Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Weekend Contributor
Forty-five years ago today—on July 20, 1969—astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Michael Collins, the other member of the Apollo 11 crew, orbited above them. As Armstrong, the first human to set foot on the surface of the moon, stepped down from the Eagle, he said, “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” I remember the excitement and pride of the people of this country on that historic day. We Americans also felt great relief and exultation when those three astronauts returned to Earth safely following their successful mission.
Apollo 11 in 100 Seconds
Left to Right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin
There is a wonderful nonfiction book for middle graders and young adults that explains how it took the efforts of 400,000 people to land Apollo 11 successfully on the moon. The book was written by Catherine Thimmesh—and was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2006. It is generously illustrated with photographs that help tell the true story of the many people responsible for that historic space mission.
Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon
Written by Catherine Thimmesh
Some of the book’s awards and honors:
2007 Robert F. Sibert Award
2007 Orbis Pictus Honor Book
2007 ALA Notable Book for Children
2007 ALA Best Book for Young Adults
2007 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children
2012 100 Greatest Children’s Books, Scholastic Parent and Child Magazine
Good comment, Sloh29. I learned my lesson last lifetime on the milliterisation BS with 2 world wars. Why didn’t we learn our lesson from Vietnam? Again, the universal soldier & he really is to blame, along with his foolish worshipers & emulators. A grandpa just bought a POW & Marine Corps flag for his ten year old from me…. Nuts! But there it is, worship the power of the millitary! Any time you use the miletary for anything other than help during a natural dissaster, you shout: ‘Failure to communicate!’. Just think, we need to GET RID OF this pride of being in or being a part of the miletary. The Illuminati cannot opperate its wasteful, evil policies without the help of the people. But there are about 200 million stupid, robotic morons praising our military prowess in one way or another! So you ‘served your country’….. BS!!!! You served the mf Illuminati that suppress the people and deal in death, destruction and war! Admit it! You don’t have to appologize. You were a schmuck and now you know it but, by golly, be a man, or woman, about it! Don’t condemn your whole damn country! Or your whole darn planet! (just because you can’t face up to the truth)
The Green Hills of Earth
Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me
As they rove around the girth
Of our lovely mother planet
Of the cool, green hills of Earth.
We’ve tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.
The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING!
And the lights below us fade.
Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet —
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.
~Robert A. Heinlein
If only it were true, and not the most costly corporate welfare scheme and propaganda hoax in U.S. history.
See and read: http://davesweb.cnchost.com/Apollo1.html
My second favorite human accomplishment.
Made me cry.
You got that right! Old Vlady doesn’t want to deal in Uncle Sam’s bankrupt notes, so it’s the guillotine for him and his backward and poor duchy–except for that pesky problem of those 5,000 nuclear warheads.
Yes–and I apologize for littering this entry with such a negative post–this was an amazing moment in the history of the world. And it also proved America was by far the top dog. It was a great source of pride among my generation, despite all the other errors that occurred around that time. As I grew up in the 70s, there was the prevalent thought that the great problems could be solved, if the top 1%–and the government could be managed and separated. But, It seems as though the military-industrial complex has beaten down that “goal to be greater” with it’s ongoing marketing campaign of constant threat and militarization. It is so pervasive in our culture now–even down to hunting apparel mirroring military garb. Subsequent generations only know the US by it’s supreme military standing, and that is what most use as a source of pride for the country. Truly a mindset for a not-so-great future.
We spent 500 times more on space then as we were in competition with the USSR. Good point about Putin and the space station but Spinelli has it all wrong about Putin. Watch this guy alright but you should fear Obama & his NDA Act more than Putin who is only being made to look bad because he remains outside the evil clutches of the IMF. Lybia got regime changed for that but Russia has a lot more clout. Maybe its Libya…
The sad part is that this is something we did 45 years ago and cannot do today.
Terry, I have called Putin “The most dangerous man in the world” since I got here. Some condescending half brainers mocked me. Here’s a thought I had. If I were Snowden I would be trying REALLY hard to find asylum elsewhere. I can see our corrupt President doing back channel negotiations. “Vlad, my man, we’ll let you slide on this Malaysian airline. Hell, there was only one American and he was also a Dutch citizen, no biggie. Just give us Snowden.” Putin would do it in a NY minute.
Very nice Apollo history……….Now to current events.
Remember, NASA space shuttles are out of service. How do you get crews to and from the International Space Station (ISS)?
Think Putin, Russia, Soyuz capsule. As Putin, Russia gets hit with more sanctions, would Putin kick the US out of the ISS? Star Wars?
This is back when the party of government actually knew how to get stuff done!! Now, they just know how to tax and spend, w/ waste resulting. I remember sitting in our living room. My Uncle Mike from West Rutland Vermont was visiting w/ his family. He is my mom’s twin. He was drinking his favorite, Utica Club, all day. Mike did not say much but when he did people listened. Those old enough remember just how draaawn oooout the first step was. After a couple hours Uncle Mike asked the question on everyone’s mind, “When for the love of Christ is he coming out of that damn thing?” Mike fought in the Pacific in WW2 and is still w/ us @ age 89. He will be gone soon from cancer.
Stanley Kubrick’s film work on the Apollo missions was his most unrecognized work and his greatest regret in life.
It is amazing that it has been 45 years! Wow. Great memories.
indio007, Photojournalists will do just about anything for that once in a lifetime photo. 🙂
Hilarious! We must have forgotten to retrieve the cameraman!