Fifty Years Later

The Apollo 11 Command Module can be seen just left of the center of this image, with the sharp-rimmed Schmidt crater directly left of it. This is the last photo taken from the lunar module prior to the powered descent. 

Just after touchdown on the moon, a panoramic view of the surface with a thruster on the foreground at left, and the lunar module's shadow at right, seen through Armstrong's window. 

|source of photos and captions|

I was playing Barbies in my friend's basement on a sunny summer afternoon when her mom opened the door at the top of the stairs and called down, "Diane, your mom's on the phone. She'd like to talk to you."

Huh. That was a little weird. Unless she was hailing me home for dinner, my mom rarely reached out while I was over at a friend's house. At the ripe old age of ten, I enjoyed considerable independence.

So I tromped up the stairs, my friend on my heels, both of us curious about why my mom was calling.

I picked up the Trimline and said hello.

"Ask Mrs. Dean to turn on the television right now. They're landing on the moon!"

 Of course, I knew all about the Apollo 11 mission. The whole nation knew. But my parents were true space geeks so at their urging, I closely followed every twist and turn of the space race. All our lives, my brothers and I had been rolled out of bed early to watch every single launch. And thanks to my mom, I was well schooled the ins and outs of the Apollo missions - the various functions of the command module and lunar module; the nuances of the flight path; the profiles and personalities of Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins. I was as excited and knowledgeable as any ten year old could be about the moon landing.

At the moment, however, I was pretty wrapped up in this game of Barbies we were playing.

Although I don't remember the exact words, I know for a fact that my reply was something like this: "Mmm, that's okay. I don't need to watch it."

But with perfect recall, I can hear exactly what my mom said in reply.

"Yes, you need to watch. You'll remember this day for the rest of your life, and you'll always be glad you watched the first men land on the moon."

So I watched.

And you know what? My mom was right.

Fifty years later, I'm still glad.

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For beautiful photos of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969 

(including the ones I posted above), go here. 

And for a timeline of the historic Apollo 11 flight, from liftoff to splashdown, go here.