TYLER — In the summer of 1969, the U.S. began the first troop withdrawals from Vietnam, gay activists would begin a string of violent protests in Greenwich Village, New York, and a St. Louis teenager would become the first known person to die from AIDS.
But on July 20, an estimated 600 million Americans gathered around television sets in homes and in bars to witness a pinnacle moment of humanity: an American astronaut setting foot on the surface of the moon.
In Houston, where some of the greatest minds in the world at that time communicated with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they prepared for the walk on the moon, Mary Turney watched the grainy images on the floor of her home, her four-month-old daughter in her arms.
In San Antonio, as the Vietnam War raged across the Pacific, George Benningfield was in basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. Meanwhile, Patty Joyner was surrounded by friends and beer at her home.
Frank Seely remembered the awe he felt as a teenager bearing witness to what many felt was the peak of human achievement.
“Just a look at the full moon that night told me we were going far beyond,” Seely said. “It was more than history being made. It was a change in civilization.”
On CBS that night, Walter Cronkite, known for his stoic professionalism, displayed the same awe and excitement as the millions of average Americans watching him that night.
Shortly after the lunar module landed on the moon, CBS cut from the images in space to Cronkite, who removed his glasses and rubbed his hands together, as if he were either trying to hold back tears or leap out of his chair in exhilaration.
The veteran newsman was speechless, simply saying “Oh boy. Whew!”
Dr. Scott Lieberman, known today for taking the dramatic pictures of Space Shuttle Columbia breaking up over east Texas in 2003, was eight-years-old on July 20, 1969. For him, this was a culmination of a childhood fascination with the Space Race.
“I grew up watching the end of the Mercury and the Gemini missions and the whole run up to Apollo,” Dr. Lieberman said.
Forty-nine years later, Dr. Lieberman still vividly remembers that night of the touchdown and first ever moon walk.
“We actually had a party going on at our house. We invited a lot of people and had a lunar landing party like a lot of people that night.” Dr. Lieberman remembered. “I can remember the quiet in the room as we watched Armstrong go down the ladder of the lunar module. It was just a remarkable sense of achievement that humans had been able to pull this trick off.”
It’s truly hard 2018 to put in perspective the timing of the moon landing. and all that lead up to that day.
A century earlier, on May 10, 1869, after men labored for 10 years with hand tools and dynamite, a Golden Spike completed the First Transcontinental Railroad. It was seen greatest engineering and technological marvel of its day.
Three decades later, the Wright Brothers would make the first powered flight.
In 1920, physicist and early developer of rocketry Robert Goddard made the claim that with enough power and speed, man could send a rocket to the moon. The New York Times called the idea lunacy.
After World War II, two great powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, began to compete for power and influence. Few events escalated the growing conflict between the two powers more than the launch of Sputnik by the Soviets in 1957. Many Americans were worried the Soviets would put a warhead on a satellite and bomb the mainland.
In part to instill national pride and confidence as well as to compete with the Russians, the U.S. established NASA to explore the next frontier in the name of peace.
In 1961, President Kennedy declared the U.S. would have a man on the moon by the end of the decade. Despite this declaration, many Americans believed the U.S. could not accomplish this goal. Even fewer thought the U.S. would beat the Russians to the moon.
“We knew, even [at eight-years-old], the Russians were attempting to put a man on the moon too,” Dr. Lieberman said. “There was a lot of national pride in this. I think that’s one of the reasons why NASA and Nixon made a point putting on the plaque on the lunar module that we came in peace for all mankind.”
As hundreds of millions of people in the U.S. and around the world stared at the grainy black and white images, the world must have seemed momentarily united and at peace. For one night in July, Americans were celebrating their triumph with a singular voice in a way the country had not seen before and has not seen since.
After beating the Russians to the moon, NASA would make only six more trips to the moon. The closest NASA would come to capturing that moment of triumph with Apollo 11 was the safe return of Apollo 13, the only mission of the six that did not reach the moon.
NASA would go on to build the Space Shuttle, the Hubble Telescope and help establish the International Space Station. Unmanned probes have been sent in other solar systems while we landed rovers to explore Mars.
But Dr. Lieberman, like many others who remember that awe-inspiring feeling on July 20, is left to wonder what is next for manned space flight and where would that take us.
“It hasn’t been followed up with more feats of similar grandeur, at least not with man involved,” Dr. Lieberman said. “We haven’t really had the advancements in space travel as we might have anticipated up to this point in time. […] But we are not beginning to see a competition in rocketry, we’re seeing a lot of private companies invest to get in the spacecraft business. And with any luck, that will probably re-spur on the next step of putting man back on the moon and ultimately going to Mars and some of the other planets.”
While there are no planned dates for a manned mission to Mars, many believe it will happen in the lifetime of the Millennial Generation. When that day comes, they too will take part in the great adventure that climaxed 49-years-ago.
But with all that has been said in 49 years, perhaps only Neil Armstrong’s simple, yet profound statement can truly capture the gravity of July 20, 1969.
“That’s one small step for [a] man; one giant leap for mankind.”
