For those of you who were running around in 1969, what does the date July 20 mean? What happened on July 20, 1969? Yes , you know. A human landed on the moon for the first time.
For many this is an unforgettable day. You remember exactly what you were doing on this day. It's like when President Kennedy was shot. We remember exactly where we were and what happened to us.
I didn't plan July 20, 1969 very well as I was travelling. I was driving west north of lake Superior. I did not realize what a huge distance it was across Ontario, Canada and in particular how large lake Superior is.
So I was left listening to the moon landing on my car radio as I drove through the boonies. The moon landing was exciting. The closer they got to the surface the more excited I got. Just when they were a few feet off the moon surface the radio reception faded out and didn't come back on until they had landed. I remember doing some frantic dial twisting to get reception back but it didn't happen. So for me one of the issues was to lose radio reception just as they were landing.
There have been many space trips and accomplishments since but I will always remember the moon landing. It's hard to believe that this took place 52 years ago.
What was your experience?
Oh gosh! I vaguely remember that I was at home for the summer and watched it on TV like everybody else. This is unlike the Kennedy assassination where I remember being in math class and people crying. We were in shock all day. Gosh… I remember the tragedies more than the accomplishments.
ReplyDeletethey were two very different events. The Kennedy was a tragedy and the moon landing was a tremendous achievement.
DeleteYou have a good memory, to remember what you were doing on that exact day. I remember the moon landing but it could be more from what they showed on TV. Take care, have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that it has been shown many times.
DeleteIt was the summer before I started university. I was babysitting five kids whose parents had gone to a family wedding. The kids were long in bed as I watched that landing. Memorable indeed.
ReplyDeleteIt was exciting as they had no idea how risky it was.
DeleteI remember watching it.
ReplyDeleteA young scientist like you would be very interested in the event.
DeleteI watched it on TV and was mesmerized with the accomplishment. I thought by now we would have bases on the moon and would not have believed that we would not have returned regularly.
ReplyDeleteYes, further development on the moon was part of the excitement. There as also the issue of getting home.
DeleteI wasn't yet a gleam in my father's eye for a couple more years. My first "Where was I" moment was when Regan was shot. I was in school and the teacher came into the classroom in tears and told us what happened. I was old enough to remember the incident but too young to really care of the ramifications of a president being shot.
ReplyDeleteMany teachers had the experience to tell their classes.
DeleteI was 17 years old and still living in New Jersey. My parents had gone to California for the first time to look around because they were considering moving there after my twin brother and I graduated high school in 1970. My grandmother came to stay with us while my parents were gone on that trip. I sat in the living room with my 80 year old grandma and we watched that moon landing together on TV. I will never forget sharing that moment with her.
ReplyDeleteNow that was a different experience!
DeleteI wasn't quite 3, so I don't remember it. I DO, however, remember watching later Apollo missions on TV, particularly the capsule splashdowns with those brightly striped parachutes.
ReplyDeleteMany of the other missions were just as spectacular but not a first.
DeleteI remember seeing parts of it but I don't know if that was when it actually happened or if I am remembering the many times it has been replayed! It was exciting tho.
ReplyDeleteNow we got billionaires going to space for fun and profit?! Crazy!
Some film has been shown many times.
DeleteHow frustrating it must have been for you to lose radio reception just as it happened! As you said, I remember well what I was doing when President Kennedy was killed and also when they landed on the moon. It was the summer after I graduated from high school and I was still at home. My Mother and I watched it live on TV and marveled at the accomplishment. I remember looking out at the moon later that night with amazement to think they had walked on it!
ReplyDeletewe were all concentrating on the success of the mission. there wee many, many risks.
DeleteOh yes, I remember. I was at our old cabin on Whidbey Island and we brought an old black and white portable TV with us so we could watch the moon landing. We all sat around watching, spellbound and nervous and then elated.
ReplyDeleteI was working in a pharmacy and we were listening to it on the radio. A great memory that I always remember.
ReplyDeleteThanks Red for sharing your memory of that first lunar landing. I now recall watching it on TV at home with my parents. What a moment in history to remember, unlike the launches of Branson and Bezos which I did not watch this week.
ReplyDeleteI watched it in my girlfriend's living room and have never forgotten that moment.
ReplyDeleteI stood at the ironing board with a week's ironing, in front of the TV, watching.
ReplyDeleteBefore my time. It would have been quite something.
ReplyDeleteI was finishing school. We lived in one basement apartment. Sue and I watch the landing in the other basement apartment.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Ontario is vast from east to west.
I wasn't affected as much as Jeff Bezos. As a five-year-old in 1969, Bezos watched on television as humans took their first steps on the moon and was inspired to dream that one day he too would become a spaceman. He accomplished his goal 52 years later on July 20, 2021.
ReplyDeletei was allowed to stay up late that evening to watch the landing. Can still recall watching that teeny-weeny tv - parked atop my parents' non-working set. The teeny one, btw, was a loaner - from a smug frienemy of my mom. But of course, as a kid, you don't know about the headgames women (especially) play against one another.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were playing pinochle with their friends while eight children sat transfixed in a smokey livingroom watching the landing on a black and white television. The grownups set down their cards to watch. Everyone thought it was amazing. That was back in the day before the conspiracy nuts decided that it was a hoax.
ReplyDeleteI was working and didn't pay much attention to the news so it had no big impact on me!
ReplyDeleteI was pre-school age, so my memories are very vague about this!
ReplyDeleteI confess that I have no idea what I was doing that day although I do remember the general excitement.
ReplyDeletei landed on planet earth in same month when man landed on moon ,sounds nice
ReplyDeletei agree you will never forget this radio transmission that left you just few feet away before they landed the moon ,too bad