Apollo 11: Man on the moon.
What are your memories of that day?
[Associated Press/NASA]
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and uttered the words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
It was 10:56 p.m. Eastern time.
What do you remember about that day?
Or, if you're younger than say, 35, how do you feel when you see the video?
Our special report recalls that historic mission with stories, the St. Petersburg Times front page, and related materials available from NASA and the JFK Presidential Library.
Use the comments area below to tell us your stories. Thank you.
My family was on vacation and we just got to my grandparents house in Indiana before the landing. We got to stay up and watch Walter Cronkite's coverage of the landing. For a kid who loved science fiction, this was the coolest thing ever! When I got the opportunity to tour the launch pad several years ago (before it was opened to the public), I went nuts.
Posted by: Richard | July 20, 2009 at 04:21 PM
I remember seeing the moon landing as it happened when I was 9 years old. I had even been allowed to have a nap so I could stay up late and see this important event live on TV. Anyone who does not believe we did this is a fool. Much of our everyday technology was originated during this period of advancement. We can do it again, and when we do I hope all the naysayers leave this great country and stop using any of the technology that was spawned by this effort in their cozy cave.
Posted by: I. Saw It | July 20, 2009 at 08:34 AM
I was standing in the lobby of Palms of Pasadena Hospital where I was on duty
as an RN in the ER. It was an incredible moment and I was grateful to be able to watch it.
Posted by: Leslie Novilla | July 20, 2009 at 07:44 AM
I was 5 years old with hip cast in a wheelchair with my dad and brother. Dad insisted that we watch because it would be history we would remember the rest of our lives.
We sat on the couch watching our Black and White TV.
Several years later, living in Lima Ohio we frequented the Neal Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakaneta Ohio, hometown of Neil Armstrong.
Posted by: Jim Emch | July 20, 2009 at 07:30 AM
We were at the launch.my father worked at msfc in Huntsville with the man most responsible for the us reaching the moon: Werner Von Braun. It is a scandal that the us now tries to deny the contribution of the German scientists. What I remember about the launch was how slowly the Saturn 5 lifted off and how after about 30 secs the sound just rolled over you like a tidal wave. As to the moon walk, I remember that it came very late-about 3 in the morning. But we all stayed up for it including my 80 year old grandmother who had been born before the official closing of the frontier.
Posted by: Senor | July 20, 2009 at 07:04 AM
All you non believers go to this site..
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=31798
Posted by: Mr_Independant | July 19, 2009 at 11:52 PM
My father worked for Channel 10 News, and he arranged press passes to the Cape for himself, mom, my brother, and me. In theory I was a "camera technician" though I was only 11 at the time. We drove to the Cape on the 18th and spent the night sleeping in our car in the parking lot. In the morning we watched the preparations and the launch. I still have that press pass and the amazing memories.
Posted by: Cara | July 19, 2009 at 08:51 PM
You are missing a chunk of your brain!
Posted by: Mr_Independant | July 19, 2009 at 05:24 PM
We could not go to the moon today let alone in 1969.
If you think we went to the moon please just look at some of the facts
There are a ton of questionable reasons to know we did not go. The number one reason is to beat the Soviets in something.
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm
Posted by: Mr Independant is an assclown | July 19, 2009 at 01:48 PM
Oh...I answered the question...you need to remove your blinders and "Get Real" mr real. I don't drink the Kool-Aid, and my moniker here should tell you i'm not a democrat and didn't vote for "The 0" and thats not an O..it's a zero!
Go get your medication and read the label...take as directed, turn off your computer and quit posting your nonsense on these sites...you're not right upstairs.
Posted by: Mr_Independant | July 18, 2009 at 06:29 PM
Thanks Mr. Independant for not answering the question.
Just keep drinking in the brainwashing kool aid.
I bet you voted for Hussein "the terrorist" Obama too, how's that working out for you? He is the next Stalin.
Remember folks
"You can't be like FDR unless you create your own Great Depression"
Posted by: Real | July 18, 2009 at 12:41 PM
I recall how Walter Cronkite kept confusing the "simulation" from the actual Astronauts while Live on the air, makes you wonder why NASA ever decided to "simulate" any of the events at all? They were identical!
Posted by: Mark | July 18, 2009 at 12:33 PM
I was fortunate enough to experience Apollo 11 and all the launches before and after from very close up, having been an employee at Kennedy Space Center from 1965 thru 1970. There was so much anticipation leading up to that moment of touchdown when the Eagle landed,,,there wasn't a dry eye anywhere that day. To be at the VIP viewing area and feel the thunder of the Saturn 5 across the turn basin, so much so that the shock wave shook my shirt & trousers and gave me goosebumps to go along with the tears. Oh we were there alright...and don't forget the men who gave their lives before we got to the moon,,,Grissom, White & Chaffee...real heroes of our lifetime...they will never be forgotten!
