Scroll Down To Order
Scroll Down To Order
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A flicker of hope
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is all that stood
. . . against barbarism.
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Another outbreak of such a crisis of madness
[meaning the First World War]
would necessarily involve the destruction of
society in the public order. June 1, 1933
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People cried out
for a better future.
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Germany neither intends nor wishes
to interfere in the internal affairs
of Austria or to conclude an Anschluss. May 1935
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If the problem is solved,
there will be no further territorial damands
in Europe by Germany. Sep 1938
CASTLES OF THE MIND ... VENTURE ACROSS ALL BRIDGES
PROJECT APOLLO
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Those were the words of President John F. Kennedy who presented a challenge in 1961 in a special message to the United States Congress on urgent national needs.
And, after several years, the long-awaited goal of landing on the moon was not imagination but reality when the Apollo space program did it. The foundation for Apollo began in the early 1960s with Mercury and Gemini spacecraft missions, forerunner to Apollo, as significant bridges to the Moon.
I. My take on Apollo
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A magnificent event happened on July 20th about 54 years ago.
Three astronauts flew on a Saturn rocket to the Moon, with lift-off beyond 15,000 miles per hour, and journeyed to the Moon. Thank you Canuckdian for sharing your video.
In the 1960s, every kid wanted to be an astronaut. Teenagers, on the other hand, dreamt about the fireball of love. Thank you Kenn for sharing.
An America of 194 million joined a world of some 3 and a half billion to marvel not just any July, but when astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong piloted their Eagle lunar landing module, descended over the Moon's surface, and touched down at 4:18 EDT, July 20, 1969, the world was glued to their TV sets. The astronauts took time to dine before their next step, the actual first steps on the Moon.
Several things you handle today are a result of the research and technology that came from prior work decades ago, such as smartphones, which you take for granted today. They stem from what was begun and funded into NASA over 50 years ago, and even though the computer you have, like a laptop or high-end cell phone, has more power that the computers used 5 decades ago, through time they evolved as a result of man's attempt to go to the Moon. Pushing on 6 decades, I remember summer of '69 as if it were only yesterday.
To lead our trip back into time, I discovered this very nice and informative video from CBS Sunday Morning about Apollo.
Here is a novel movie with stunning shots in First Man (2018 5 mins).
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It is incredible but, the whole nation 56 years ago was wrapped in the theme of outer space, with a subtheme to explore new worlds--that includes old Star Trek. Other TV shows of the 1960s era with a theme of space travel or astronauts were Lost In Space and I Dream of Genie. My brother and I used to watch this, Thunderbirds, a TV series where they were rescuing everybody.
Over in Disneyland (California) they had its rides geared more on the exploration theme than just mere fantasy, due to the foresight of Walt Disney, with the ride to the Moon (replaced by Mission to Mars and then the iconic Space Mountain). The wonders of Monsanto's Adventure Thru Inner Space, with the original sound byte as you shrink smaller and smaller than a snow flake crystal is seen here; a sensory perception great for its day and its own 50th Anniversary. Mr. Walt Disney once said, "You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but It takes people to make the dream a reality." Disney had a superb imagination and loved bringing happiness to children; few know to his credit, he received over 950 honors including France's Legion of Honor and Officer of Academic decorations; Thailand's Order of the Crown; Brazil's Order of the Southern Cross; Mexico's Order of the Aztec Eagles, the Showman of the World Award from the National Associations of Theatre Owners, 48 Academy awards, 7 Emmys, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. How much did it cost to visit Disneyland, you may ask? Ready for this? Entry fee for Disneyland in 1970 was $3.75. No such thing as passes. We had A to E tickets. Rides in A category ( the crummiest) were 10 cents. E tickets cost 90 cents. That was a time Big Macs cost 49 cents and a regular hamburger 18 cents.
The early astronauts wore silver spacesuits such as the GI Joe in this collectors photo. A 1968 GI JOE astronaut set; at a time when GI Joes were made in the USA, courtesy of Howlin' wolf reviews.
