Entry 58: 5.17.80 "T-Minus"
I remember when I was a kid they showed us the first moon landing in school. I don't think there was anyone alive even before the bombs dropped who would've been around to see the touchdown back in 1969. After we watched the film in class we were asked to talk to an adult and get their story about where they were for the last time man was on the moon.
I talked to my dad about it; he was twelve at the time. My grandfather had worked for the USSA back in the 40s through the late 60s. Back then my dad's family lived in Florida, where the USSA headquarters and launchpads were. My grandfather worked alongside some of the greats-Henry Swanson, Douglas Afton, even Eunice West. He was one of the lead designers on the Delta IX rocket propulsion systems. He didn't have work on the day the rocket touched down (apparently they had some sort of staggered schedule), so he was able to be home with my dad, Aunt Carol, and my grandmother. It was early in the morning when humans touched down on the moon's surface for the last time.
The four of them crowded around their fourteen inch Radiation King-back before the larger models came out-and watched the footage. My dad said that moment is what made him decide he wanted to be a pilot. As the two white-clad men stepped out of the rocket it was awe inspiring. He said that they knew it was the last time men would be there for a while. The old flag was still there, the same as it had been nearly a century earlier-the old 50 star design. It was a bittersweet moment, taking it down and returning it to Earth, but it was a symbol that we had conquered the moon-now we were aiming our sights higher…
We were supposed to have had the Mars mission in 2078-Hermes 13 and 14-but that never happened.
I guess why I'm thinking about all of this is because of how I'm only a month away from my wedding. T-minus one month, right? I still can hardly believe it. I cannot wait!