Posted by: Mr_Independant | July 18, 2009 at 09:00 AM
Hey Real Question....and you other non-believers...If you went to the Cape and saw all that you say...you are full of it....all the launches were from KSC Pad 39a & 39b. I worked for NASA security and witnessed every bit of this piece of history. There has been so much that we have learned from these flights that has been incorporated into our everyday lives...I think people like you are hopeless. Same dopes that believe our own Gov't blew up the twin towers. Go back to your caves and try not to breed...we do not need any more stupid people breathing our good air.
Posted by: Mr_Independant | July 18, 2009 at 08:53 AM
It was my daughter's 7th birthday when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. What a birthday present!
Posted by: Ilona | July 18, 2009 at 07:11 AM
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm
Posted by: Please read | July 17, 2009 at 10:02 PM
Please answer this question.
I have been to the Cape, in all the top secret areas. All the launch sites were rooms and rooms filled with computers. How does a tiny little part of this massive rocket land on the moon take off (w/o all of the computers and 10-9-8 people to supervise this, and don't say gravity)
then it meets up in space with the rocket to take it home?
Impossible, we can't even launch the current shuttle for a week due to clouds and they did all this in 1969?
no sir, no way!
Posted by: REAL QUESTION | July 17, 2009 at 09:58 PM
WE NEVER LANDED ON THE MOON!!
THey are still fooling all of you fools. THe video was recently lost and "restored" hehehe haha
Check this out
"What the United States and Russia accomplished by placing man in orbit has been nothing short of extraordinary. But why is it that the last three Apollo missions were abruptly cancelled soon after the Soviets gained the ability to track and monitor our spacecraft? How is it that the U.S.S.R. beat the United States in every single category of early space exploration, yet they never attempted to send a man to the moon? If it was only about firsts, then what about scientific advances and the Soviets' redirected commitment to the Space Station?"
http://moonhoax.us/moonhoax.htm
Watch and learn, it is not kooky or nuts or anti-american to belive that the government lies to you.
Posted by: REAL | July 17, 2009 at 09:51 PM
I was fortunate to be sitting in an observation room above the control room at Goddard Space Slight Center (Greenbelt, MD) watching the technical team with all the monitors. My dad worked at NASA in manned space flight tracking. While I was young at the time; I still remember seeing the lunar module full size model on display.
We also would also go to the National Geographic movie every Thursday in DC so after the mission we went to see the movie all 3 astronauts were there and we all got autographs.
Thanks,
Mom and Dad!
Posted by: Tom McDonald | July 17, 2009 at 07:58 PM
I was on the launch crew for Apollo 11. After graduation from SPJC's Aerospace Technology program, my A.S. Degree was my ticket to a summer job with Bendix Corporation who was NASA's contractor for Saturn V/Apollo launches. My assignment for the launch was to drive the damage assessment team out to the pad so they could perform an assessment of the damage done to the pad, the gantry the hardware that was blasted with flames during liftoff. For the launch itself my boss suggested I view it from the VIP viewing area. There were so many well known faces there, including Charles Lindbergh. I introduced myself to Sen. Barry Goldwater who in turn introduced me to his son, Barry Goldwater, Jr. and to his NASA escort, Astronaut Gene Cernan, who was to be the last man to walk on the moon. The four of us walked to the forward most perimeter fence where the Goldwaters' set up a tripod and tried to take photos of the launch. A few seconds before liftoff, what seemed like hundreds of birds took flight to get out of the way. The vibrations from the launch caused the ground to shake like nothing else I've ever experienced. The sound was of an uncountable number of individual explosions popping continuously. With the ground shaking so much I doubt if the Senator's photos turned out. After the launch I obtained autographs on the launch day postcards. To say the launch of Apollo 11 was memorable, for me, is an understatement.
Posted by: Tom | July 17, 2009 at 05:23 PM
....for you non beleiver's, go to the Florida Today newspaper web site online, clic the linc there for apollo 11 photo's, and there are several pictures taken just a WEEK AGO of the still on the moon Luner Rover that was left behind casting a shadow on the moonscape that you can see with the high resolution camera's.
Posted by: olin | July 17, 2009 at 04:26 PM
I'm with you "Real". This supposedly took place 40 years ago...why hasn't it been done again since then??
Posted by: They Need to Stop | July 17, 2009 at 04:24 PM
I was 9 years old, everyone in the house was asleep... except me. So I watched it land and woke everybody up shortly afterward. I bragged from then on out that I was the only one in my family who saw it "live".
Posted by: Largo Lady | July 17, 2009 at 04:17 PM
...I worked the mid shift before the launch in the RCC Bldg, in military weather Cape Canveral Air Force Station on the Cape as a weather observer, hours before the liftoff. Have several signed pieces by all 3 astronauts incl a special Dept of Defense certificate of working on the launch that I had signed by all 3 thereafter when they came back as well as a first day cover stamped by post office day and time with mini pictures...one of my most special possesion's.
Posted by: olin | July 17, 2009 at 04:02 PM
I was sitting at home in Hillsborough NH, being forced to watch it on a small tv my mother bought specifically for the occassion. To this day I still don't care and see every lift off as a complete waste of my tax dollars. There are more important things to use those dollars for.
Posted by: Dawn | July 17, 2009 at 03:18 PM