OT: Who here saw the launch of Apollo 11...54 years ago yesterday?

[18IsTheMan]

Alas, I was not alive. The moon landing was obviously broadcast, but I'm not sure if the launch was well. I assume so. Even this many years later, with all that has been accomplished, this still stands out as a monumental human achievement. To think of what they managed to pull off with the technology available at the time is truly staggering. Computers were people.

I was just doing a bit of reading on the F-1 rocket engine and what a design marvel it was...and 5 of them fired up perfectly in unison and worked flawlessly, burning 6,000 pounds of fuel every second.

Having grown up in the space age, I cannot even begin to imagine what it must have been like for those people born in the late 1800s or early 1900s to see us go from horse and buggy to see rockets carrying man to the surface of the moon. It must have been so surreal. Or, as a kid, seeing the stuff of sci-fantasy and fantasy suddenly become real life on your TV screen.

And all of this was done with less computing power than you have on your cell phone.

Even more astonishing is that while it became relatively commonplace for us...so much so that moon landing got to be boring for Americans...no other country was ever able to do it.

 

[gamecockrev]

Was in Viet Nam. We had a piece of equipment that had to be repaired and was in Saigon and got to see it live.

 

[Whiterockcock69]

I was there. Initial Landon and stepping on the moon. I think the landing was late at night or early morning. Unbelievable moments.

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

Saw it launch from the beach. A long ways away. I was eleven.

 

[gcobob]

1st time my family went to the beach. We saw the liftoff from the beach. A few days later dad woke us two boys up at home to watch the 1st moon walk. I remember it well.

 

[Rogue Cock]

I did but was young (6) but still remember. Living in base housing in VA….dad was in the AF in Nam. A group of officers wives gathered with the children to watch it.

 

[Go Gamecocks]

Was in Viet Nam. We had a piece of equipment that had to be repaired and was in Saigon and got to see it live.

Thanks for your service.

 

[Forkcock]

I did. I also saw the launch of Apollo 13 live and in person.

 

[Roosta61]

That and being rousted out of bed to watch the moonwalk. Didn’t look like Michael Js version…lots of snow on the screen.

 

[18IsTheMan]

Up until 1909, horse and buggy outnumbered automobiles. For thousands of years, the primary means of transportation was horses. In a span of 59 years we went from that to cars, to planes to rockets to man on the moon. Staggering.

 

[Cockgun]

I watched on TV that morning with several of my high school buds, Charleston, SC.

 

[cockthehammer]

Yo…I was 9. Watched every “milestone” of that mission from launch until the recovered astronauts were put into quarantine.

 

[HillsToSea]

Saw it on TV. Every station. All over the world. An awe inspiring moment

 

[Atlanta_Cock]

I was. It was a glorious time in America.

 

[18IsTheMan]

I was. It was a glorious time in America.

I wish we still had that spirt. I loved how it was portrayed by Kevin Costner's character in the movie "Hidden Figures". America losing the space race was not even up for discussion. Not an option.