We asked for your memories of the Apollo 11 moon launch. Here are some of your responses.
» Sarah Lambert: My memories of the moon landing are vivid. My husband and I lived and worked in Chile at the time. We did not have a television set so stood in the town square with other residents to watch the landing on several televisions that a store had placed on its balcony. It was awesome to watch the landing, and we felt proud to be Americans. After our national anthem was played, the crowd burst into applause. It was surreal watching the moon landing on a TV screen from the bottom of the globe and looking into the sky seeing the moon as well.
» George Skonberg: I was a teenager (17) on summer vacation with my family. We had set up a rented pop-up camper at Fort Pickens State Park in Pensacola, Florida. That afternoon we had spent touring Naval Air Station Pensacola, the birthplace of naval aviation where Neil Armstrong and many astronauts had begun their flying careers. Five years later, I would begin my own journey there to earn my naval aviator wings. That evening my brother and I strung an extension cord through the trees and hooked up a portable black-and-white TV, complete with rabbit ear antenna adorned with aluminum foil. We sat outside, under the stars, watching on a grainy screen as Neil Armstrong climbed down the ladder, uttered his simple and profound message to the world and stood on the moon. Fifty years have passed, but I have forgotten little about the feeling of awe and wonder of what I witnessed that night.
» Terry Greene: Was playing summer baseball in a collegiate league in Boulder, Colorado. Midway through the game, they stopped play and plugged the audio of the live news report into the stadium's loudspeaker system. I was 19 years old and truly didn't appreciate the historic moment.
» Gary H. McDonald: I was 14 years old. I was a part of the Middle Tennessee contingent to the 1969 Boy Scout National Jamboree in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. We went to an outdoor amphitheater to watch the moon landing on a huge screen. I remember it took a couple of hours with the lunar module on the moon before Neil Armstrong came down that ladder to becone the first man of the moon's surface. It was night in Idaho by that time and you could see the moon in the sky above us. An amazing site. It made me look at the moon differently after that night. Growing up in the 1960's, images of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs were very much a part of a life back then. Coverage of these NASA programs were in the newspapers, magazines and quite a bit on television coverage even though there were just 3 TV channels. I believe being exposed to the space program led to my interests in mathematics and science in middle and high school. Eventually, it led me into studying mechanical engineering's undergraduate and graduate degrees and have a nearly 35 year career in university engineering education. I hope these new space programs developed by NASA and private ventures like Space X will continue to serve as a catalyst for our youth wanting to become the next generation of scientists, engineers and even space travelers.
» Mary Anne Hagan Jones: I was 8 1/2 years old, and I remember writing Neil Armstrong a letter and asking him to bring back moon rocks. I received a letter back from him with his signature. I got my picture in the News Free Press of me holding the letter in our living room. It excited me that he took the time to write back. I'm sure it was one of his PR people, but still I have that letter with the NASA seal to this day in a scrapbook! I remember watching the launch and him walking on the moon on our TV in the living room. The wonder years of 1969.
» Brian Watson: I was 5 years old on a family vacation from Chattanooga to Daytona Beach. My father made us leave the beach, which was not popular with the family. We drove to Cape Canaveral and parked in a restaurant parking lot along with dozens of other vehicles. We could easily see the huge Saturn V rocket across the water. We tried sleeping in the car as best we could, mostly taking turns. When I awoke at daybreak, there were thousands of people all over the place awaiting the launch. Then we listened on the radio to the countdown and waited anxiously. Soon we heard the loudest noise I had ever heard at that young age. I watched in fascination as flames and smoke shot from beneath the rocket and it slowly began to rise. It looked as if it might not go but then began to pick up speed as it traveled skyward. All too soon it was out of sight and left a trail of smoke I will never forget. Thanks, Dad, for making me leave the beach and witness history being made!
» Tim Hamilton: It was the perfect place. A Wednesday morning standing in a JC Penney parking lot. What made it perfect was it was 50 years ago today in Titusville, Florida. My family, along with another million friends, are staring into the rising sun waiting for history. Apollo 11 is leaving for the moon at 9:32. I have fresh Super8 film and batteries in the "good" camera. What I don't have is a tripod, and my dad says I can rest the camera on his shoulder while I shoot. I actually found us on some footage of us in the crowd from a helicopter. Nancy is in her Tennessee orange jersey, my dad is in his dark bucket hat, mom is in a floral print dress, and I am tucked over my dad's right shoulder. I remember thinking at the time that the helicopter was messing up my shot. I had only cussed a handful of times in front of my dad, and I'm pretty sure he heard me cuss that damn helicopter that kept getting in the way. I was surprised at how slow the Saturn 5 got off the pad, and how it didn't make much sound at all. Then the sound reached us, "Holy Great Caesars Ghost" (probably not what I actually said in front of my dad) THAT IS LOUD!!!!! and even from miles away the ground shook. Wow !!!!! I don't remember if my dad said anything later about my cussing.