Behind the main story are descriptions that go back to Gemini with its early headaches, such as problems regarding flight control systems that had to be overcome, and live TV from space. Before man could take a giant leap, who fashioned the spacesuits? Ever wonder how those space suits were made. Here is an interesting piece, of the contribution the American woman made to the flexible astronaut space suits--it meant life or death for men in space (courtesy of CBS Sunday Morning). Here is the story of NASA's African-American women who contributed to the Space Race; true story, an era when most women were not allowed to have credit cards in their own names and there was segregation. Here is another bit of history on the man who helped save Apollo 11. And, a million thanks to Amy S. Teitel, Scientific American and Vintage Space. For educational purposes, we feel this 51 min. documentary on the bridge to the Moon is important to include on this historical anniversary of the Apollo moon landing. It marked a high mark in U.S. History. By the time of the Gemini program, astronauts wore spacesuits that were white,but in some TV shows they still wore silvery spacesuits, like in I Dream of Jennie in 1968 and Lost In Space in 1966. <WOW> America was graced with a momentous moment, Al Roker interviewing Buzz Aldrin on NBC Today.
The 50th Anniversary
I remember vividly so well the astronauts first walk on the Moon even though I was just a kid. After having their meal and skipping their planned rest, the two astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong released the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly to activate the surface television camera so that we on Earth could see them. Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface at 10:56 pm EDT.
It was still lighted outside here in California, although we were entering twilight because I remember taking out my binoculars a few times, and stepping outside on our front porch, and peering on the big Moon, as if those binoculars would bring the moon walk closer. The moon appeared more grand than ever. With the eyes of the world on him, Neil armstong said, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." We saw it in b-w. Actual historic footage, courtesy of 2 videos NASA and Apollo 11- Apollo Flight journal. The late 60s and early 70s were for me a time of growing-up in Los Angeles learning about further Apollo flights, and also watching Saturday cartoons, H.R. PufnStuf. I also remember Hogans Heroes, Ironside, and Boy Scout summers. Plus, going to Disneyland to ride the new Space Mountain, and the forerunner Rocketship to Mars, along with my favorites like Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn and Adventures through Innerspace. I always liked science. In the 1960s and up to around 1970, thinking about science, ecology and eco-friendliness was in the future, for it didn't take root until later in my high school days. The first human beings to see the Moon with a half an Earth in the background was in December of 1968, with a dramatic blue, nebulous clouds scene. They transmitted the photo back to us, which made earth beings feel a conscious of where we lived. And, we began to call our home spaceship earth. Being a youngster however, everybody wanted to take part and help clean our fragile, beautiful Mother Earth, another term that grew in the 1970s, I believe. From there, also grew the ecology movement. Back to 1969, I remember going outside and seeing everybody had their TVs on and were watching the same thing: the Moon landing. It was a pretty hot July night, and all windows and many doors were wide open. I admit few houses in our neighborhood had fully air conditioned homes. The two astronauts spend about 2 1/2 hours carrying out their activities complete with scientific experiments and collecting lunar material.
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I remember three sisters next door, and that night they seemed frequently going to the nearby store to get things, and aways waved hi to me with big smiles. Twice when they passed by, they asked me about my binoculars, and I explained and let them see the moon with the binoculars. Rosa seemed fascinated, although I don't know if she was faking it and thought I was a nut , or was truly fascinated. Her other sisters seemed less interested. The crew flew back in the command service module, and when reentered our atmosphere they were traveling at over 26,000 mph. A bullet from a rifle only goes 2,000 miles an hour. They splashed down on July 24 and they came back as heroes. The man who first stepped onto the lunar surface rarely gave interviews, and perhaps this chance of a video that I found on Youtube of him being interviewed on 60 Minutes may interest you. SATURN V GREAT DOCUMENTARY about 5 mins: A beast comes alive. Los Angeles of the 1960s, when everyone I knew drank Tang, courtesy of George Vreeland Hill. Thanks George for the great video. All music is from the period.
