42 Years Ago Today

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon 20 July 1969...

Many of you weren't even born then, others may be too young to remember, I was only 11 years old. The astronauts had landed their lunar module a quarter after 3:00 that afternoon.  The landing went very quickly.  Once they were on the surface it seemed there was very little to see.  It would be years before we learned they almost crashed.  Late that night we sat in the living room of my grandparents' farm house in Traill County, North Dakota, viewing television images sent from the moon to Earth.  Armstrong and Aldrin were walking on the moon and telling us about it while we watched!  Humans on another world.  It was glorious!  It was midnight when the moonwalk broadcast ended and we all stepped outside.  In my memory the moon was full, but Google tells me it wasn't until the 29th.  I'm still pretty sure the night sky was clear.  The air was warm and still, the grass cool under my bare feet.  There was plenty of badness going on in the world at the time, and there was more to come, but for a little while we all paused and looked to the heavens with wonder.