Space Food, Brownies, Apollo 11
Tomorrow is Space Day at the National Air and Space Museum! The Presidential Libraries of the National Archives will be there hosting a Mission Checklist hunt.
If you are in Washington D.C., come by to accept your mission and search for Apollo items at the National Archives and the Air and Space Museum.
Among your necessities: compressed brownies sealed in 4-ply laminate.
Learn more about space food from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Photo courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum.
More — Nixon and the Apollo Program
On July 20, 1969, President Richard Nixon used this green telephone in the Oval Office to talk to the Apollo 11 astronauts while they were on the surface of the moon.
Now you can see this same phone on display in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This morning at 11 a.m., we will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the display “Nixon and the U.S. Space Program,” which will feature rarely seen documents, photographs, and artifacts that represent milestones in manned spaceflight during President Nixon’s administration.
It’s also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Richard Nixon. Stop by during this centennial year and learn about Nixon’s support for the lunar program and his efforts to improve Cold War relations through a cooperative space exploration program.
The telephone is part of the holdings of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum.
Source: archives.gov
“In Event of Moon Disaster”, July 18, 1969.
White House speechwriter, William Safire, was asked to write a speech that President Nixon would make in case the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon.
It was never delivered, and this speech was quietly tucked away into Nixon’s records.
From - “American Originals” Treasures from the National Archives
Source: Nixon Library
Source: archives.gov
How many engineers does it take?
An ocean of engineers are present in this July 16, 1969, photograph of the mission control center in Houston, Texas, which was preparing for the launch of the Apollo 11 space mission. Four days later, U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon.Photograph of Engineers Working in the Launch Control Center Preparing for the Launch of Apollo 11, 07/16/1969
via DocsTeach
Apollo 11 on its Flight to the Moon
Liftoff, July 16, 1969, 9:32 a.m., from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad with Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin A. “Buzz” Aldrin.
Source: presidentialtimeline.org
A Thank You from Neil Armstrong
As he exited the Apollo Lunar Module on July 20th of 1969, ready to set foot on the Moon, Neil Armstrong’s immediate safety was in the hands of an incredible feat of engineering that is often overlooked: his A7L Spacesuit and backpack. Built at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center by ILC Dover and Hamilton Standard, respectively, this early Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) was required to provide, amongst other things, the following: a safe internal pressure; breathable oxygen; a regulated temperature; shielding from radiation; protection from micrometeorites, and a communications system. In addition, the suit’s eleven layers needed to provide ample levels of comfort and mobility so as to make it usable.
Below, a letter from Armstrong to the ‘EMU gang’, written in 1994 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Moon landing, in which he thanks them sincerely for their highly important work on what he calls his ‘spacecraft’.NEIL A. ARMSTRONG
P.O. BOX 436
LEBANON, OH 45036
July 14, 1994
The EMU gang at
Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX 77058
To the EMU gang:
I remember noting a quarter century or so ago that an emu was a 6 foot Australian flightless bird. I thought that got most of it right.
It turned out to be one of the most widely photographed spacecraft in history. That was no doubt due to the fact that it was so photogenic. Equally responsible for its success was its characteristic of hiding from view its ugly occupant.
Its true beauty, however, was that it worked. It was tough, reliable and almost cuddly.
To all of you who made it all that it was, I send a quarter century’s worth of thanks and congratulations.
Sincerely,
(Signed)
Neil A. Armstrong
(via theatlantic)
Source: lettersofnote.com
“That’s the way it is.”
-Walter Cronkite’s nightly sign-off for the CBS evening news
Walter Cronkite, the iconic newsman, was born on November 4, 1916. His career as a broadcast journalist spanned 5 decades and 9 U.S. presidents. From the 1930s to the 1980s Cronkite reported on the biggest news of the day including D-Day, the Nuremberg Trials, the Vietnam War, civil rights, the moon missions, and Watergate. It was Cronkite who broke the news of President Kennedy’s assassination, and he covered the subsequent killings of Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, and John Lennon.
Cronkite’s broadcasts seemed to capture the emotions of the country. His excitement for the Apollo 11 moon mission was so great that he reported live on the event for 27 hours straight and exclaimed, “Go, baby, go!” at blast off.
In 1972, a nationwide poll determined that Walter Cronkite was “the most trusted man in America.” Other choices in the poll had included contemporary journalists, the Vice President, and the President.
Here are photos of Cronkite and a CBS news crew with Marines during the Battle of Hue City in Vietnam, interviewing President Kennedy, and with President Carter in the White House.
Happy birthday Walter Cronkite
November 4, 1916 - July 17, 2009
Splashdown, Apollo 11.
After their historic journey to the moon, astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, and Michael Collins splashed down in the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia at 11:49 a.m. CDT on July 24, 1969. The location was about 812 nautical miles southwest of Hawaii.
Here are some pictures of the day’s events. Top: President Richard Nixon greeting Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin on-board the recovery ship U.S.S. Hornet; Left: Apollo 11 crew awaiting pickup by a helicopter from the U.S.S. Hornet; Right: Mission Control in Houston celebrating after Apollo 11 splashdown; Bottom: Armstrong strums a ukulele while Aldrin and Collins are at a side window in the Mobile Quarantine Facility.
images via NASA Image Gallery
Source: hq.nasa.gov
Return to earth - the Ascent Stage of Apollo 11. July 21, 1969.
-from The National Archives digital archives. Nixon Administration
Happy Moon Day
(Photo courtesy National Air and Space Museum)
