This as we all know is the 40th anniversary of that one small step for man. I think it is interesting to put the Apollo 11 landing in historical perspective. In the 24-30 months before this event America was bombarded with the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. We were treated to the 68 Democratic convention in Chicago and the massacre by the Manson family. In Vietnam we had the Tet offensive and later the secret and illegal bombing of Cambodia. By the end of ’69 34000 Americans will have given their lives to this ill conceived war and I had a lottery number of 15!
Want more bad news? Hurricane Camille pounded the gulf coast with sustained winds of 190 mph. Still a record. And worst of all. . . The Cubs blew an 11 game lead in September and the dreaded Mets won the world Series.
Toward the end of all this. . . Something wonderful happened and the whole world stopped and watched Neil Armstrong step onto the moon. Besides being a technological marvel (Apple computer didn’t exist yet!) it was a bright moment in an other wise pretty dark period and not just for America but for everyone on the planet.
You can now see new photos taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that show the left behind LEM, some experimental equipment, and the trails left from the astronauts as the trekked to and from their lunar lander from various lunar missions. Here's a link to the pics.
I’d tell you to go out tonight and take a nice long view of the moon but. . .new moon Tuesday so can’t see it much now. Maybe a sliver in the morning.
Jupiter will be rising in the east and very bright after about 9 pm. Jupiter is huge by the way and more massive that all the other planets combined. Can’t stand on Jupiter though. It’s gas and liquid all the way through and out the other side!
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I love that you can see the footprints! That's awesome!
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