Television once convinced a generation that going to the moon meant something, and getting there was the biggest achievement of mankind. The ability to promote a unified message via only a few television channels splinters every day as streaming services spread like wildfire. Them” mentality of getting there first no longer applies. The current generation did not live through WWII, barely remembers the Cold War and the “Us vs. And yet, the will to get the American public behind the project has failed to materialize every time the agency has tried. As experts point out, the technology used to send a man to the moon doesn’t even match up to today’s pocket calculators, let alone our smartphones.
Picture of first man on the moon tv#
However, there’s one thing all these TV specials do have in common: They all elide over the question of whether the U.S. Science 11 things you never knew about Apollo 11 Instead, there are a plethora of specials, billing the moon landing as everything from “America’s Greatest Triumph” to cynically exploring how it was sold in the first place. But try as television might to unite the entire world in watching a man take a short walk off a ladder, it can’t roll back the clock and get everyone to watch the same thing. The sheer wealth of footage means there are still brand-new images to see, even 50 years on. On the 50th anniversary, it’s not surprising viewers are once again turning back to their televisions to tell them what to think and feel about it.
Former astronaut Wally Schirra sits beside him. Walter Cronkite holds up a copy of the New York Daily News with a "Man Lands on the Moon" headline during his coverage of the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. It’s likely why those who grew up in the Soviet Union are most inclined to believe it was all a hoax, and movies like “ First Man” upset conservatives by merely existing. It was sold as a worldwide moment, but an America-first one. He treated the moment with a fever of patriotic wonder, driving home that, in 69 years of the 20th century, the world went from traveling by horse and buggy to traveling in space.
Walter Cronkite - who had an unbelievable 45 percent share of all America audiences - hosted 27 hours of the coverage straight through. But for many, it’s an anniversary of the time that Earthlings watched as the first human officially become a Moonman.īut it is remembered that way because that was how it was packaged. On the surface, this is the 50th anniversary of a few men blasting out of Earth’s orbit to another heavenly body. Moscow Radio announced the news solemnly in its 1030 GMT broadcast.Īs Aldrin and Armstrong collected samples, Michael Collins told mission control in Houston he had successfully orbited the Moon in the mother ship Columbia, and take-off was on schedule for 1750 GMT this evening.It’s that sense of togetherness that still permeates the story of the Apollo 11 landing today. Many other nations - including the UK - sent messages of congratulation. President Nixon, in the White House, spoke of the pride of the American people and said: "This certainly has to be the most historic telephone call ever made."
Picture of first man on the moon portable#
We came in peace for all mankind."Īfter filming their experience with a portable television camera the astronauts received a message from the US President. They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. He was joined by colleague Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin at 0315 GMT and the two collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag at 0341 GMT. The historic moments were captured on television cameras installed on the Eagle and turned on by Armstrong.Īrmstrong spent his first few minutes on the Moon taking photographs and soil samples in case the mission had to be aborted suddenly. He described the surface as being like powdered charcoal and the landing craft left a crater about a foot deep. The Eagle has landed."Īs he put his left foot down first Armstrong declared: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft.Īrmstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. American Neil Armstrong has become the first man to walk on the Moon.
0 kommentar(er)
