OT: Happy 44th Anniversary to Walking on the Moon

Submitted by Space Coyote on

This is something that possibly the most badass American of all time, Buzz Aldrin, can say on this day. Space, bitches, space.

rob f

July 21st, 2013 at 12:06 AM ^

as I agree with you completely.  To put things in perspective, though, my dad (may he rest in peace) grew up dirt poor on a farm during the Great Depression; to him growing up, a tractor was a huge leap of technology from the plows and wagons pulled by livestock, the stuff he remembered from his earliest childhood. 

Fortunately for me and my siblings, my mom, who was (and still is) much more attuned to modern technology, went to bat for us and I didn't miss a single moment of the approach, landing, moon walk, the whole ball of wax.  Most likely mom's college education played a large part in her attitude of not only accepting but embracing technology.

Sure am thirsty for some Tang about right now...

 

Space Coyote

July 20th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^

Hey! Now Ken, we all know the moon is not made out of green cheese... but what if it were made out of barbeque spare ribs, would ya eat it then?... I know I would. Heck! I'd have seconds and then polish it off with a tall cold Budweiser... I know I would do it ,would you? It's a simple question doctor! Would you eat the moon if it were made out of ribs?... It's not rocket science, just say yes and we'll move on.

uminks

July 20th, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^

But I remember my parents waking me up just before 11 PM EDT to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon....back then I had to go to bed at 8 PM!

It was a big turn around year for the Michigan football program as well with Bo about to start his first season as coach!

LSAClassOf2000

July 20th, 2013 at 7:24 PM ^

Here's an intriguing story from the Daily Mail - LINK. The Wired story is here - LINK.

More than a year ago, Jeff Bezos announced and funded an expedition to recover the F-1 engines from the Apollo 11 mission (well, apparently, any Apollo mission, but 11 was the goal). There is this snippet regarding what they did find:

"During the painstaking cleaning process, a conservator at the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center using black light and a special lens filter to examine the relic pieces noticed a tiny number — 2044. That figure is a Rocketdyne serial number that correlates to NASA number 6044, the serial number for F-1 Engine #5 from Apollo 11."

The idea was to eventually display the remnants in a museum setting. Very cool that they apparently found one of the engines from that mission though. 

chatster

July 21st, 2013 at 5:30 AM ^

Also remember watching that great moment in history with Walter Cronkite anchoring the broadcast.

Years later, NASA released the missing footage from that live broadcast . . .

909Dewey

July 21st, 2013 at 8:38 AM ^

Though I suppose that is the way it is with dangerous expensive missions of exploration without much to see.  Similar to why there have only been a handful of trips to the ocean floor, the Antarctic, or Everest.

Still the real problem is the fleeting nature of technological advancement.  If you wanted to duplicate the greatest human achievement, you simply cannot build upon the program and systems that worked so well 40 years ago, you have to start again from scratch.

"it's all over..."

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/05/return-moon-send-nasa-square-one…