Ace of Spades HQ

July 20, 2012

July 20, 1969
— Dave in Texas

A man walked on the surface of the moon. 43 years ago today, and a mere 66 years after Kitty Hawk.

621px-Apollo_11_lunar_module (400x386).jpg

66 years from the sands of North Carolina, wood, cotton fabric and a small gasoline powered engine, to the massive rockets of the Saturn V. Quite a leap.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 01:30 PM | Comments (151)
Post contains 55 words, total size 1 kb.

1 all because of John Kennedy!! and roads built by Other People!

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:09 PM (RnfGE)

2 It's old.

Posted by: BurtTC at July 20, 2012 01:09 PM (TOk1P)

3 A mere 66 years after Kitty Hawk. I never thought if it that way.... Today, we're bumming rides into orbit with the Ruskies. That, frankly, is humiliating.

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:09 PM (zXLtf)

4 I built that!

Posted by: Barack Hussein Obama at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (ggRof)

5 seriously, thank you, President Nixon

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (RnfGE)

6 When once we could do this, and that, and the other thing, now we can't even get to low Earth orbit. JFK weeps.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (QupBk)

7

NASA didn't get their on their own.

Posted by: imp at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (UaxA0)

8 I can walk on water.

Posted by: Barack at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (yyxZI)

9 What's a,... ...moon?

Posted by: Charlie Gibson at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (N2yhW)

10 I was born during the Nixon years.

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:10 PM (RnfGE)

11 I watched the landing from my grandparents' den in Florida, on vacation with my mother and sister.

Grandpa worked at the Cape as an electrician through Pan Am, when not building houses.

Seems like yesterday.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (UOM48)

12
how could I use "their"???

THERE!

ugh

Posted by: imp at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (UaxA0)

13 so, yeah, thanks again, President Nixon

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (RnfGE)

14 When I was a kid, we wanted to be astronauts. Today, kids want to be Famous.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (pWoN0)

15 I was born during the Nixon years. I always pictured you as older, unless you mean VP Nixon.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (QupBk)

16 nood Gohmert post!

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:11 PM (RnfGE)

17 And this promotes the Muslim contribution to math in what way ?

Posted by: shit bird at July 20, 2012 01:12 PM (2cfUo)

18 You know what the Wright Bros. didn't have at Kitty Hawk? A f*cking road.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 20, 2012 01:12 PM (UOM48)

I wanted to be an astronaut until I realized how cool smoking cigarettes was.

Don't smoke.

Posted by: Truman North at July 20, 2012 01:12 PM (I2LwF)

20 Charlie, you are a dumbass. A moon is a type of assault weapon used by tea partiers when shooting women and children in movie theaters. Gawd.

Posted by: Brian Ross at July 20, 2012 01:12 PM (N2yhW)

21 Neil Armstrong is one cool Boilermaker.

Posted by: Y-not at July 20, 2012 01:13 PM (5H6zj)

22 That's no moon.....

Posted by: Han Solo at July 20, 2012 01:13 PM (2cfUo)

23 unless you mean VP Nixon. oh gosh, no! toby, remember "someone?" We met in 2007 and he said with sincerity, "Wow, I always imagined you a some old cranky guy!"

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:14 PM (RnfGE)

24 I was only 4 yrs old when this took place.So, I don't remember any of it but my parents said I watched it on a B&W TV with my brothers.

Posted by: dantesed at July 20, 2012 01:16 PM (5deW7)

25 brb, firing up the anti-Higgs field generator.

Posted by: lolCERN at July 20, 2012 01:16 PM (0ZJ5N)

26 God didn't build that moon,. somebody else built that.

Posted by: Barry "Jug Ears" McShithead at July 20, 2012 01:17 PM (2cfUo)

It's truly amazing...what they managed to accomplish, with such primitive technology, back then.

At the time, it was "high tech" though.

I remember being glued to the tv set, watching this as a kid....in wide-eyed wonder.

