Apollo 11 and The Dish

Submitted by Shelley on Thu, 07/16/2009 - 20:03

Do you remember the Apollo 11 landing? Where you were, what you thought?

I don't remember the landing that clearly, because so much was happening at that time. I was 14 1/2, recently moved to Seattle, feeling lost in the city but connected to the times—getting caught up in both the anti-war and flower power movements. The moon landing was part of the blur that seemed to be around all of us, made up of equal parts scientific miracle, and hits of acid.

It's only been in these later, quieter years that I've come to appreciate the Apollo program, in general, and the Apollo 11 moon landing, specifically. When you consider that computers were primitive, room size, and prone to failure, I'm still amazed we made it to the moon. The effort was as much an act of human perseverance, as an act of technology. Perhaps that's why the Apollo 11 mission still fascinates, all these years later.

If you're looking for something Apollo 11 related to watch this weekend, I recommend the movie "The Dish". Read more about the movie, and access a clutch of links about Apollo 11 that I've been collecting at Secret of Signals.

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Comments

Ralph (not verified)

Thu, 07/16/2009 - 22:06

Excellent recommendation. The Dish is one of my all time favorite movies. I absloutely love when the local band breaks out in a hearty rendition of the American national anthem in honor of the visiting ambassador.

Shelley

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 08:48

That was a good scene.

I liked the daughter, who introduced context into the story -- about rebellious youth, and the anti-war movement. It was subtle nuance, never hitting you, just sort of sliding by, and always with self-deprecating humor. Made the movie.

Elaine (not verified)

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:42

The Dish was a great movie, from the POV of someone who wasn't around then. I think I wrote in one of my delicious link notes that the Apollo 11 anniversary stuff makes me a bit melancholy, because the whole moon landing era was over by the time I was born. Astounding, if not in a very good way.

I remember seeing an episode of Bill Nye Science Guy in which he explains that a modern calculator (circa 1998?) had about the same computing power as the computers that got us to the moon. (That was the same episode in which I finally *understood* how RAM works. I miss Bill Nye.)

When I was a freshman in high school, we had to do a family history project that included interviewing at least 3 relatives. One of them was my maternal grandmother, who described the moon landing as one of the most of the most amazing things she'd seen in her lifetime. She lived through a fascinating stretch of history, too: 1911 - 2003. I think she even contrasted seeing the moon landing on TV to the circumstances she'd grown up in as a working-class kid in NYC in the teens & 20s.

Shelley

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 13:19

It wasn't just the moon landing, though that was amazing. it was the whole era. I looked at the Wikipedia history for events that happened in 1969, and was blown away by how much energy there was then.

I'm not necessarily overjoyed about being older in the tech field, but no regrets having lived through the 60s.

Your grandma and my Dad were close to the same age. I wish, now, I'd recorded more of his stories.

Roger Benningfield (not verified)

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 12:46

I was born a month late for A11, which has always bummed me out. Astronauts of all stripes (but particularly the Mercury/Apollo teams) are among my personal heroes.

Haven't seen The Dish, but I've got the boxed set of From the Earth to the Moon... need to break that sucker out and watch it again.

Shelley

Fri, 07/17/2009 - 13:20

Most definitely, this is the weekend for the show.

They were truly brave people. Nixon had actually taped a message to be played if Armstrong and Aldrin ended up stuck on the moon. Shows you how dangerous this mission really was. But worth it.

Doug Alder (not verified)

Sat, 07/18/2009 - 01:57

I was 20 years old and working as a breakfast cook at a 4 star hotel in Vancouver. I remember the landing quite clearly as I was a great science fiction fan and enthralled with space. '69 was a great year all round :)

Shelley

Sun, 07/19/2009 - 13:04

It and 1968 were definitely pivotal years. Good and bad. Never boring.

Kyle Weems (not verified)

Mon, 07/20/2009 - 18:47

I love the Dish! Although, come to think of it, I haven't watched it in quite some time. I should fix that.

I'd yet to be born when the Apollo 11 mission took place (or for that matter, any of them) but I really envy the era's drive in regards to space exploration. It annoys me that in the 40 years since we've wasted away all the drive to explore.