» Bonny Burbank Shuptrine: I was 10 years old, growing up with a family of five. We had left specifically for summer July time to our lake cottage on Lake James, North Carolina, from our hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. The day was momentous - my parents both watching the small black-and-white 24-inch TV with rabbit ears on the launch and raising the American flag on the corner property boat ramp. We all fished and boated, swam and had summer fun while constantly looking up at the sky and dreaming about the spaceship disconnecting and going toward the moon. Family dinner with fried caught fish, family prayer for our men and peach cobbler with ice cream as we watched Walter Cronkite on the news. Dad kept on telling us to be quiet as we all watched the mysterious footage of our men and the momentous "one small leap for mankind" from Neil Armstrong. My parents were tearing up, and we were all amazed. Proud of them and our country and a bit nervous to think about how they had to connect and re-enter to come home. My dad looked straight at me and said, "You can do anything." I will always remember that, especially being a girl at that time. My father raised her strong and independent. LOVED that moment.
» Carson Combs: I was not born when the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon. However, the event and more importantly Neil Armstrong has had a massive effect on my life that lasts still today. See I grew up in the same hometown as Neil, I rode my bike past the house that he grew up in and to know that someone from the same place as I had walked on the moon made me believe that I too could accomplish amazing things. In fact when I run into issues or problems in business or life, it still echoes in the back of my head. A kid that came from the same place I did was able to do the impossible. So what do I remember about the Apollo 11 mission? That what was once considered impossible is now possible.
» Don Strickland: I watched Neil Armstrong step on the moon at the Officers' Club at Marine Corps Base, 29 Palms, California. Two months later, I was in Vietnam.
» Ginger Easley: I was in Marathon, Florida, studying marine biology with a high school group from Rossville High School. We all surrounded another camper's tent to see the TV set through the flaps to watch the walk on the moon. We had actually watched the launch from an enormous high-powered telescope as we traveled south in a school bus just days earlier. We were on the other side of Florida heading south to the Keys when they launched.
» Stuart F. James: I was 12 years old. We had a Sears-Roebuck color TV with the smallest of screens. The color was not like what we have today, but I have the most vivid image of the lunar module and Neil Armstrong in my head it is 4K-quality, a moment of history recorded in my mind like no other. I was sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my four brothers and one sister, waiting for Neil Armstrong to appear. We were breathless. We were unsure what would happen once he left the lunar module. Our hearts were beating fast, and our eyes were glued to the small television screen. I vividly remember two things: Neil Armstrong's foot coming out of the lunar module and his foot going from the module and stepping on the moon. His words were slow and deliberate," That's one small step for man ... [static and a pause] ... and one giant leap for mankind." There are moments in your mind that are vivid memories, as if they happened yesterday. As a lover of the space program, I am in awe of what we can accomplish when we work together to implement a vision that leads us to wonderful new places. I still remember that feeling I had, one that just called me to say, "This is so cool." After 50 years, I still have that awesomely wonderful feeling in my heart and in my mind This is so cool. As Dr. Seuss wrote "Oh the things you can find, if you don't stay behind!" The lunar landing shows us what we can find when we don't stay behind.
» Ann Barker Hale: Our family was vacationing at Daytona Beach. I was 13 years old. At launch time, thousands of people were outside their motels waiting. Soon we could see the rocket as it propelled the Apollo 11 Columbia and Eagle upward and northward. It was visible for a minute or so. Today, I feel so fortunate to have witnessed this piece of history. Since then, I have seen two shuttle launches from the Cape Canaveral area. These were much more spectacular but, unlike what I witnessed on July 16, 1969, I don't remember the dates, the names of the crews or the purposes of the missions.
» David Johnson: My wife and I opened out our pullout sofa in our den on our farm outside Charleston, Tennessee. We had a 19-inch television with an outside antenna to watch. We gathered our 6-year-old daughter Lauran, our 4-year-old Andrew and our 2-year-old Jennifer and talked about what was happening as we waited. We were able to keep them awake and they still remember, except for Jennifer.
» Patty, Rick and Jennell: It was a memorable time for my family. We were in Williamsburg for our family vacation and our mother's birthday that week. We watched the moon landing from our motel room. Daddy said, "You kids need to always remember this. We were in one of the first important cities in America for man's first steps on the moon, another important historical moment for America.
