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We here at The Spectacle are thrilled to celebrate the landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. Do you remember that special day?
This type of stuff is right up our alley, and chances are it made an impact on you, too.
(And just a side note: what about Command Module pilot Michael Collins? No one ever mentions him, so let’s remember him, too, this special day.)
In celebration, we’re giving away a brand new copy of The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. I’ve read this book, and trust me when I say it’s totally worth the read!
The contest will run through midnight on July 20th, 2009 (the forty year anniversary of the lunar landing).
For your chance to win, leave a comment telling us either what you were doing when Apollo 11 landed on the moon or how your life has been impacted by the big event!
This giveaway is open only to US residents. One entry per person. Good luck!
Parker Peevyhouse
lindajoysingleton
Joni Sensel
Chris Eboch
Nick
Greg R. Fishbone
I was totally not born yet! But my dad is *obsessed* with all things NASA and space and I’m sure the moon landing helped fuel the fire.
Eep! I wasn’t born, either! But still the moon landing is fascinating–it opened up so much both in science and in the entertainment business. I think the best thing–for all the world, not just me–is that space travel has made us all more imaginative. We are always trying to think of what else can happen, what possibilities are out there…that’s the best.
I was hiding under the great oak tables in the library of the Bi-national Center in Tegucigalpa, Honduras worrying that the Salvadoran air force might launch a second air raid. Thanks to the Guerra de Futbol (the Soccer War) between El Salvador and Honduras–something most people never heard about because they were watching the moon landing–I completely missed the live transmissions from Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins.
I was preparing to be conceived! (I don’t remember it but I was born 11 months later). I grew up fascinated with the moon and was amazed that man had walked upon it. When I was a kid, I thought I could see the actual flag they placed on the moon. I spent many hours staring at the moon, trying to see the man in the moon like everyone else. I never could!
Apollo 11?! I wasn’t yet a gleam in my parents’ eyes, but I know that it’s a movie that had Tom Hanks in it, right?
(Not eligible for the contest, just here to be annoying.)
I was probably harassing my mother to read stories from the Green Fairy Tales book to me, as was my habit during my under six years. If I had to guess (and let’s face it–I do), I’d say that I was probably dragging Fuzzy my teddy around in one hand while nursing a spoon full of peanut butter with the other.
Those were the halcyon days of childhood where my worries were few and fascination ran rampant.
Thanks for posting the link to the video.
I wasn’t born when the moon landing took place. For me, the moon landing was a given. I’m not a NASA scientist and I never wanted to be an astronaut, so one wouldn’t think it really mattered to me. But, we made it to the moon! It’s awe-inspiring. If we can get that far away, what’s to stop us from going even farther? The moon landing is amazing, but what it shows us about our own abilities is even more so. One small step, indeed.
I remember where I was. I was eleven years old. I watched the news the next morning where I saw Armstrong step off of the ladder and onto the moon’s surface and heard him say that famous line, “one small step for man, one giant step for mankind”. I also remember when they were headed back to earth standing outside at night pretending I could see them circling the moon. I have always been fascinated space travel.
I wasn’t born yet either, and I’m an old guy.
As amazing as it is that humanity sent a dozen of its members to the surface of the moon and back from 1969 to 1972, it’s even more amazing to me that we haven’t been back since. What’s up with that? The current plan is to return to the moon by 2020 at the earliest, which means we’re farther away from another moon landing than we were when Kennedy made his initial challenge in 1961.
It took 8 years to do something that had never been done before using 1960s technology, 1960s materials, and 1960s computers–which were far less powerful than the chip in my cell phone–but somehow it’ll take at least another 11 years to do the same today.
Seriously, what’s up with that?
The thing I’m really excited about is when we go back. It’ll be a very historic day. I’m curious why we haven’t gone back in so long, but I guess it’s because we cast our eye to more distant planets. I really can’t wait until we get our first humans on Mars. That’ll be a pretty historic day.
I was not alive then. Or in the process of being conceived. So yeah…not existing.
I’m sure I would have been VERY excited if I had been around in 1969 to watch the first man land on the moon. I’d be very jealous too. I’m jealous anyway actually.
I was at a family party and one of my uncle’s was in the living room watching the news. He started yelling like crazy. I remember my dad getting really mad because I guess he thought my uncle was just drunk (he was drinking beer his favorite kind of drink) and that it was rude to be acting crazily at a family gathering. Turns out the first man landed on the moon!
As many others before me, I wasn’t born yet. However, Eddie Izzard does this great bit on the moon landing and how Neil & Buzz could have really milked that moment for cash.
But they went to the Moon and they brought back rock. They brought back rock! Trouble is, we’ve got rock. That was the one thing we didn’t need, wasn’t it?
I was one month and two days old and, as my parents have repeatedly told me I was a “difficult baby”, I was probably screaming my head off while they tried to focus on the landing…
I was in Mexico, like I am now, on business when this incredible event occured. At a meeting, one of my co-workers came in and told us about it. Unfortunately we had to finish with our business first, but once I watched the newa I got very excited and thought about what other amazing events would happen in the future.
My daughter would love this book.
I was not alive at the time, but the moon landing changed science fiction as a genre, and as an sf reader the change affects me personally. SF has expanded beyond our solar system, especially as new discoveries are made.
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