# Apollo 11: 45 years hence **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645 "2014-07-21T03:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/21 "2014-07-21T16:48:55Z")
Jealous of you guys!! I was almost 9 years away. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/22 "2014-07-21T17:08:20Z")
Yes, I watched the real first moon landing, Nov 19, 1969. Everyone knows the first one was faked. What? Seriously, though, I own the Spacecraft Films set for Apollo 11 and some of the other missions. They have all the launch camera footage, from all the angles, the full recording of the 16mm for the landing with multiple audio tracks, etc. It is amazing to have all that available. True raw footage, with no editing or unnecessary narration. [http://02e5a89.netsolstores.com/apollo11menonthemoon.aspx](http://02e5a89.netsolstores.com/apollo11menonthemoon.aspx) If you get a chance, check them out. They’re amazing collections. The Saturn V one in particular has footage of _every_ Saturn launch! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/23 "2014-07-21T17:11:47Z")
Oh wow. That looks fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/24 "2014-07-21T17:38:33Z")
A lot of Dopers seemed to be sick that day, as was I (with some kind of fever or the flu is all I can remember). I was six, and my Dad woke me up and brought me downstairs to watch the landing on TV. I will never ever forget that night. Hey, did anyone see that movie “The Dish” with Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton? Supposedly it’s the true story of the technical problems with getting the landing broadcasted. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/25 "2014-07-21T17:45:35Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Hey, did anyone see that movie “The Dish” with Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton? Supposedly it’s the true story of the technical problems with getting the landing broadcasted. _The Dish_ is an awesome film. And _Hawaii 5-0_ should be the US national anthem. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/26 "2014-07-21T17:48:46Z")
“Parkes is the biggest radio dish in the Southern Hemisphere.” “So why is it in the middle of a sheep paddock?” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/27 "2014-07-21T18:56:58Z")
[Here’s a very interesting clip.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=zd7eWKCOk-A) Neil Armstrong’ parents appeared on the game show “I’ve Got a Secret” in 1962 on the occasion of their son being made an astronaut nearly seven years before he set foot on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/28 "2014-07-21T19:23:36Z")
By the time Apollo 11 landed on the moon, it all seemed anticlimactic to me. Apollo 8 had orbited the moon in December 1968 - _that_ was memorable. In May 1969, the Apollo 10 lunar module had separated from the command module, descended to within 10 miles of the lunar surface, and then reascended to rejoin the command module. By the time Apollo 11 launched, they’d done everything except the actual landing. Think they can handle that last 10 miles? I don’t know! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/29 "2014-07-21T20:21:10Z")
[Obligatory (and sad) XKCD cartoon.](http://xkcd.com/893/) It appears to have been published in 2011, and with the loss of Neil Armstrong in 2012, we’re within the range of what he predicted there. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/30 "2014-07-21T21:40:17Z")
The space program figured rather largely in my childhood. Dad was a science writer in the United States and so covered each expedition from Houston Space Center. I wound up with a Dad largely absent from 1962-1974, a shitload of unspeakably rare NASA-centric collectibles and a few cool stories to share. We watched last night on [NASA.Gov](http://NASA.Gov). VERY cool. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/31 "2014-07-21T22:32:56Z")
I was five years old. My parents stayed up, and got us up in the middle of the night to watch it. I like to think I can remember it, but with things like this I’m not sure if my memories are real, or are just images created by my family - including two elder sisters - talking about it over the years. But I definitely saw it. And was obsessed with Apollo from then on - I distinctly remember my mum trying to explain what was happening with Apollo 13 to us, and the relief when they got back. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/32 "2014-07-21T22:59:57Z")
I think we did a similar thread 5 years ago, but I never tire of telling this one: My family was on vacation, and we were camping along with my uncle’s family somewhere near Lake Michigan. There was a family that had a portable TV (rare in 1969) and they went around the campground and invited everyone to watch the moon walk. So you had a huge crowd slapping Mosquitos and all watching a 6" or so B&W tube, many using binoculars. I was on my Dad’s shoulders and could barely make out that there was a man on the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/33 "2014-07-22T00:34:53Z")
I was almost 6 years old and saw it on our babysitters TV…probably the earliest time in my life watching a particular event on TV…but it was certainly worth watching…and remembering. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/34 "2014-07-22T01:17:33Z")
I was born after that event. ☹ I am just curious as to what was being broadcast on other TV networks during that time. Or was every channel covering the event? It seems like most of the archival footage we usually see is of CBS with Cronkite announcing. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/35 "2014-07-22T02:41:03Z")
[NBC Network coverage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKsUZYONcmo). [ABC Network coverage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1AzFcsHS_w). The world was broadcasting the NASA feed. What the world was watching, however, was [not what NASA was downloading](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_missing_tapes) from the Eagle on the surface of the Moon. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/36 "2014-07-22T05:28:52Z")
> [@JpnDude](#): > > I am just curious as to what was being broadcast on other TV networks during that time. Or was every channel covering the event? It seems like most of the archival footage we usually see is of CBS with Cronkite announcing. All three networks would have been covering the Apollo 11 launch, lunar landing, and first moon walk. Uncle Walter seems to have been the Voice of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, no matter what Shorty Powers might have thought. I do recall Jules Bergman as ABC’s Science Editor reporting on the pre-shuttle NASA missions also. ---
**Author:** ![common\_good](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@common\_good](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/common_good)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/37 "2014-07-22T20:13:53Z")
I was fifteen and it was almost surreal, then. I’d been enthralled by space exploration from it’s very beginning; can even recall Sputnik and all the consternation it caused among the elders. My children can’t even seem to imagine how big a deal space exploration and manned flights into space were to pretty-much everyone. Star Wars and other films make space travel look so easy. It never was and is still far from routine. But it was a wondrously exciting time to be young and to imagine a better future. As they say, the future ain’t what it used to be. We had better find some way to extend human existence beyond Mother Earth, or Mankind will perish. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/38 "2014-07-22T20:34:59Z")
Threads like this make me a bit melancholy. Part of it is that it reminds me that I’m getting older. (I’m older now than I’ve ever been before.) The other thing is that I was a real space cadet when I was a kid. I watched _I Dream Of Jeannie_ because it had astronauts in it. I watched all of the Apollo launches. I had a rocket [similar to this one](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1Eg8JQppGTc/UANo4kYtxPI/AAAAAAAAAeM/swx3PqqWUoU/s1600/processed+plastic+apollo+1.jpg) on one of my birthday cakes. There were also two spacemen, [like this, only about 5" tall](https://img0.etsystatic.com/020/1/6481882/il_340x270.482157494_4ph3.jpg). I watched every astronaut movie I could. But I have no recollection of the Moon landing. I know I watched the launch. I know I played astronaut-on-the-Moon after. But I can’t remember watching the coverage. ☹ I’m also disappointed we quit. Yes, I know it was expensive. Yes, I know there’s no need to send people to the Moon. But I wish it had continued. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/39 "2014-07-22T20:58:05Z")
That’s my birthday. No recollection of either the moon landing or my birth. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645/40 "2014-07-22T22:50:59Z")
I was 8 years old. I do not remember seeing it live, but I had lots of Major Matt Mason® toys so I must have been a space nut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apollo-11-45-years-hence/693645.md?page=3)