Posted by: wheatie at July 20, 2012 01:17 PM (MbB0O)

28 "43 years ago today, and a mere 66 years after Kitty Hawk."

And a mere 2 days after Mary Jo suffocated in an air pocket in the rear of Rose Kennedy's 1967 Olds Delmont 88.

Posted by: Parking Lot Bozo at July 20, 2012 01:21 PM (Pz85c)

29 I remember as a kid watching a talk show on which Marilu Henner proudly announced she lost her virginity that night. As the lunar module was going down, apparently so was she.

(And she should know she's one of those remember everything you ever did and when savants)

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:22 PM (zXLtf)

30 And a mere 2 days after Mary Jo suffocated in an air pocket in the rear of Rose Kennedy's 1967 Olds Delmont 88.

Posted by: Parking Lot Bozo at July 20, 2012 05:21 PM (Pz85c)

Beat me to it...

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:23 PM (zXLtf)

31 24 I was only 4 yrs old when this took place.So, I don't remember any of it but my parents said I watched it on a BW TV with my brothers.

----------

I don't remember Apollo 11 beyond a vague memory of sitting in front of a TV. I would have been about 6 at the time; dad was in 'Nam, so it was one of the few times I was in the states while growing up.

I do, however, vividly remember the Apollo 8 splashdown. We were living in Munich at the time, and my dad and a bunch of neighbors managed to scrounge up a small black and white TV somewhere and we watched it in a neighbor's kitchen.

Posted by: Anachronda at July 20, 2012 01:24 PM (1c58W)

32 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

Posted by: steevy at July 20, 2012 01:24 PM (Ts9tU)

33 One hot, stuffy Spring afternoon, I helped Neil Armstrong open a window.

Posted by: mrp at July 20, 2012 01:25 PM (HjPtV)

34 And we haven't been back for what, almost 40 years? NASA Sucks reasty donkey nads

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 20, 2012 01:26 PM (r4wIV)

35 I was only 4 yrs old when this took place.So, I don't remember any of it
but my parents said I watched it on a BW TV with my brothers.

----------

I was 8, and I remember my adult relatives saying that they thought the thing would sink into the surface like quicksand.

And to think they did it with much less computing power than today's cell phone.

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:26 PM (zXLtf)

36 Hmm, Dave , somethings missing in the picture.

Posted by: Three wolves at July 20, 2012 01:26 PM (AWmfW)

37 Good luck, Mr Gorsky!

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:27 PM (zXLtf)

38 And now - 43 years after the moonwalk, we are no longer capable of repeating the feat. By the time we are 66 years out from it, we are likely to have regressed to where we can't get ourselves out of bed in the morning, let alone fly anywhere. And who wants to anyway, with Big Sis sticking her hands in your pants?

Posted by: A One-Eyed Cat Peepin' in the Seafood Store at July 20, 2012 01:30 PM (eMtQ2)

39 Well...we can still fly, so that's something.

Posted by: t-bird at July 20, 2012 01:30 PM (FcR7P)

40 Dave's back on top.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:31 PM (QupBk)

41 And we ain't done dick since.In space anyway.

Posted by: steevy at July 20, 2012 01:32 PM (Ts9tU)

42 as per my contract here at AoS I can only comment in the top post

Posted by: soothsayer at July 20, 2012 01:32 PM (RnfGE)

43 I can only comment in the top post I already stole your joke.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:33 PM (QupBk)

44 commenting in the lower posts are for steers and queers which one are you?

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:33 PM (RnfGE)

45 was that Ventura's line in COMMANDO? I think so.

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:34 PM (RnfGE)

46 Well...we can still fly, so that's something.

Posted by: t-bird at July 20, 2012 05:30 PM (FcR7P)

We'll see about that.

Posted by: Ben Dover, TSA Supervisor at July 20, 2012 01:35 PM (Irb+I)

47 I only remember Sexual Tyrannosaurus.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:35 PM (QupBk)

48 Wait, that was Predator. Was Ventura in Commando?

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:36 PM (QupBk)

That's less an historical artifact than it is a damning indictment, Dave.

