I missed the moon landing!

[MartyG]

I was 12 years old in 1969, and the Dunn County Fair in my small Wisconsin home town was the same week as the Apollo 11 moon shot. When you're 12, and Joie Chitwood is bringing his thrill show to town, it's a no brainer which event you will see. The night of July 20th is etched in my brain: seeing those Camaros and Corvettes flying around and getting shot out of cannons. Fire. smoke. Cars on two wheels...what could possible be better than that? I've seen the first moon landing a hundred times since then, but nothing can compare to the memories of that hot summer night at the fair.

 

[RBSinTo]

I was 12 years old in 1969, and the Dunn County Fair in my small Wisconsin home town was the same week as the Apollo 11 moon shot. When you're 12, and Joie Chitwood is bringing his thrill show to town, it's a no brainer which event you will see. The night of July 20th is etched in my brain: seeing those Camaros and Corvettes flying around and getting shot out of cannons. Fire. smoke. Cars on two wheels...what could possible be better than that? I've seen the first moon landing a hundred times since then, but nothing can compare to the memories of that hot summer night at the fair.

Marty,
"......what could possible (sic) be better than that?"
Seeing the first men land on the moon, would be just a tiny touch better.
I was 22 and at University studying for a make-up Calculus exam when Apollo 11 landed, and that was an event I'll never forget.
RBSinTo

 

[Rich Cohen]

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in July, 1969, living in a remote village in Rajasthan, India. The reaction of the villagers was really interesting. Mostly, they had trouble believing that a human could be walking around on "Chandralok" (moon world). Some would laugh at me and say it wasn't real, but a hoax. Interestingly, years later there would surface a similar reaction among Americans who claimed that the moonlanding was a "deep state" hoax.

 

[Guildedagain]

At least a demo derby is real.

We have a combine derby in every June - wife's Bday month - in Lind WA here, what a blast, and lots of cowboys/cowgirls in tight jeans, really makes you appreciate "the creation" ;[]

 

[walrus]

I've seen the Chitwood Show a few times at the "Big E" in MA. My kids loved it!

walrus

 

[davismanLV]

Wow, I've never even known what a Chitwood show was until now. Guess I was busy riding horses. Looks fun, though!! Crash, bang, everything!!

 

[Westerly Wood]

Here is what happened:

 

[gjmalcyon]

Pop was a civil engineer who ended up working on some space-related programs (the Polaris missile with Aerojet General, MOL with General Electric, and then what was euphemistically called GE's "re-entry systems" (aka MIRV), so the moon landing was a big deal in our house. I remember it was a hot and sticky and humid July summer night, me laying on my stomach on the living room floor watching those grainy black and white images, and and then seeing the moon a couple of nights later and thinking, "our astronauts were up there". Blew my mind.

 

[adorshki]

I was 12 years old in 1969, and the Dunn County Fair in my small Wisconsin home town was the same week as the Apollo 11 moon shot. When you're 12, and Joie Chitwood is bringing his thrill show to town, it's a no brainer which event you will see. The night of July 20th is etched in my brain: seeing those Camaros and Corvettes flying around and getting shot out of cannons. Fire. smoke. Cars on two wheels...what could possible be better than that? I've seen the first moon landing a hundred times since then, but nothing can compare to the memories of that hot summer night at the fair.

In my opinion you didn't miss much. The fact that the event was actually happening was probably far more engrossing to most folks than the TV coverage which as mentioned was grainy and dark, barely recognizable, had lousy audio quality, and hours of interminable waiting while the talking heads attempted to fill dead video time with periodic updates on the progress of the planned EVA some several hours in the future, hi-lit with captivating live feed of a motionless moon lander.

All quite anticlimactic to a 13-year old weaned on Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, and Star Trek. I think I would have had more fun at the Salinas Rodeo.

 

[Brad Little]

I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in July, 1969, living in a remote village in Rajasthan, India. The reaction of the villagers was really interesting. Mostly, they had trouble believing that a human could be walking around on "Chandralok" (moon world). Some would laugh at me and say it wasn't real, but a hoax. Interestingly, years later there would surface a similar reaction among Americans who claimed that the moonlanding was a "deep state" hoax.

Fast forward to today: Chandrayaan-3

 

[Westerly Wood]

Fast forward to today: Chandrayaan-3

holy cow, that is going to take 1 month to get there? What, they can't go any faster?

 

[lungimsam]

Did the other countries that landed on the moon verify our stuff was on the moon to silence the nay-sayers, or did they land in other areas far from the stuff so they could not confirm?

 

[fronobulax]

Did the other countries that landed on the moon verify our stuff on the moon to silence the nay-sayers, or did they land in other areas far from the stuff so they could not confirm?

The US, USSR and China are the only countries that have made soft landings on the moon. My guess that all things being equal the others chose to avoid the US landing sites. If international law is reduced to treating the moon like the earth was treated during European (and other) colonization the territory went to the first country that established itself there. If there is going to be a moon land grab (and there are treaties and agreements to prevent that but who knows if they will be honored?) then the smart move is to go elsewhere.

The question also presumes there is some benefit to a nation state to validate the landing. That seems unlikely. The nation state's leadership has to buy into the theory enough to spend money on validating it and then they have to gain something from doing so. In an environment where the US, Russia and China are engaged in disinformation campaigns it is not clear what would be believed. I'll stop now because "conspiracy theories" are hard to discuss without getting political and just using the term causes offense to some believers.

 

[GAD]

There is a mirror (actually laser reflecting panels) left on the moon that lasers can be fired at which is used for science.

Laser Beams Reflected Between Earth and Moon Boost Science - NASA

Dozens of times over the last decade NASA scientists have launched laser beams at a reflector the size of a paperback novel about 240,000 miles (385,000

www.nasa.gov