![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov\/planetary\/lunar\/ap11patch_bg.gif\")
\n(Apollo-11 mission patch. NASA image.)<\/em><\/p>\n
I’m not old enough to remember President Kennedy and his bold proposal to land men on the moon and return them safely to earth. I wish I remembered more about the lunar landings as they happened, but memory is a fickle thing and my childhood memories are fleeting at best.<\/p>\n
Thankfully I have access to the Internet to augment my memory. From one of the NASA history sites, here’s a list of the firsts accomplished by Apollo-11:<\/p>\n
- \n
- First lunar landing and return mission.<\/li>\n
- First test of landing radar and other landing systems on the Lunar Module under operational conditions.<\/li>\n
- First lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA).<\/li>\n
- First human foot print on the lunar surface: Neil Armstrong\u2019s left foot.<\/li>\n
- First man-made items on the lunar surface, including: the first seismometer, first laser reflector, and first solar wind experiment deployed on the Moon.<\/li>\n
- First lunar soil and rock samples returned to Earth.<\/li>\n
- First use of mobile quarantine facility.<\/li>\n
- First use of the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nAnd, my personal favorite: the first meal eaten on the Moon “consisted of four bacon squares, three sugar cookies, peaches, pineapple-grapefruit drink and coffee.”<\/p>\n
If you want to learn more, NASA’s Human Space Flight Office has a good web page about Apollo-11<\/a>, and the “We Choose the Moon”<\/a> site is a nifty interactive tribute to the mission.<\/p>\n
I don’t know if it’s because of the Apollo program and the space enthusiasm that permeated the country when I was young, or because of STAR TREK, Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, and the many science fictional adventures I enjoyed, but when I look at the moon I still want to go there, live there, explore and build there. And since I can’t do that in real life, I do it in my imagination and in my stories — even if only I and a few friends will ever enjoy them.<\/p>\n
So Godspeed, Apollo-11, and thanks.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forty years ago today — July 16, 1969 — Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. \u201cBuzz\u201d Aldrin, and Michael Collins launched from the Kennedy Space Center aboard a Saturn V booster (number SA-506) on Apollo-11, the first manned mission to land on the moon. (Apollo-11 mission patch. NASA image.) I’m not \u2026 Continue reading