» Rhoda Lynn: I had just graduated from high school and was working at Erlanger Nursing School. My younger sister was with me because my father was having eye surgery. We stepped down to the lobby and watched the landing on TV. Just awesome!
» Rev. Laura Jean Myers-Ross: I had just graduated from Brainerd High School. That summer I played softball for the women's team of my church. The night of the moon landing, we had a game on the ballfields at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on North Moore Road. As I stood in the outfield waiting to catch a ball, I looked up and saw the moon. Emotions came over me, realizing the significance of what was happening that day. I remember laughing to myself and thinking, "Let me see if I can see them. Is it possible that they can see me down here on this Earth?!" I do not remember anything about the game that night. I cannot tell you if we won or lost. I only remember that it was an emotional moment for me that I have never forgotten. Through the years, while serving as a pastor of churches, I have shared that story along with the words of the biblical writer found in Psalm 8. It includes these words: "O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! ... When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?"(NRSV). Watching many of the TV documentaries this week and learning more about what was really happening with the moon landing, I am even more in awe of our human accomplishments and our Lord and Sovereign who continues to be mindful of us mortals and who still continues to care for us.
» Dan Bailey: I was in Barstow, California (Mojave Desert), serving two weeks of summer training with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. President Nixon declared a moon holiday attached to the weekend. With three consecutive days off, we asked our commanding officer to get us bus transportation to Las Vegas instead of staying in Barstow. He did! So we enjoyed Las Vegas and watched the live moon landing in almost every casino with the TV projecting the pictures onto giant screens. Didn't win any money, but we did see the historic landing, How could I NOT remember that event?
» Grace Mynatt: I wish that I was alive during those moments so as to have firsthand memories of that awesome event, but it would be another nine years before I was born in 1978. All I know of the event is what I've seen in the documentaries. Some of the recent shows have included some great footage, but nothing beats being there in person to witness that achievement and to truly feel the energy, anxiety and hope that many people of the world were probably experiencing.
» Jack Pitkin (operations manager of UTC's Clarence T. Jones Observatory): Growing up, I was always one of those legions of kids who watched the TV broadcasts, pored over the magazine and newspaper articles, read science fiction, got chemistry sets, built and flew model rockets. You might say NASA and Star Trek were major influences on my childhood. In a way, all the hype and interest about the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing is what I have always been about. It is good and right that we remember this event. Sometimes I want to cry because all of this happened half a century ago. We should have moon colonies and Mars missions by now. All we can do is recapture the drive, determination, curiosity and spirit and pass it along to the young.
» Dr. Paul C. Bartlett: Thinking about Apollo 11 reminds me that I was courting my future wife at the time. When videos of that wonderful event were shown on TV, I was staying with her family, and, believe me, we were all "glued to the tube." I remember feeling proud that the United States had accomplished so much, since just a few years earlier, the USSR had beat us into space with the first man-made Earth satellite, Sputnik. What marvels our Earth-based space programs have produced since then! Multiple communications satellites, GPS, further explorations of the moon and Mars, research vessels sent out to take pictures of the outer planets and other "stuff" in our solar system, like asteroids, space telescopes that can analyze the light from far distant stars and galaxies and determine their composition. Searching for habitable worlds where other forms of life might exist. We are learning so much about both our neighborhood and our cosmos, yet there is so much more to learn, such as what that "dark matter" and "dark energy" are. It's still very exciting. I also think about how dangerous in many ways, and expensive, it still is to put human beings in space. I am glad that we've been able to do a tremendous amount of science without actually putting many human lives at risk, by skillful use of technology. Nothing matches the drama of people actually going there, but we don't have to do that until we are sure they will be safe and productive enough to make it worthwhile. We are moving into a new stage, when we think about how to exploit mineral resources and how to start strategic colonies on other worlds. I hope we can do that without creating deadly conflicts over the real estate and natural resources of space.
» Ron Boston: In the summer of 1969, I was the typical clueless 9-year-old, busy riding bicycles and mowing lawns with a push mower. Momma had gotten mad at the television and sold it because she said television was stupid, and we were going to be a family of readers! So the evening of the moon landing, she rounded up everyone and took us across the street where we could view the historic event on the neighbors' 12-inch black-and-white television. We fiddled with the rabbit ears to try to get the best picture possible. You young whippersnappers don't have the wonderful memories of holding on to rabbit ears on top of a TV to improve the pictures of the moon landing which are being beamed back to Earth! Holding on to a rabbit ears antenna makes you feel like a participant, as if you are needed to help receive and catch the waves being sent back from the moon. I remember staring at the terrible, grainy images in awe, then going outside and looking at the crescent moon that hung in the sky. Someone was kind enough to even point out the spot where they were standing! Holy cow! Like every 9-year-old, I squinted as hard as I could, but of course still couldn't see any lunar lander, men in space suits, American flag or footprints. I remember feeling so proud to be an American. And proud that my momma knew when to call a truce with her war on television. I resolved to learn as much as I could about space travel and all the cool science it required. Many years later I was a science teacher and was able to experience my greatest personal space accomplishment ever: a former student of mine, Alex Apyan, now sits in the mission control room at NASA, a vital member of the International Space Station. Years later, I still stare at the moon in the same way, knowing that there are footprints, a faded flag, a moon buggy and instruments still there. I still stand in the dark skies of my backyard and think, "I could get there in about four days!"
