A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....07-20-04....Fly Me To The Moon

Billie

[Billie]

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Apollo Anniversary: Moon Landing "Inspired World"

John Roach
for National Geographic News
July 16, 2004

On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. ET, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped off the "Eagle" onto the surface of the moon and said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

Thirty-five years later, Steven Dick, NASA's chief historian at the space agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., said that a thousand years from now, that step may be considered the crowning achievement of the 20th century.

Read the full story

"Putting a man on the moon not only inspired the nation, but also the world," Dick said. "The 1960s were a tumultuous time in the U.S., and the moon landing showed what could be accomplished at a time when much else was going wrong."

Armstrong's step was the culmination of a goal set forth by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961. In a speech before a joint session of Congress, the President had announced his objective of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth" before the end of the decade.

The goal set in motion Project Apollo. Armstrong—together with astronauts Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr.,—lifted off on the Apollo 11 mission on July 16, 1969, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9:32 a.m. ET.

About 76 hours later, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit. Armstrong and Aldrin boarded the lunar module, known as the Eagle, for descent to the lunar surface. There, it landed in a region called the Sea of Tranquility at 4:18 p.m. ET.

Armstrong took his historic step six hours later, as millions of people around the world watched on television. The landing drew the largest television audience for any live event up until that time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moon Return?

The continuing interest in the moon, according to Dick, is one of the reasons President George W. Bush's Vision for U.S. Space Exploration—outlined in a speech at NASA headquarters on January 14—is so important.

The vision, which has been widely criticized for its funding, appropriateness, and time line, calls for a return to the moon no later than 2020. The idea is to foster further scientific study of Earth's satellite and to use it as a stepping stone to get to Mars and beyond.

"The new space vision will perhaps have an even broader impact than the moon, and certainly a more sustained one," Dick said. "In addition to technologies that will be developed, the new space vision carries on the long American tradition of exploration in the spirit of Lewis and Clark."

Let's Have Some Fun!

The World Book Trivia Challenge:
The Apollo Space Program

Pick an answer from the three choices offered after each question and then "Check Your Answers" at the end of the quiz to see how you scored. All of the answers can be found in World Book.

1. Who orbited the moon while Armstrong and Aldrin walked on it?
   

   Alan L. Bean
   Michael Collins
   Charles Conrad, Jr.

   
   
2. Who commanded Apollo 8, a mission that circled the moon 10 times during Christmas 1968?
   

   William A. Anders
   Frank Borman
   Gordon Cooper

   
   
3. Who flew in Freedom 7 in 1961, and then commanded Apollo 14 ten years later?
   

   Scott Carpenter
   John Glenn
   Alan Shepard

   
   
4. Who reported to mission control, "OK, Houston, we've had a problem" during the Apollo 13 mission?
   

   Fred W. Haise
   James Lovell
   John Swigert

   
   
5. What geologist was the first scientist-astronaut to fly in space?
   

   Eugene A. Cernan
   Charles M. Duke
   Harrison Schmitt

   
   
6. Who made six space flights, more than any other American astronaut?
   

   Walter Schirra
   Thomas P. Stafford
   John Young

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Answers: (click and drag your mouse in the space below)

1. Michael Collins
2. Frank Borman
3. Alan Shepard
4. John Swigert
5. Harrison Schmitt
6. John Young

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 07-19-04 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

CLICK

[Aeronaut]

Morning ((((Pippin))))!

[ST.LOUIE1]

((((((((Pipster!))))))))

Hi, babe! : )

[Pippin]

Like what Gov. Swarztnegger (sp?) said yesterday?

HEE! HEE! HEE!

[Billie]

Hi, Howlin! Six years - oh, those Whitewater days....that and other clinton scandals...how we all did and still do despise them!.

[ST.LOUIE1]

YES! LOL

[Billie]

Thanks, Maggie - glad I got the thread up early enough for you to see it as you rumbled around in the middle of the morning. :)

Hard to imagine - actually walking on the MOON!

[Billie]

Oh, what a neat link! Thanks - I've bookmarked it!

[dansangel]

[[[[[{{{{{(((((Louie_Wolfie_Man)))))}}}}}]]]]]

((((((((Billie Blue)))))))))

Have *2 seconds* before I have to return to training class.

*LOVE* today's theme - have been a huge NASA fan since I was very small.

Have a wonderful day - it's Primary Day here in GA, so lots of "fun stuff" going on in the news.

[Billie]

Good morning, xp! Nice to see you here today - I wondered if there might be other threads about Apollo today, but haven't noticed any yet. :)

[GailA]

AC man is bringing a new unit in a hour or so, should have air about 1 pm. He's also going to install a permanant high end filter on the furnace, and a digital thermostat. If we are going to upgrade we might as well do the rest of the system. Our furnance is just 3 years old, had to replace it in the middle of a very cold winter took 5 days to get the unit in and installed. Thank GOD we had a kerosen heater for back up heat.

[Billie]

Hi, doug! Hillary....yuk, yuk, yuk!!! Thanks for the tune! I imagine the troops *did* feel that way about her in Iraq.

[visualops]

Bob Kerrey though not F'n Kerry?

[Billie]

Good morning, Aeronaut! Would you like to *fly* a spaceship?!

[Billie]

Hi, there, Miss Dixie - interesting times for your grandmother - she lived through quite a few modes of transportation!

[Billie]

Oh, Rus, I love that little spaceship gif! It's so cute!

[Billie]

Yummmmmm, strawberry pancakes and coffee! I can almost taste it!

[Billie]

Good morning, BillieBlue! Terrific thread, great graphics. : )

Good morning, BushyTail! Thank you. :)

Won't it be wonderful when we earthlings will be able to book a flight into outer space? I'm not one for flying but would jump on a spaceship in a heartbeat. Go figure. LOL

That *is* strange! I'm not crazy about flying either, but I SURE don't want in a spaceship!

'Click and drag'....I like it. I got most of them right. : )

Did you? Congratulations!

[Billie]

I can't believe it was 35 years ago.

365 days gets shorter every year, doesn't it? I swear Christmas comes every 6 months, and it used to only get here about every 2 years when I was a kid!

[Billie]

Good morning ((((((((((Pip))))))))))!

[Billie]

Good morning, sweet sistah dansy! Purple Hugs to you! :)

(((((((((((Dansy))))))))))