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July 20, 1969: Moon Landing 40th Anniversary — Where were you?

by Jordan Yerman | July 20, 2009 at 06:34 am

800 views | 28 Recommendations | 10 comments

Forty years ago today, July 20th, humankind achieved a moon landing as American astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed the Apollo 11 spacecraft on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969."That's one small step for man one giant leap for mankind".

Did you know that the Apollo 11 had no outside door handle? The astronauts had to practice not locking the door for the lunar landing, as AAA does not send technicians to the moon.

Technology has advanced quite a bit since then, but humans have never been back to the moon.

We must also take a moment to acknowledge those who assert that the moon landing was faked, despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

The International Space Station has scheduled a spacewalk for today in commemoration of the historic moon landing, during which astronauts Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn will set up some antennae, and, well, walk in space. Those of us here on Earth can relive the moment (or experience it for the first time via the real-time interactive project We Choose the Moon.

Do you remember where you were when you heard the news?

Ernst Both, then an astronomer at the Buffalo Science Museum, was in Ocean City, N. J., watching the broadcast at a neighbor’s house because his vacation home didn’t have telephone or television service.

Rita LoTempio was in a delivery room at Sisters Hospital, hours away from giving birth.

Jacek Wysocki was glued to the TV, though he had to get up early the next day to take the New York State bar exam.

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albertacowpoke

at 12:14 on July 20th, 2009

Yep I do, I was a young soldier posted to Germany, living in the area of Menden near Dortmund. We watched the moonlanding on German tv with rabbit ears. Will never forget it. My God has it been 40 years. I.ll have to check myself in the mirror this morning.:)

yoinksy (not verified)

at 08:54 on July 20th, 2009

It's been 40 actually! :)

albertacowpoke

at 11:19 on July 20th, 2009

Lol I felt younger today:)

Bill McKenney (not verified)

at 12:07 on July 20th, 2009

I was nine years old and was at a campground in Germany. I don't remember how many people were there, but my family and I were the only Americans. The whole campground was gathered around a single television set, and to this day I remember feeling like a VIP.

mudricky

at 12:14 on July 20th, 2009

I wasn't even though of... not even a wee tiny bit!

Roy C

at 14:14 on July 20th, 2009

I watched in a dormitory TV room.

Rory Cripps

at 14:44 on July 20th, 2009

I was playing guitar in a rock band back in NYC. The band was playing either "Midnight Hour" or "Knock On Wood". It was sometime in the late afternoon if remember correctly . . . .

Dayna B (not verified)

at 22:24 on July 20th, 2009

I was eleven years old, living in Englewood, Colorado. I was with my family in Northglenn, Colorado at my grandmother's house where we all watched it together. In addition to my parents and my grandmother, I was with my sister and her husband and their daughter, who was only 15 days old. My father was working for Martin Marietta and was an illustrator/artist who drew/painted illustrations for the space program, including Space Lab. So, my childhood was marked by having a particular interest and excitement when it came to anything having to do with space due to my father's career as an artist for the space program.

Beaulieu

at 08:28 on July 21st, 2009

I was about four and I cannot remember my family discussing it or watching it, which is very good. You would think they would hawl their kids into the living room.

danesller0127

at 07:59 on July 25th, 2009

Yeah! We're in "elementary"... my classmates and i were very excited about the landing... we've no TV at that time, we heard the news only in a transistor radio, my teacher started discussing to us about the successful landing on the surface of the moon....Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human to walk on the moon, while Michael Collins, orbited above, Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon... Thanks for the story! :D