[R-390] OT Apollo 11 Mission

[Dave Maples]

I was 14 years old at the time.  I'll go back a bit to Apollo 8.  After
watching that broadcast on Christmas Eve I   told my dad before I went to
bed, "If they don't break away from the moon don't even get me up."  Come
Christmas morning my dad came to get me up and said, "Merry Christmas,
Dave".  Instead of saying anything else I asked him, "Did they get away???".
Upon hearing the affirmative, I got up and REALLY enjoyed the day.

Come the summer I sat on that Sunday afternoon in a VW beetle in the pouring
rain with my brother and my youth choir director listening to the landing.
After church we got home that night and the whole family gathered in the
boys' room, because we had the best TV set and the boys had put in a stereo.
We sat there absolutely glued to the set until 5 AM when they went back into
the LEM.  For a long time I had the newspaper from that day; not sure what
happened to it.  What a night!

I later had the privilege to work at both of the test facilities (Arnold AFB
and Stennis Space Center) where NASA tested engines for the space program,
as well as a lot of the model testing in the wind tunnels, from 1979-1999.
I wish I could show you guys some of those facilities, and I wish myself I
had been there during the time the initial efforts were underway.  By every
record I could ever find, it reflected man at both his worst and his best.
It's true we spent money like water, but look what we got for it!  We
created totally new technologies that are still working for us today.  In
doing so we permanently expanded the wealth base, which is the only way to
"grow" an economy.  We created an entire new generation of scientists,
engineers, and technicians, who went on to build things just as amazing
(have you ever looked at how cellphones and routers really work?  Neat
stuff, for sure).

<opinion> I think it's fair to say that the great God blessed us in a very
special way with a lot of good leaders (technical and non-technical) in that
period between 1939-1969.  Now that burden of real leadership is resting
firmly on our shoulders; it's time we faced our own challenges with the same
humility before and faith in God, the same confident attitude, and the same
attention to accuracy and completeness that they did. </opinion>

Thanks to all for the extra bandwidth.

Dave WB4FUR