» Bill Nunley: In early 1968 I was a captain in the Air Force and had the opportunity to visit the space center in Houston. After touring the control center, we were taken to another area and shown a strange-looking contraption. We were told it was an exact replica of a "lunar lander" that our astronauts would fly to the surface of the moon. We were allowed to climb inside for a closer look. After looking at this strange object inside and out, I determined there was no possible way this aerodynamically inept thing could ever land in a cow pasture, much less set down gently on the surface of the moon. But on the 20th of July, 1969, I was watching with the world as this beautiful engineering marvel deposited two of our astronauts gently on the moon and later brought them safely to the command module for the return trip home. Wrong, again.
» Alan Herweyer: I was a teenager for most of the '60s and, like most Americans, was fascinated by and closely followed the many space flights; the one-man Mercury, two-man Gemini and then the three-man Apollo flights. I still remember being at my oldest sister's house for a family event and all of us gathering in front of the TV to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon. President Kennedy had made a pledge to make it to the moon by the end of the decade, and we did! Through all the turmoil of those years (three assassinations, race riots and war protests), this was an event that all Americans could celebrate.
» Martin H. Davis Jr.: I was nearly 10 years old when the Apollo 11 mission took place. I had had a HUGE interest in the space program long before that; in fact so long before Apollo 11 that I cannot even remember when my interest started. One summer the Public Library (when it was still located on what is now the UTC campus) displayed models of various American Earth-orbiting satellites that I had made from a book that the library had acquired that taught you how to make such models from simple materials (e.g., construction paper, Q-tips, etc.). I was very lucky to have two extremely supportive parents in my interest in science in general and in the space program in particular. My father, Martin Davis Sr., owned and operated Technical Laboratories, a commercial analytical chemical laboratory. My mother, Martha B. Davis, even though she wasn't at all scientifically inclined, was the executive director of the Chattanooga Regional Science Fair when I was a child (and for many years after that). So, I grew up immersed in science! In addition, my mother was as much a space fanatic as I was, collecting and clipping as many newspaper articles as possible regarding any mention of the space program, manned or unmanned. I do remember watching Neil Armstrong descend on to the Moon's surface. I have much stronger memories of getting up early in the mornings of July 1971 during the Apollo 15 mission to watch Walter Cronkite's coverage. My father helped me attach his reel-to-reel tape recorder directly to the TV's speakers so that I could make noise-free recordings (unfortunately, those tapes have been lost over time). He also helped me set up his professional-grade Graflex camera to take pictures directly from the TV (no VCRs or DVRs back then). Herb Cohen of Violet Camera always knew after a space mission that I'd be bringing in numerous rolls of film for him to develop for me! I was also lucky that my mother obtained car passes for both the Apollo 14 and Apollo 17 (last Apollo, only nighttime launch) launches so that we could watch the launches from about as close as possible as the general viewing public could get. They were awesome. To this day, I can never forget the tremendous power conveyed by both sight and sound (mainly sound!) of those launches. Nothing compares! (And I have witnessed several space shuttle launches, including the first nighttime launch, from the same or better vantage points - they were puny looking and sounding compared to an Apollo launch!) Professionally, I went on to earn a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in space at the Florida Institute of Technology (in Melbourne, founded to educate the engineers and scientists working in the early days of the space program) because of my intense interest in the space program. I then went on to earn a M.S. at our own nearby UT Space Institute in Tullahoma, concentrating on Geographic Information Systems software. I finally finished with a Ph.D in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. I never worked professionally directly with anything connected to the space program, but I still, of course, follow it. If you were to ask my opinion about where we have gone and where we are now, I would say it is so regretful that this country did not follow through with its seemingly inherent exploratory nature. I always thought that there would be an astronaut on the moon on July 20, 2019, showing us via live broadcast the dedication of the first lunar world park, Tranquility Base. We don't often hear what I consider the most important part of JFK's speech that propelled us to the moon: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, [my emphasis] because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too." We need to revisit JFK's speech, reflect upon it, and come together again as a country to take on and solve the challenges facing us.