If you'd have told the 9 year old kid getting up at 4:00A to watch the Mercury launches that we wouldn't be on Mars (at least!) by 2010, he'd have thought you weren't worth listening to.

(He was a polite, mannerly little 9 year old.)

Posted by: davisbr at July 20, 2012 01:36 PM (EuWFS)

50 Was it Predator? I thought it was the movie with Maria Conchita Gonzales.

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:37 PM (RnfGE)

51 He was not says IMDB.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:37 PM (QupBk)

52 oh, maybe I never saw Commando, then

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:38 PM (RnfGE)

53 and a mere 66 years after Kitty Hawk.

****

That's the killer, right there.

From man cannot fly to the moon in three generations.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at July 20, 2012 01:39 PM (piMMO)

54 Vernon Wells was in Commando.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:39 PM (QupBk)

55 I remember it very well. Sad. Should have been a day to celebrate one of our nations greatest accomplishments. Instead we are talking about a mass murderer. Somedays I really just don't want to get out of bed.

Posted by: jewells45 at July 20, 2012 01:39 PM (UljOc)

56 HOLY FUCKING SHIT MAN WALKS ON FUCKING MOON

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:39 PM (I2LwF)

57 I'm gonna recycle a joke here... Capricorn 2: IF I Did It

Posted by: Dr. Varno at July 20, 2012 01:39 PM (0I2JG)

58 the baseball player?

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:40 PM (RnfGE)

59 >>>Quite a leap.

Almost as big as my leap...

One giant leap over Ewok-kind...

Posted by: This Post at July 20, 2012 01:40 PM (1Dlit)

60 NASA has been re-tasked with a higher purpose.

Posted by: Moe Ham Head, NASA Muslim Outreach Coordinator at July 20, 2012 01:41 PM (Irb+I)

61 The Mohawk Guy from Road Warrior.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:41 PM (QupBk)

62 Wells has quite the filmography.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:42 PM (QupBk)

63 Men who have walked on the Moon - what an amazing and exclusive fraternity. To do that, wow.

Posted by: SFGoth at July 20, 2012 01:42 PM (dZ756)

64 Headline: Government employees go to moon, return safely

Posted by: Major _________ de Coverly at July 20, 2012 01:43 PM (Dll6b)

65 Jewell45: if I had boobs, I'd never get out of bed.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:43 PM (UbgS5)

I know a guy whose uncle worked on the Lunar Excursion Module (pictured), on Long Island, at a company called Grumman. I guess I should drop him a line and tell him "Your uncle didn't build that!"

It was quite a wake-up call for me when I realized there was a guy in the office who not only didn't remember the Moon landing, but that it was because he had not been born yet. And THAT was almost 20 years ago.

Posted by: Optimizer at July 20, 2012 01:44 PM (As94z)

67 Ernest Borgnine played Jesse Ventura in Commando.

Posted by: garrett at July 20, 2012 01:44 PM (JT0pN)

68 I wasn't born when this happened.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:44 PM (UbgS5)

69 Brian Dennehey was in Predator.

Posted by: garrett at July 20, 2012 01:45 PM (JT0pN)

70 1st flight at Kitty Hawk wouldn't reach from nose to tail of a 747. Think about that!

Posted by: Schwalbe: The Me-262© at July 20, 2012 01:45 PM (UU0OF)

71 We knew how to drain the commie bank accounts in those days. We would race them to the top. Now, THE big-oh commie is draining ours, by racing us all to the bottom.

Posted by: and irresolute at July 20, 2012 01:46 PM (Q492A)

72 What we need is a thread devoted to the great accomplishments in math and science by Muslims.

Alternate thread: men who love goats.

