe I just dreamed it but I thought for sure I heard that first statement. |
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Oh Anne, Neil Armstrong did say something very close to that but it was after the "one small step" statement. If you click on the Walter Cronkite link above in my first post, you can hear it for memories' sake. That clip begins right after Armstrong has just said "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" because Walter Cronkite is asking for someone to repeat and clarify what was said. Very shortly after that Armstrong comments about the powdery consistency.
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Carole N.
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We lived in San Jose when the landing occurred. I remember watching it on television and having Tang to drink. But what was really neat was the following summer, my family moved down the road from NASA. So for the next two years, I got to watch the space program right along with the children of all the people who made it happen.
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Tami
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Didn't I hear in the last year or so that the "one small step" quote was actually "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." ??
It seems to me that it came up on some program - probably Discover, or something like that - that Armstrong's words were just a bit garbled as he was coming down that ladder. But when they replayed the tape, he could just barely be heard saying "a man."
My contribution to moonwalk trivia.
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: July 10 2009 at 6:47pm | IP Logged
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Kathryn wrote:
I was about 33 weeks gestation probably so I don't remember.
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I was in utero too.  So, yes, I am cheating being here, you caught me!
But haven't you ladies heard of the conspiracy theory that it didn't happen at all?! It was all staged in a studio!
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4Real Forums : St. Anne's Tearoom: Growing in Wisdom over 40
Topic: So, where were you when...
