re: O-T Elders who were alive during the Apollo 11 mission

I was in Navy bootcamp. My company commander told us it had happened but in bootcamp there was no tv.

I do, and I was 5 a the time... Laying on the floor in front the old Zenith..

Was living in Europe at the time and my school had a party for all the kids to come in and watch it live. In fact they would nearly always allow us to watch launches and returns.

Saw the command module from Apollo 8 later that year too during its world tour and can still remember how small it was up close. Plus seeing Armstong, Aldrin and Collins was something I'll never forget.

Wow! I too had that lunchbox.
Living in Huntsville made the landing really special.

Freshman in high school during Apollo 11. Never missed a Gemini mission, either.

I remember TV's in the class for all sorts of space launches and moon landing in the late 60s/early seventies. It was such a big deal then. TImes have changed so much. Look at the timelines of the apollo launches and try to imagine doing that much that quick in current times. First manned apollo flight set to launch January 27, 1967 with tragic consequences. 3 unmanned test flights from Oct 67 to april 68. 1 manned earth orbit in Oct 68. Then 2 manned orbits of the moon Dec 68 and May 69 with a flight in between to test the transfer to the lunar module in space (spacewalk). Then 7 lunar landing missions from May 69 to December 72 though one (Apollo 13) turned into an orbit due to equipment issues.

13 missions, 10 Manned, totally successful from Nov 67 to Dec 72 plus one completed with with everyone coming home safely even if the primary goal was missed.

I can't think of endeavor that can compete with that in terms of what they did with what they had and how fast they did it.


Apollo 1
27 January 1967
Tragic Loss of Three Apollo Astronauts

No designated Apollo 2&3 were flown, more of a naming philosophy change than anything else.

Apollo 4
Launched 9 November 1967
First all-up launch of Saturn V

Apollo 5
Launched 22 January 1968
First test of Lunar Module in space - Unmanned

Apollo 6
Launched 4 April 1968
Final uncrewed Apollo test flight - Unmanned

Apollo 7
Launched 11 October 1968
First crewed Apollo flight
Splashdown 22 October 1968

Apollo 8
Launched 21 December 1968
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 27 December 1968 - Unmanned

Apollo 9
Launched 03 March 1969
First crewed Lunar Module test
Splashdown 13 March 1969


Apollo 10
Launched 18 May 1969
Lunar Orbit and Return
Returned to Earth 26 May 1969

Apollo 11
Launched 16 July 1969
Landed on Moon 20 July 1969
Sea of Tranquility
Returned to Earth 24 July 1969

Apollo 12
Launched 14 November 1969
Landed on Moon 19 November 1969
Ocean of Storms
Returned to Earth 24 November 1969

Apollo 13
Launched 11 April 1970
Lunar Flyby and Return
Malfunction forced cancellation of lunar landing
Returned to Earth 17 April 1970

Apollo 14
Launched 31 January 1971
Landed on Moon 5 February 1971
Fra Mauro
Returned to Earth 9 February 1971

Apollo 15
Launched 26 July 1971
Landed on Moon 30 July 1971
Hadley Rille
Returned to Earth 7 August 1971

Apollo 16
Launched 16 April 1972
Landed on Moon 20 April 1972
Descartes
Returned to Earth 27 April 1972

Apollo 17
Launched 07 December 1972
Landed on Moon 11 December 1972
Taurus-Littrow
Returned to Earth 19 December 1972

I was 2. My Father worked with NASA at the time and we were living in Huntsville. Marshall Spaceflight Center and Redstone were like my backyard in those days..

quote:

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I always wonder if Apollo 1 had not caught fire, would Gus been first man on moon instead of Neil?? Thoughts?

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Yes. Gus was originally planned to be the first man on the moon.

it was great...then few months later Woodstock made me forget everything...

wait...what were we talking about?...