Category: Leisure

By Gary Bennett

As seen in the Frederick News-Post Monday, July 15, 2019

As we mark the first trip to the moon 50 years ago on July 20, it is impossible to overstate how exciting this was to a war-torn and rioting country in the summer of 1969. Of course, not everyone was caught up in the excitement, but most were. Many Americans, especially those involved in the civil rights movement, rightfully pointed out the enormous cost they say could have been better spent right here on American soil combating poverty and any number of other social ills.

As a young boy, I was mostly oblivious to America’s troubles but there was no mistaking the real-life heroes we saw almost every month in 1968 and 1969 climbing atop the enormous rockets for their latest adventure. The Saturn V rockets that lifted the astronauts off the earth may have been enormous but commentators enjoyed telling us these men were traveling nearly 500,000 miles round-trip to the moon in darkness in a vehicle the size of a large Buick. The courage needed to do this was and still is breathtaking. All this played out right in front of us on TV – small black and white TVs with only a few channels – but TV nonetheless. For those of you not yet alive in 1969, trust me, you just had to be there.

In the late 1950s it was clear we eventually would have to go to the moon. The arms race with the Soviet Union and the fear of total annihilation was very real. The Soviets were developing larger and stronger rockets that could easily carry a nuclear warhead to the heart of America. When the Soviet Union’s first satellite called Sputnik launched in 1957 without any warning, Americans were shocked and afraid. NASA was founded shortly thereafter in 1958. To keep the Soviets from weaponizing the moon, President Kennedy, in 1962, set us on course to “go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”  Wishing to survive and get ahead of the Soviets, most of the country was with him.

The Mercury and Gemini missions carried on almost uneventfully throughout the early and mid-60’s but then came the tragedy of Apollo 1 in early 1967. The deaths of three astronauts in a fire in their capsule during a training session saddened the nation to its core and almost ended our quest for the moon. But Soviet danger persisted and quitting the moon was never really an option. After pausing for almost a year to figure out what went wrong, the Apollo missions began anew with a vengeance in late 1967. In unbelievably rapid succession, nine successful Apollo flights – five unmanned and four manned — were conducted over 18 months including Apollo 8, which took humans out of earth orbit for the first time. It is not possible for me to forget Frank Borman’s stirring reading of the book of Genesis on Christmas Eve 1968 as he and his crew circled the moon. The photo of the blue earth rising over the stark landscape of the moon was jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring. Most of us felt very small and insignificant when we saw that photo.

The three men selected for the historic Apollo 11 mission were all veteran astronauts, each having flown one Gemini mission, but could not have been more different in temperament. 

Neil Armstrong, as mission commander, was a shy introvert, economic with words, not prone to suffering fools, and as cool under fire as any human could be. He is credited with saving Gemini 8 through his skill, calmness, and preparedness when his craft went into a violent, unexplained end-over-end roll in 1966. The fact that he was a civilian played a large role in him being named commander of Apollo 11. Unlike the Soviets, America wished to signal that they came to the moon in peace and not for military adventure. Armstrong died in 2012 at age 82. 

Buzz Aldrin, the lunar module pilot, was arguably the smartest of NASA’s astronauts. In addition to flying sixty-six combat missions over Korea, Aldrin has a PhD in physics and astronautics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in manned orbital rendezvous. More loquacious than Armstrong, Aldrin has gone on to be perhaps the nation’s leading global space statesman and a media darling. Also not one to suffer fools, in retirement he famously punched out a critic who maintained the moon landing was faked. Aldrin is currently 89 years old and still speaking out.

Michael Collins, the command module pilot, is good-humored, thoughtful, lighthearted and loquacious. Of the three, he is the clear extrovert and prime suspect behind any pranks or horseplay. These lighter traits mask a smart and driven man who served in Europe after World War II, was a decorated test pilot, and an expert in pressurized space suits and extra vehicular activity or spacewalks. It also didn’t hurt that Neil Armstrong liked him immensely. As the command module pilot, Collins circled the moon while his compatriots on the lunar surface got all the glory. He didn’t mind, though. He famously said that he was happy to be along for the ride. Was there anyone ever more alone than Michael Collins as he orbited the moon 240,000 miles from home in the darkness of space? Collins is currently 88 years old and in good health.

Apollo 11 departed for the moon on July 16, 1969. Leaving earth orbit and heading for the moon was not news anymore. NASA had successfully done it three previous times with Apollos 8, 9, and 10. But the descent to the moon’s surface was another story. Hidden from most Americans was the fact that we almost didn’t make it. Along with radio problems that made communications with the craft difficult, the astronauts found themselves about three miles off-target. Hovering over boulders and craters, the astronauts disconnected from the computers that wanted to land there as scheduled and flew the craft manually. The extra maneuvering caused fuel supplies to dwindle to almost nothing. The world had little clue that this epic success was almost an unbearable tragedy. But somehow, some way, we soon heard Armstrong coolly mention over a crackled transmission “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” And almost unbelievably, for the first time, there was a banner at the bottom of our TV screen we never thought we would see – “Live from the surface of the moon.”  The rest, as they say, is history.

Someday, maybe even right now, many people will see this foray to the moon as quaint and even worthless. I can assure you this was not the case at the time and is not the case now. Whether right or wrong, the very existence of America was thought to be at stake. And, it’s important to remember that we didn’t come back empty handed from the moon, and I’m not talking just about rocks and soil samples. The technological advances needed to pull off this enormous endeavor led to things like microwave ovens, compact cameras, stronger fabrics for clothing, protective coatings for our vehicles, improvements to firefighter suits, intruder detection systems, solar panels, seismologic advances, heart monitors and pacemaker systems, and quartz crystals used in clocks for precise timekeeping. This list can figuratively go to the moon and back. One can argue that these items would have come along anyway but assuredly not with the speed and rigor caused by the space missions.

So, what’s next?  The Trump Administration has recently announced plans for an orbiting lunar station, which is supposed to begin construction is 2020. Whether this actually happens or not is anyone’s guess. George W. Bush pitched something similar in 2004. New rockets from private companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX are in the works. Other nations like China are pursuing their own space agenda. It is not technology that keeps us out of deep space; it is the cost and political will. It may take a national emergency – like a warming planet that can no longer support its entire population – to get us moving again like the national emergency of Soviet menace and adventurism in 1957.

But until then please join me in celebrating this enduring achievement of mankind. The airwaves and book stores are currently packed with information on Apollo 11 and the mission to land on the moon. I’ve watched and read most of them.

I can recommend these TV specials: Apollo: Back to the Moon (National Geographic channel), Apollo’s Moon Shot: Rocket Fever (Smithsonian channel), Chasing the Moon (PBS), Apollo’s Daring Mission (PBS).  Some of these have aired already but DVDs exist for most. Last but certainly not least, you can experience the moon landing in real time like I did in 1969 on July 20 with Moon Landing Live on BBC America. Check your TV listings.

I can recommend these books: First on the Moon by Rod Pyle, First Man by James R. Hansen, Shoot for the Moon by James Donovan, Apollo 11 by Ian Passingham, and Magnificent Desolation by the man himself, Buzz Aldrin.