Apollo 11 50th Anniversary – Interesting photos & article link

Posted on July 20, 2019 Updated on November 29, 2023

I still remember my parents letting me stay up late to watch the first moonwalk. It was 9:30 pm, I was 5 years old, and we were huddled around an old “black and white” television with a circular viewing area. My parents tried to convey how important and monumental that moment was – telling me I would tell my children this story someday.

What I remember most was being amazed at seeing the astronauts hop around easily and not understating how that could be. We had watched the launch on TV and were getting updates nightly from Walter Cronkite on the evening news. Normally my dad would sit at a TV table to eat dinner and watch the news as my mom sat with my sister and me at our kitchen table, but this week was different.

With all of the news this past week on the 50^th Anniversary of the first moonwalk, it triggered a couple of memories. One of them was that I purchased a collectible item in 2005 at the annual Children’s Circle of Care leadership conference in San Diego, CA. A luncheon was held on the USS Midway Museum deck, and afterward, I took a tour. It is an incredible place to visit if you are ever near San Diego.

Before leaving that day, I went to the gift shop to get my wife and children a few trinkets. What I found was a beautiful display, which I immediately purchased and shipped home. This display was taken to school a couple of times for “show and tell.” It hung on my office wall for 3 years and then went into storage with other artwork. It then sat for the past decade, and I almost forgot it.

To me, this display is both beautiful to see and very inspirational as well. Human creativity is an incredible thing! As an aside, I have never seen anything like this display, so I thought I would share it with you.

Today I also ran across a good article regarding this event that provided information I had not seen before. It is very interesting and can be found here: https://go.usa.gov/xyVGh

Edit: This was another good article that discusses the advanced flight control computer used at the time – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/apollo-11-moon-landings-fourth-crew-member-computer-far-fishman/

This anniversary is a great reminder of the power of individuals, teams, and partnerships when they are mission-focused. I find people like the men and women of NASA to be extremely motivational, and the few I have met have all been very friendly people. They are the humble heroes!