GOING TO THE MOON

The first moon landing took place on Sunday July 20,1969. The three astronauts on that historic flight were Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Mike Collins. Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon. The landing was seen all over the world on television. Most of those television sets were black and white with screens that were a lot smaller than the ones many people have today. The first words spoken on the moon by Neil Armstrong were "that's one small step for man one giant step for mankind."

In 1969 there was a great deal of excitement about the moon landing. Most people were very aware of this first flight to the moon. The flight was scheduled to land on the moon about 9:00 P.M. Sunday night. One of the neighbors on our block invited my family along with others on the block to watch the landing together in their home. It was a different era.

I am thinking of that first flight to the moon because yesterday April 2,2026 a rocket ship called Artemis 2 with four astronauts took off from Cape Kennedy. This is expected to be a flight taking about ten days. The ship will circle the moon. This will be the longest distance anyone has ever gone.

This current flight should validate technology essential for future lunar landings. Establish sustained exploration infrastructure in and around the moon. Which would lead to an eventual crewed mission to Mars.

Today we are bombarded by unlimited news coverage 24/7 from all types of sources. Much more than we had in 1969. Everyone was aware of the upcoming flight to the moon. I spend a lot of time following the news today. Yet, to be honest I am not sure I was aware of yesterday's flight until I turned on the T.V. late in the day just as the rocket ship was about to take off. I do not think I was the only person in America not aware that it was happening yesterday.

I guess because of the many things happening every day reported by so many outlets it is hard to keep up with everything. I was a young person in 1969. We were all very focused on the flight to the moon. There was a great deal of pride and excitement in the country. We were sending men to the moon. I guess we kind of felt like before long we would all be traveling to outer space. It did not quite work that way.

The world is a lot different than it was in 1969. Maybe we were just young and naive, but it would be nice see some of that pride and excitement!

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT

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Thanks Ron