The universe and the creation is so much greater than anyone ever realized.
Imagine going up into space powered by 5 Saturn V engines capable of propelling you at over 15,000 miles an hour.
June of 2019, I had the opportunity to visit the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array (VLA) public Visitor Center, where I saw this exceptional 24 min video on the exploration and technology of the cutting edge technologies inherent to astronomy, narrated by Jodie Foster. If you ever are in Albuquerque, visit the VLA center, but be warned, your cell phones become inoperative. Over the years, I have collected several GI Joes. Next, is an interesting 1 min video on the GI Joe Astronaut, from the creative folks at blueflamechevelle and a snapshot of the astronaut editions put out by Hasbro, honoring the U.S. Space program.
On your left is Buzz Aldrin and on the right is the edition which has a Life magazine neetly reproduced in small size, with actual tiny content inside, (next to the space station.) You can barely make out the magazines in the box on the right, in two sizes. By the way, on your left is a GI Joe figure of Jimmy Doolittle.
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The 1960s is an era far different than what you may imagine, especially if you are under 21. The United States of the 1960s was in an ambience of the Space Age. The air might not have been cleaner nor did the range of digital technology exist as we have today, but we had foods not nurtured in artificial this and that, we ate healthier, the plumbing were the same, we didn't depend on outside sources for energy, and it was a heck of a lot safer for kids. In 1960s California, incidentally, we had more men than women however, today there are 1 million more women than men, and in all America, there's 8 milion more women than men; if you ask me, they should assert themselves over the so-called male dominant species and put an end to perverts, those who glamorize sex and use freedom of expression to get away with murder, throw into prison murderers, who are mainly men and throw away the keys, outlaw gangs and punks who crave for illicit drugs and give stiffer sentences to those who love gyrating their male power with rapid-fire guns. You need an Uzi to hunt a deer?
In a not so serious nature, the toys kids of the 60s and 70s played with also hovered around the theme of outer space, and many of my fondest memories were connected to Mattel's Major Matt Mason, of which I like to enclose of what I mean. I try to include pictures of what existed, beginning with this link of the about 6-inch astronauts; Paramount's movie was canned but, not the story of Maj. Matt Mason and buddies. Mattel's popularity could never have existed without the creativity and vast lines the Mattel engineers dreamed up. Items ranged from Space Crawlers, lunar space stations with working lighted beacons (with a couple of space aliens) and space shields, Moon suits, moon sleds and I could go on infinitum, so take a look. None of the links or pictures are used for personal commercial purposes. Time to explore outer space. Believe me, we had a lot of imagination. We had a big round oak table, and my brother and I would sometimes put the space station undeneath the table, and pretend we were deep inside the moon, safe inside a giant cavern away from falling space rocks. Unfortunately, we never had the ReconoJet II, but we had the awesome lunar Space Station, both videos courtesy of blueflamechevelle. The item with the word NASA is really the top of the station, ie. the roof, where you could put the beacon or the space crawler on its side to act as a giant crane with a working wench.
space suits were
Callisto in green, Doug in yellow, Sgt Storm in red, Jeff in blue and Maj. Matt Mason first in white, later in silver. An intro courtesy of Sixties Child that shows the impressive array.
Above are samples of what you may find on Ebay. This link is from John who has quite a collection, about 11 minutes, courtesy of Awesome ModelsComics&Toys. A real 1968 commercial in color. The red rocket actually would fire, and had a cap that when the rocket hit something, you would hear it pop. The blue shields were collapsible, and the beacon lighted up. The lady astronaut is Jo Ann, is custom made, and can be found at this link. The Space Bubble in action.
The photo, near the photo of the Life magazine, with the two round white disks, along with 3 clips that hold the center module in place and silver utensils and a first aid kit are space station accessories that you place on any floor of the space station, and you place your figure on it so he/she would not fall through the cracks. Photo with the big number 3 is the Moon suit storage rack.
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