Re: Happy Aniversaary


"Frank J" <fnci@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:182e20c6-382d-4be6-b1b4-d10d75e45e8a@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Jul 20, 8:28 pm, Féachadóir <Féach@d.óir> wrote:
Scríobh "Mike Painter" <mddotpain...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

Happy 39th Anniversary. What were you doing on that day?
I was at an Upward Bound open house ignoring the kids and the families
while
watching TV.

I was four years old. There weren't many televisions round our way at
the time, but we had one. I woke up because I heard noise, walked into
the living room, and what seemed like half the parish was watching tv.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"There's a man on the moon."

"Oh."

I went back to bed completely unimpressed. Sure everyone knew there
was a Man On The Moon.

I had a similar experience when at 6 1/2 I watched the Alan Shepard
launch on TV. It didn't sink in until a few months later that he was
only the second man in space, and that the first (Yuri Gagarin) was
only a few weeks earlier.

When the moon landing took place, I was 29 years
old, and my husband, our two young children and
another couple with their children watched the event
together. All of us, including the young children
were astonished when the TV transmission began.

The event seemed ethereal and the adults recalled
that in their high schools, the teachers had all said
that we would never see such an event in our
lifetimes. Little did they know that in a few short
years, great progress would be made in order for
this to become possible. Still, while watching the
actual event, it was difficult to grasp that someone
was walking on the very same silvery moon that we
all had so often stared upwards at, in it's occupation
of the starry sky. It was an amazing event, an awesome
thing to think about.

When I was in High School, our band had gone to
California in order to represent the state of Texas
in the Tournament of Roses parade. While there,
we also performed in Disneyland, and for that
event, we received free passes to many of the
rides. In that theme park was a Rocket Ship To
The Moon, which had been created with the
expertise of Wehrner Von Braun. We entered into
a "room" that looked like we where in a rocket
ship, and a large, round projection screen was
parallel to the floor and sitting only a few feet
above it near floor level. When we "took off"
a rumble was felt underneath our seats and
the seats tilted so that we could ver lightly feel a
hint of the G's of force that someone would really
experience when taking off in a rocket. The movie
screen was suddenly filled up with a simulation
of the ground under the rocket as it might look in
a take off, with the earth growing smaller and
smaller in travel. Overhead was another screen
that showed us as we would view going to the
moon and landing on it. It was fun. That was my
senior trip. We where given a certificate saying
that we had gone to the moon, and the illusion
was only a game, but fun to consider.

Who knew that in a little more than a year, I
would find myself in a lecture at college, given by
the visiting Dr. Werhner Von Braun who is now
noted as being the Father of the Space Program? !!
It was a pleasure to talk personally to him after
the lecture for a short while. In fact it's downright
amazing that I got to do that! Then here some ten
years later, I'm sitting there in someone's home,
watching the Saturn V launch vehicle, which he
was the chief architect of, the booster power
that hurled the Apollo vehicle to the silvery
orb in the starry sky. This was very awesome for
me to get to see all of this from the perspective
that I had. Dr. Von Braun aimed for the stars,
and he made it there, and he took all of us with him
on that ride, when we got to see that TV transmission,
of our men on the moon. With all Von Braun had
been through, he did get to realize his dream after
all, and he took the whole free world with him, and
we were the richer for his dreaming.

Suzanne

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Flyback boosters
    ... When the Titan was being used to launch Gemini capsules into space, ... Before that, von Braun, who built the V2 rocket for Germany in World ... to get to the moon, an attacker would have to launch first against the ...
    (sci.space.shuttle)
  • Re: Koxx-One video marathon
    ... the only thing that wouldnt break really easy would be a thomson, ... that would need a rail adapter or a wallis direct connect. ... Evan Byrne ...
    (rec.sport.unicycling)
  • Re: Why We Havent Been to Mars Yet
    ... When operation Paperclip was carried out to retrieve Nazi rocket ... resulting with bases on the moon ... forts in the American frontier led to frontier towns, ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • [Booklog] Rocket Men by Craig Nelson
    ... The story begins with the rocket on the launchpad, waiting for blast off, with brief flashbacks to the launch prep, as the administrators make last minute checks on mission readiness and the "astronauts" undergo final training. ... And "Buzz" isn't a nickname -- that's the character's legal name. ... These feats, combined with a perceived Soviet superiority in ballistic missiles, prompt a young American President to brashly promise that the US will place a man on the moon within ten years. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Rocket Men by Craig Nelson
    ... Rocket Men is a rather preposterous novel about the United States ... the Soviets launch a bit of tinfoil into space ... will place a man on the moon within ten years. ... itself as we finally get back to the launch and the mission proceeds. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)