Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I missed the moon landing the first time around

What with not being born and all. But--thank you, Al Gore!--the Internet has provided me a way to relive the moment.

At 9:32 a.m. (not sure of the time zone), 40 years to the minute after the Apollo 11 mission was launched, www.wechoosethemoon.org will go live. July 16, 1969, went a little like this:



Big rocket go whoosh.

And ended... well, we all know how it ended. But that doesn't make it any less spectacular to see the most powerful machine in human history switched on. I'm excited to see how this site, run by the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, uses the thousands of hours of archival footage, piles of photos and other documentation surrounding the Apollo program. The mission will be re-created in real time.

My roommate, the Aussie, said he remembers his mom insisting that he come to the TV to watch the first steps on the moon. My parents sat me on the edge of their bed as we watched the first Space Shuttle launch on a black-and-white set. What adventure will the next generation of kids watch?

Whatever it is, I hope someone puts it on YouTube.

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