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 20, 2012 01:46 PM (UOM48)

73 One great leap for a man. One giant leap for Islam.*

(Rev 2012, Obama administration)

Posted by: Neil's Arm Is Strong at July 20, 2012 01:46 PM (Irb+I)

>>What we need is a thread devoted to the great accomplishments in math and science by Muslims.<<

Here ya go:

Posted by: Jay Guevara at July 20, 2012 01:46 PM (ot6KL)

75 The Wallbanger just said that there were made-up reports that there was hannity and limbaugh paraphernalia at the shooter's house.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:46 PM (UbgS5)

76 Brian Dennehey was in Predator. He was masterful as the log bridge.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:47 PM (QupBk)

When my kid was young, and we were out for a walk, I happened to look up at the Moon, and told her:

"You know, when I was your age, some guys climbed into a huge rocket ship, flew to the Moon, walked around for a while, and then came back home. It was pretty cool."

She gave me THAT LOOK that says, "You are SO full of it..."

And I realized, wow, that really was one of those stories that's truly pretty unbelievable, in hindsight.

Posted by: Optimizer at July 20, 2012 01:47 PM (As94z)

78 I've seen footage of Walter Cronkite announcing the landing. He actually wept for a moment. Now, 43 years later, we know it was from sadness that we had beaten the Soviets

Posted by: Wm T Sherman at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (w41GQ)

79 43 years from Moon Landing to.... Jack Shit.

Posted by: DRH at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (xFoDt)

80 You know what happens exactly 43 years and 6 months after the moonwalk? We inaugurate President Romney and the Obamas leave for parts unknown, God willing.

Posted by: Mayday at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (F3s39)

Actually, that's not quite fair. Muslims did* invent the zero, so they could provide a succinct answer to anyone who asked what they'd accomplished in the last millennium.

*I know it was the Hindus, but work with me here.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (ot6KL)

82 ARGHH!!!!! Fox is playing Barky....

*searches frantically for remote*

Anyone notice how detached the SCOAMF sounds?

Posted by: Jane D'oh at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (UOM48)

83 Omg boehner is on hannity now and he is Posing the Question of how the shooter got these guns. What good place does that question lead?

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (UbgS5)

84 Something also notable happened on this day 68 years ago. Something which COULD have been far more influential on modern events than this.

Posted by: Chris R at July 20, 2012 01:48 PM (v362Z)

85 and the Obamas leave for parts unknown, God willing. Let's send him to the moon.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:49 PM (QupBk)

He was masterful as the log bridge.

I'm pretty sure he won an Emmy for that role.

Posted by: garrett at July 20, 2012 01:49 PM (JT0pN)

87 In honor of this day in history :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6insZjCfU

Posted by: DRH at July 20, 2012 01:49 PM (xFoDt)

88 Wait it's not boehner... I don't think... But who is it?

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:50 PM (UbgS5)

89 I just went to see the new Batman movie. Definitely worth seeing.

Posted by: Aaron at July 20, 2012 01:50 PM (Tlix5)

@76

It's really hard to stay 'on topic' with this thing going on about the 'Theater Massacre'....isn't it.

And yeah, Truman...the Left will desperately try to pin this tragedy on anything or anyone, even remotely connected to conservatism.

Posted by: wheatie at July 20, 2012 01:51 PM (MbB0O)

91 Wait it's not boehner... I don't think... But who is it? George Kennedy? Zombie Dean Martin?

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:51 PM (QupBk)

92 I used to have a set of 4 commemorative glasses that my mom bought that were issued right after the moon landing. Man, I wish I still had those. Bet they are worth some money. LOL- I actually cut my right hand between the index finger and thumb pretty bad washing one of those out. Had like 6 stitches. Still have the scar all these many years later.

Posted by: jewells45 at July 20, 2012 01:51 PM (UljOc)

93 My mom was about 7 months along with me when this happened. I remember watching it from her womb...

Posted by: beancounter at July 20, 2012 01:51 PM (p18em)

94 I wasn't born when this happened.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 05:44 PM (UbgS5)

Pussy.

Posted by: Ombudsman at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (zXLtf)

95 Anyone notice how detached the SCOAMF sounds?

--

I'll take your word for it since I can't stand watching or listening to him.

