July 20, 1969. I’ve blogged about it before. There are people who can write eloquently about events of such significance. I am not one of them. I hope that doesn’t stand in the way of folks remembering the amazing accomplishment that the Apollo program was.
Teach Florida’s alligators to feed on sharks. Unfortunately, this would deprive CNN of much of its material, so they will oppose it strenuously.
From the good old days, when science was not a matter of press releases, perception management or “long held beliefs.” Click the picture for a larger version at Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Image credit: Bill Anders, Apollo 8, launched this day, Dec 21, 1968.
Neil Armstrong died August 25, aged 82. It’s difficult to properly memorialize this man, because, to a degree almost unheard of in our media-saturated times, he avoided the limelight. A statement by his family notes: As much as Neil cherished his privacy, he always appreciated the expressions of good will from people around the world […]
James Reason’s entire career was full of mistakes. Most of them were other people’s. And while we all feel that way, in his case, it was really true. As a professor of psychology, he made a career of studying human errors and how to prevent them. He has a list of awards that’s a full […]
One of the really fascinating things about listening to the streaming audio of the first moon landing is how much time was spent debugging the spacecraft, resetting this and that. As the memory fades away, Charlie Stross wrote about the difficulties in going back to the moon: Not only does the cost of putting a […]
The Apollo program took place at just about the right time for me. I was six (or, as I would quickly have pointed out at the time, six *and a half*) when the first lunar landing occurred, and barely ten when Apollo 17 splashed down. This was old enough to be fascinated by the technology […]
Forty years ago today, Apollo 11 lifted off for the moon, carrying Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins. The Boston Globe has a great selection of photos, “Remembering Apollo 11.” (Thanks to Deb for the link.)
It was even more exciting on a black and white Zenith. Image: Nasa photo 6871798