Forums >Off the Beaten Path>One small step for a man; one giant leap....
Interval Junkie --Nobby
Or Apollo 13:
"Uh oh"
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
an amazing likeness
God speed Neil Armstong, God speed. Thank you...you were the true definition of bravery. The Right Stuff indeed.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
#artbydmcbride
Rest in peace, Mr. Armstrong!
Runners run
Tonight as we wait for fireworks from a local festival to kick off there's a brilliantly bright and almost full moon rising in the south eastern sky. Once again I close my eyes and it's 44 years ago as I picture the living room on that July night where we watched on a black & white TV console. The heat of a July night in the WV hills....the sense of absolute amazement and wonder that this could possibly happen...the gasp from everyone when he stepped off the landing leg...everyone's struggling to hear what Armstrong had said....I have not the words.
One day at a time
I had just turned 7 and remember watching it on our black and white TV. I seem to recall I was wearing pajamas - I think my parents let me stay up late to watch it. After that, I was an avid sci fi reader. I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer.
Feeling the growl again
Announcement aptly timed....
I'm not of the Apollo 11 generation, but I can remember tilting a cardboard box up on one side so my cousin and I could sit in it with our feet pointed vertical and pretend we were astronauts as Challenger was taking off (pre-1986).
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I was not quite 4. It's my first clear memory. My parents made sure I knew how important it was.
I thought we'd all be living on Mars by now.
Walk-Jogger
I was 14 years old and was standing in the K-Mart Television sales room, watching the moon landing live on about 30 different TV screens, with a room full of strangers. There aren't many things in this world that will bring a jaded teen to the verge of tears in a public place, but that moment was one of them.
Retired & Loving It
not bad for mile 25
We were on a family vacation, in the middle of a drive from Colorado to Maine. We stopped at a Howard Johnson's (in Michigan?) and watched it on their big (22"?) B&W TV in the motel lobby with a group of strangers. Cheers and applause for that first step.
I was six years old. I remember watching it on the black and white TV we had in the family/dining room at the time. I don't remember what time of day it was though.
I was 22, working my first real job (besides camp counselor), and renting a room from some empty nesters. Watched on their television with them.
We were in 8th grade science room when Alan Shephard became the first American in space.
I wanted to work in the space program, but ended up going a different direction.
"Each of the engines weighs nearly 9 tons, and they came in a cluster of five. They provided 32 million horsepower by burning 6,000 pounds of fuel every second, and together, they lifted the largest rocket in history 38 miles above the Earth in less than three minutes."
I would've loved to have been there for a Saturn V launch.
This picture includes every person who was alive on 21 July 1969. All of known humanity. Except one.
Proboscis Colossus
Eh, they should've checked the lighting...can't make out several of their faces, due to the shadows.
I am, sadly, too young to have lived through that awesome event, but I can only assume it was several thousand times more thrilling than the Curiosity landing, which I was absolutely stunned by. Heck, I'd be amazed by a moon landing today, let alone 44 years ago!
Side note: I thought about incorporating the difference in distance to the Moon and to Mars in the above comment, and my Google search brought up this website about the distance to Mars. Kind of a neat couple-minute diversion.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
I highly recommend reading Packing for Mars, by Mary Roach. It is everything you never thought to ask about the human side of manned space travel.
Dave