Sincerity can be hard to fake, especially for those who are not culturally American. It does seem today like Zero is going out of his way to try to appear presidential though. He's even skipping a fundraiser.

Posted by: Mayday at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (F3s39)

96 Posted by: and irresolute at July 20, 2012 05:46 PM (Q492A)

That is an interesting and depressing point.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (nEUpB)

97 Ah, yes. I remember it well. Glorious black & white. Now, those guys had balls.

Posted by: Cricket at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (2ArJQ)

98 Something also notable happened on this day 68 years ago. Something which COULD have been far more influential on modern events than this.

My parents talked fondly about gathering in front of the television to watch the first Kitty Hawk flight.

Posted by: Joe Biden at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (SY2Kh)

99 Remember the end of the Will Smith superhero movie Hancock? He put his symbol on the moon so it was clearly visible during any full moon. What an asshole.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:52 PM (UbgS5)

100 Since we ain't done squat since, I'm forced to conclude that Capricorn 1 was in fact a documentary.

Posted by: @PurpAv at July 20, 2012 01:53 PM (ZS4z4)

101 This day is not only a hard one because of the massacre in Colorado, but daughter left today.. back to Grand Junction. Miss her

Posted by: jewells45 at July 20, 2012 01:53 PM (UljOc)

102 I just went to see the new Batman movie. ...And Lived Through It. /tasteless t-shirt

Posted by: soothsayer the body ventura at July 20, 2012 01:53 PM (RnfGE)

103 Aldrin says they had 20 seconds of fuel left when they landed. Indeed, THE BALLS.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:54 PM (QupBk)

104 The fact that 43 years later we don't have Luna City, footprints on Mars and plans to explore the asteroids makes one weep... But hey, we've got Facebook, so we've got that going for us...

Posted by: GuyfromNH at July 20, 2012 01:54 PM (YOe1f)

105 Something also notable happened on this day 68 years ago. Something which COULD have been far more influential on modern events than this.

Dave In Texas held his retirement party?

Posted by: Hollowpoint at July 20, 2012 01:54 PM (SY2Kh)

106 104 Yeah,Armstrong kept looking for a landing spot,and looking,and looking.

Posted by: steevy at July 20, 2012 01:54 PM (Ts9tU)

107 Dave In Texas held his retirement party? His bicentennial.

Posted by: toby928© at July 20, 2012 01:55 PM (QupBk)

108 Anyone notice how detached the SCOAMF sounds?

Extreme cases of NPD (i.e. Obama) can't even fake empathy.

Posted by: @PurpAv at July 20, 2012 01:55 PM (ZS4z4)

109 "My parents went to see the new batman movie and all I got was this lousy inheritance." I denounce myself. Come to think of it, it was a mugging and double murder after a movie (or play) that orphaned Batman.

Posted by: Truman North, iPhone snob at July 20, 2012 01:56 PM (UbgS5)

110 One of these days Barry, one of these days...

*bang*

*choom*

... to the moon!!!

Posted by: Michelle O's intimidating arms and sasquatch paws at July 20, 2012 01:56 PM (1Dlit)

111

No way! That's great!

WE LANDED ON THE MOON!!!

Posted by: Lloyd at July 20, 2012 01:56 PM (pmHwk)

112

On thing I remember from back then was being home for lunch (from elementary school) and watching astronauts walking around on the Moon on TV (live). I was kind of bored, but apparently kind of hypnotized by it. I realized I was a half hour late for getting back to school!

I rushed back across the empty school yard and halls, and got back to my classroom, and I don't remembering anybody even noticing I was missing (or if they did, they didn't bother me about it). I still don't know why I didn't get in some sort of trouble, or why nobody else was around to snap me out of my trance in the first place. Memories can be weird, I guess.

Posted by: Optimizer at July 20, 2012 01:56 PM (As94z)

113 86 and the Obamas leave for parts unknown, God willing.

Let's send him to the moon.

Posted by: toby928Â© at July 20, 2012 05:49 PM (QupBk)

--------------

On his bike.

