Watched moon landing with my grandfather, who vividly recalled his excitement as the news of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk had spread.
He also had been a friend of pioneering aviator Elling Weeks.
Camp Tien-Sha, RVN.
It was a Sunday evening as I recall
I had just purchased a reel to reel tape recorder and the seller was helping me with how to use it, clean it etc
We stopped long enough to watch the proceedings
I vividly recall Old Man Cronkite orgasming as man first stepped on the Moon
That must’ve been the 1% patriotism in him leaking out
I was a stock boy at K-Mart watching the tv’s in the appliance department. The next month I was drafted.
I was on the Mass Pike headed up for a vacation in Derry, NH with my family. I seem to remember it was raining. I was 12 at the time.
At my rented house between college years, watching with roommates.
BTW, not to say I’m a geezer or anything, but on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC I was on my dual T-38 cross country (eastbound at FL370, directly over Salt Lake City) when ARTCC keyed the mike and said “They’re on the moon!” High fives were impossible - a couple of aileron rolls did just fine.
That was the day of my mother’s funeral. Afterwards, several family members went to a tavern with a TV and we all watched the moon landing. I remember someone commenting that my mother had a ringside seat to watch it now.
The one and only Apollo memory my brain held on to is watching our black-and-white TV when Apollo 17 splashed down at the end of its mission.
As my dad actually worked on Apollo, I'm quite sure I watched even more of all the missions, but I just never stored away those times away into my memory banks.
I was at the Sandwich Illinois municipal airport seeing Bob Hope in person, who stopped over to give us a few chuckles.
https://www.dekalbcountylife.com/6-5-12.htm
I didn’t care if they fired me, I wasn’t going to miss this momentous and magical event.
So, I repeatedly abandoned the dirty dishes and ran home to catch the first steps on the lunar surface.
It was quite frustrating, because the actual “first step” occurred HOURS after it was reported that it would happen.
I did manage to get to the TV for the big event, however
I was 6.
Location: Lime Lake, NY.
Bkmrk
Celebrating my 15th birthday. We had a houseful of company. I watched the landing on a 12” b&w Admiral tv.
I was working as a timer and handicap starter at a local drag strip watching the landing on a small TV between rounds of modified production dragsters
I grew up on a farm 20 miles from Minot AFB.
Yup, 9 year old space nerd like you as well.
Growing up in an idyllic neighborhood in Bridgewater, NJ.
Vandenberg AFB. Just a kid, but we used to watch the launches from a hillside. Today, 50 years ago, I was glued to the black-n-white TV wondering how they got the images into our TV.
It was because of living at Vandenberg and watching launches that I became a space systems engineer.
Nixon declared a national holiday for July 21st because of the moon walk and my physical was postponed.
That gave me enough time to go join the Air Force instead of being drafted into the Army.
Best decision I ever made. It altered my life immensely because I met my wife of 45 years in the Air Force on my first assignment and we are still together.
I remember the day well. One of a few I have remembered vividly my entire 71 years.
July 20 or was it 21, 1969...USAF. Ban U-Tapao AFB, Thailand. working on KC-135s and B-52s. Saw the moon landing at the USO. The place was packed!