50 Years Ago

[renfield]

I’m enjoying the post Christmas quiet with a contemplative smoke.
Contemplating that it’s been exactly 50 years since Apollo 8 first took man out of Earth’s orbit. While orbiting over the lunar farside Anders, Borman an Lovell were entirely out of any possible contact with any other humans. The first real steps out of our cradle.
On this flight the incredible image of Earthrise was captured, punctuating human history in a way that is profoundly humbling and thought provoking.
Smoke in peace,

Ren

 

[sablebrush52]

The Apollo moon missions will always have a personal meaning for me, as my father was one of the chief engineers of the Apollo life support system and my uncle trained the astronauts to undertake the sampling of moon rocks in a way that helped reveal some of the moon's geological history. I remember being on Pop's boat, listening to Neil Armstrong's broadcast when he stepped on the surface of the moon.

 

[jpmcwjr]

All very well and good, but we all know it was done on a sound stage in Burbank....
On a sober note, thanks for the above reflections. It was monumental.

 

[ashdigger]

Sable, my late father in law was an engineer that worked on the Launch Escape System Tower that mounted to the Command Module. His prized posession was a signed photo, by 18 astronauts, of the tower mounted on the module.
John, Capricorn One baby.

 

[warren]

That was one hell of a trip! You who have a tangible connection are damned lucky!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Funny- Happened upon a Netflix piece on the Cassini Mission (7 Days Out, World's biggest events), and am watching it now— and in one group scene there's a guy who looks like Jesse's father. Not that I have met the gent, but he looks like Jesse, but is not Jesse, so I thought of his father. It was a nice moment, however fantastical.

 

[kcghost]

Nova did a show tonight on the Apollo 8 mission. Those guys must of had pair the size of boulders.

 

[sablebrush52]

Sable, my late father in law was an engineer that worked on the Launch Escape System Tower that mounted to the Command Module. His prized posession was a signed photo, by 18 astronauts, of the tower mounted on the module.

That's very cool!
In Pop's den there were two pictures taken on the moon of landmarks that were named for my uncle. We used to joke that we could build one hell of a golf course there.
The astronauts were incredibly brave. The technology of that era was really primitive. It wasn't really any different than sailing across the ocean in search of a trade route to China.

 

[condorlover1]

Jesse everyone knows they never landed on the moon and the whole thing was filmed in the Vegas desert - remember the wind blowing the American flag? :rofl:

 

[renfield]

I was born too late to work Apollo, and would’ve loved the chance. My father was one of the folks who physically built the Gemini capsules. My first job was as an engineer at Johnson Space Center just prior to Challenger. There were still a few of the Apollo era people around but the culture that produced Apollo was largely gone by then. The whole agency is now largely consumed with political correctness, a lack of boldness, and a short sightedness that could be seen as a reflection of our society in general. Just my opinion.
The NOVA episode played up the fear that Russia would fly a man around the moon in late 1968 as the big motivation to make the leap on Apollo 8. In fact it was probably not much of a factor in the decision. George Low (Apollo program manager), writing in his diary clearly saw the decision as the only way to advance the schedule to land before 1970. Low and their political counterparts were being briefed on what the CIA was seeing in Russia but the deadline set by Kennedy was the tougher enemy to beat.
An incredible era showing what’s possible when there’s a common goal.

 

[npod]

Wonderful time in history for sure.

 

[techie]

I wanted more than anything to be an Astronaut and was sad when the moon missions ended for the Skylab period. I sat riveted to the television watching Neil & Buzz step onto the moon's surface. I had a large collection of memorabilia, including a scrapbook of many of the Apollo newspaper articles. My family visited Cape Canaveral while Apollo 15 was on the launchpad, but we missed the launch.
My dreams were quashed when I learned you could not be an eyeglass wearer (and my HS grades would never open any doors for me in that field).
It really was a magical time for a young boy.

 

[mso489]

One of the great adventures in human history, and though the astronauts were the conspicuous heroes of the day, all of the support ground crew, high and low, the contractors, and the paying public contributed mightily. Now that the event has retreated into history, we can marvel at the accomplishment, from days when we could do things we cannot do yet again today. Amazing. I was home on holiday leave and headed back to basic electricity/electronics, radioman A school, and Morse Code C school at San Diego, preparatory to being assigned to USS Gallant MSO 489, intercepted at Subic Bay PI on the way to the DMZ off Vietnam. I'd recently graduated from U Mo Journ School and voted absentee ballot in boot camp at San Diego.

 

[renfield]

You’re so right, mso. I think there were about 400,000 Americans directly working on Apollo, and all of the taxpayers footing the bill to make it happen.
Another thing frequently acknowledged by the astronauts is that they were getting all the glory while their brothers in arms faced greater dangers every day in Vietnam with no recognition, or worse.
There is no lack of opportunity for momentous adventure for human kind. Perhaps we’ll see the next great quest at least begun within our lives.
I watched Armstrong set foot on the moon on my grandparent’s TV, glorious B&W through the antenna on the roof. Even to a child the sense that everyone was watching this moment was obvious. Fast forward the the shuttle program and nobody ever knew or cared if a mission was up.