Posted by: A One-Eyed Cat Peepin' in the Seafood Store at July 20, 2012 01:57 PM (eMtQ2)

114 That's right Truman. Had forgotten that.

Posted by: jewells45 at July 20, 2012 01:58 PM (UljOc)

115 If we built a high speed rail line to the moon, everyone could vacation there like Club Med.

Posted by: Joe Biden at July 20, 2012 02:00 PM (ZS4z4)

116 One of these days Alice,
One of these days,
Boom, zip, right to the Moon.

Posted by: Ralph Cramden at July 20, 2012 02:04 PM (yVsIQ)

117 SCOAMF whines that we cannot do great things anymore like build a dam or go to the moon but it never occurs to him why. It's like a seriously fat chick complaining that she can't run a marathon while stuffing her face with cookie dough.

Posted by: Cowfish at July 20, 2012 02:05 PM (qyjnV)

118 When once we could do this, and that, and the other thing, now we can't even get to low Earth orbit. Posted by: toby928Â©

There's nothing more to do there the way we were doing it. And its out-sourced and off-shored now.

Posted by: DaveA at July 20, 2012 02:06 PM (yVsIQ)

119 I gotta man-crush on the VP today.

Posted by: Cowfish at July 20, 2012 02:06 PM (qyjnV)

120

It's like a seriously fat chick complaining that she can't run a marathon while stuffing her face with cookie dough.

Posted by: Cowfish at July 20, 2012 06:05 PM (qyjnV)

Why you be hatin'?

Posted by: Moochelle at July 20, 2012 02:07 PM (pmHwk)

121 with such primitive technology, back then.

Hey kid, slide rules don't quit when the batteries run out. Harumph!

I'd bet a fair bit of the materials and fabrication tech is till top-of-the-line today.

Posted by: DaveA at July 20, 2012 02:08 PM (yVsIQ)

122 >>>A man walked on the surface of the moon. 43 years ago today, and a mere 66 years after Kitty Hawk.

Let's remember what at least one or two scientists thought about the Wright Bros. work.

The demonstration that no possible combination of known substances, known forms of machinery and known forms of force, can be united in a practical machine by which men shall fly along distances through the air, seems to the writer as complete as it is possible for the demonstration to be.
Simon Newcomb

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible Lord Kelvin (Yes that Kelvin)

It is apparent to me that the possibilities of the aeroplane, which two or three years ago were thought to hold the solution to the [flying machine] problem, have been exhausted, and that we must turn elsewhere,
Thomas Edison

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at July 20, 2012 02:08 PM (0q2P7)

123 I missed it while it was happening and didn't know until years later that they road that thing down standing up. Flying by the soles of their feet, not by the seat of their pants. What a trip and what a crew ... even if they did keep the Transformers shipwreck a secret for so long.

Posted by: and irresolute at July 20, 2012 02:08 PM (Q492A)

124 make that "rode that thing" ... I have infrastructure on the brain.

Posted by: and irresolute at July 20, 2012 02:10 PM (Q492A)

125 >>>Hey kid, slide rules don't quit when the batteries run out.

And are typically good to about 2-3 decimal places. And had no capability beyond basic scientific functions of power, logorithm, basic trig, add, subtract, multiply and divide.

Posted by: MikeTheMoose Lite! 98% Anger Free! at July 20, 2012 02:13 PM (0q2P7)

126

I was nine years old, and I remember sitting in front of the big ass RCA black and white with one of my sisters and my parents, watching and listening as Armstrong moved down the ladder.

Amazing times. Talked about it for years later with dad (he worked for a NASA contractor at the time, we lived in Huntsville AL.)

A month later we moved to Texas.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at July 20, 2012 02:16 PM (pUqSw)

127 We'd be more excited about this anniversary and we'd have done wall to wall retrospectives about it if Humphrey had won in '68. Oh, wait, did I just say that out loud?

Posted by: The Liberal Media at July 20, 2012 02:28 PM (f8XyF)

128 I remember being very worried they would be stuck there, thus the successful blast-off was as big a thing for me as Armstrong's step-off. I can picture where I was for both events.

Posted by: The littl shyning man at July 20, 2012 02:31 PM (Z4yhB)

129 Mike @ 126 - Hate to be a pedant, but sliderules do not have add and subtract functions. At least not the ones I've used.

Posted by: butch at July 20, 2012 02:40 PM (nK2Sx)

130 Or as Sheila Jackson Lee refers to this date as the day Neil Armstrong planted a U.S. flag on Mars.

Posted by: Soze at July 20, 2012 02:40 PM (jo0fs)

131 I remember that the LEM computer couldn't land it, so Armstrong landed it manually. They were technically on emergency reserve fuel when he set it down.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at July 20, 2012 02:57 PM (/i3Yt)

132 And here I am, sitting with my copy of "First on the Moon", inscribed and signed by all three Apollo 11 astronauts.

Sweet.

Posted by: Jim Sonweed at July 20, 2012 02:59 PM (fBsx6)

133 In case it hasn't been said it will probably be 66 years before it is done again.

Posted by: Javems at July 20, 2012 03:13 PM (Yzz9l)

134

One month before the launch of Apollo 11 I sent a letter on notebook paper (I was 11) to Neil Armstrong wishing him and his crew good luck and drew a pic of the US flag planted on the moon .

3 days before launch I got in the mail a big-ass yellow envelope from NASA. Among the various color 8x10s was a pic of Neil inscribed " To Alan, Best Wishes, Neil Armstrong".

That he took the time to respond to a kid during his last weeks of training speaks volumes as to what a class act our first man on the moon was and is.

Next time you look up at the moon tell your kids 6 US flags were planted in the lunar soil (5 remain standing to this day), 3 Boeing lunar rovers are up there and 2 golf balls remain at Fra Mauro courtesy of Alan Shepard hit from the 1st hole in February 1971.

Posted by: alf767 at July 20, 2012 03:28 PM (efUkl)

135 "Or as Sheila Jackson Lee refers to this date as the day Neil Armstrong planted a U.S. flag on Mars."
On a BLACK MAN!

Posted by: Sheila Jackson Lee at July 20, 2012 03:41 PM (r4wIV)

136 "Let's remember what at least one or two scientists thought about the Wright Bros. work."
Not a few scientists, reputable and intelligent ones, thought that it was impossible to get to the moon, too.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 20, 2012 03:42 PM (r4wIV)

137 Hey, I got fired a year ago today! One great leap, indeed...

Posted by: A. at July 20, 2012 03:47 PM (CiNei)

138 133 And here I am, sitting with my copy of "First on the Moon", inscribed and signed by all three Apollo 11 astronauts. Sweet. Yes, indeed!

Posted by: rickl at July 20, 2012 03:57 PM (sdi6R)

139 135 Next time you look up at the moon tell your kids 6 US flags were planted in the lunar soil (5 remain standing to this day) Unfortunately, that's almost certainly not the case. The unfiltered ultraviolet light from the sun would have bleached them white by now, and also broken up the molecular bonds in the nylon fabric. They may be nothing more than piles of white dust at the base of the flagpoles. That's not just particular to the Moon, either. Consider what a flag would look like after being flown continuously for over 40 years on Earth. It would be reduced to tattered scraps of fabric. I have to replace mine every 2-3 years, and the color has noticeably changed compared to the new one.

Posted by: rickl at July 20, 2012 04:05 PM (sdi6R)

140 Biden: Remember watching this one TV? My whole family gathered together. And who could forget the Wright Brothers uhhh Orville Reddenbacker Wright and his brother Wilber. You know the guy from Mr. Ed. Wasn't that exciting when it took off. I think I wet myself. Not then just now

Posted by: TheQuietMan at July 20, 2012 04:07 PM (j1wBH)

141 I watched it while onboard USS Independence, as I recall. I was 20. 10 years later, at Huntsville, I had the pleasure of squeezing myself into an old Apollo capsule. 10 years after that, I watched a shuttle launch. And now, a bit over 20 years after that, we are out of the space exploration business. Now we're wind farmers. Spit.

Posted by: EROWMER at July 20, 2012 04:27 PM (kxlCQ)

142 Obama. You know who else has roads, bridges, firefighters and teachers? North Korea, the former Soviet Union, Cuba......

Posted by: Michel at July 20, 2012 04:31 PM (6ZrMO)

143 Today is also the anniversary of Gus Grissom's Mercury flight.

Posted by: Gran at July 20, 2012 04:44 PM (CPX+P)

144 142 And now, a bit over 20 years after that, we are out of the space exploration business. Nonsense. Dragon is coming on line now. NASA could fly astronauts on it next year if they weren't insisting on the development of a launch escape system. The Shuttle flew for 30 years without one. I was more excited by the recent COTS 2+ flight to the ISS than I have been since the 70s, and more than I ever was by the Shuttle. The reason being that the Shuttle was only ever designed to fly in Earth orbit, while SpaceX has some very ambitious plans for the Falcon rocket and the Dragon spacecraft. The Falcon Heavy rocket scheduled to fly next year will become the most powerful launch vehicle in the world, capable of orbiting a payload weight second only to the Saturn V. And Dragon's heat shield is designed to withstand a high-speed re-entry from the Moon or Mars, unlike the Shuttle's. Here is the full SpaceX webcast of the May 22, 2012 launch. I dragged myself out of bed at 3:00 AM on a work night to watch it, then took a vacation day to watch the approach and berthing a few days later. It made me feel like a kid again. Seriously, I haven't been this excited about a space flight since the 1970s. The video is an hour long. While I recommend watching the whole thing, you can skip ahead to the 40 minute mark which is where things start to get interesting. Then be sure to watch it all the way to the end, and turn up the volume. You'll get a taste of the excitement I'm talking about. I've watched it over a dozen times, and it never gets old. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-gSkGQnFR8&feature=related

Posted by: rickl at July 20, 2012 05:09 PM (sdi6R)

145 I had the privalege of following in those footsteps. I ended up working in the building where they trained for the lunar landings. In the very same room. Now the government is more interested in killing people by remote control.

Posted by: pawn at July 20, 2012 06:33 PM (iMsF6)

146 Well at least that dumb ass Kenyan ain't going to be talking to a man on the moon.

Posted by: torabora at July 20, 2012 07:35 PM (qty+P)

147 66 years from Kitty Hawk to Tranquility Base, and we haven't done shit since then.

Posted by: Marty at July 20, 2012 10:12 PM (hN5Vb)

148 140 Go to NASAs LRO site. Photos taken of the landing sites show the flags still cast shadows except at Apollo 11s site. Flag blew over at LM liftoff. Agree colors probably bleached white.

Posted by: alf767 at July 21, 2012 02:53 AM (efUkl)

149 Rockets are not planes. Robert Goddard's first liquid fueled rocket successfully launched on March 16, 1926. So that's 43 years to the moon landing, and 43 more until today.

Posted by: Xavier at July 21, 2012 09:39 AM (ZY3k2)

150

20 July 1969. I was 12 and glued to the T.V.; watching as Neil Armstrong 'took a giant leap for mankind' by stepping on the lunar surface.

It was an amazing achievement and has yet to be surpassed, even by the Shuttle missions, 40 years later.

People tend to forget that we made a total of six lunar trips between 1969 and 1972, with Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17.

There's a contingent of 'tards out there who think every single moonshot was "faked". http://tinyurl.com/kkvts9

Posted by: SFC MAC at July 21, 2012 10:19 AM (jLUk8)

151 Go to Moon Zoo, under Topic select spacecraft or space debris and go to page 27. Scroll halfway down the page to see a series of photos taken that show the flags are still there.

Posted by: alf767 at July 21, 2012 10:56 AM (CZ6R3)

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