By Mary O’KEEFE

On July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 launched from Florida, taking astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin climbed into the lunar module Eagle and began the descent to the moon’s surface while Collins orbited in the command module Columbia. At 4:17 p.m. EDT, with only 30 seconds of fuel remaining, Armstrong manually maneuvered the Eagle to its lunar landing at the Sea of Tranquility. All of this was televised and the world watched and held its breath as it heard Armstrong’s voice, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Armstrong would later say that the landing was his biggest concern: “The unknowns were rampant” and “There were just a thousand things to worry about.” Then at 10:56 p.m. EDT, Armstrong started that climb down the module’s ladder, becoming the first human to walk on another world and famously said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin follows him shortly and offers a description of the lunar surface: “Magnificent desolation.” The two men explored the surface of the moon for two and a half hours, according to NASA.

As CVW celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and walk, we want to find out “where were you” when that historic first lunar footprint was made.

Here is where we were:

Robin Goldsworthy: I was at home in Sun Valley with my parents. Our TV was mounted in the wall and we stood around it, watching. When the words were uttered we whooped and my parents gave me my first sip of wine in celebration.

Mary O’Keefe: I was in our family room in Iowa sitting with grandma. My mom and dad had to get up early the next day so they went to bed; my brother was also in bed. Bobby, what I called my grandma, and I held hands as we heard the Eagle had landed. Then, when Armstrong stepped on the moon’s surface, Bobby started to cry. She shared a story of her first ride in a motorcar and how terrified she was when it sped up to 25 miles an hour. She was born in 1889, and she marveled at all the things she had seen in her life and was so grateful she was able to see humans explore space. It was just like the old serials she loved to watch at the movie house.

Civic leader Steve Pierce: I was working at Pacific Bell in Alhambra and we set up a television in the cafeteria to watch the landing. We were very nervous as the module set down on the moon’s surface and even more nervous watching Commander Armstrong carefully stepping down the ladder before his foot touched the surface. Once that happened there was a loud cheer and everyone started hugging each other.

It was a very proud moment for all Americans.

Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), Jet Propulsion Laboratory: I was in high school when Armstrong took that leap off the step of the Eagle and onto the surface of the moon, but had been following JPL for years before that. JPL had sent missions to the moon before, and I was interested in everything they were doing, but the moon landing was something I never forgot.

I was in front of the TV; I even taped it on my reel-to-reel

tape recorder because I knew it was [historic]. When it landed, I was listening to the radio. That was a nerve-racking time… Then we were waiting for Armstrong to move down that ladder.

I remember the continuing coverage of the mission with the images of the lander getting closer and closer to the moon, the dust coming up and the shadow of the landing legs.

I haven’t lost my enthusiasm for space.

Please send us your “Where Were You” lunar landing memory. Email mary@cvweekly.com or mail to CVW, 3800 La Crescenta Ave., Ste 206, La Crescenta, California 91214.

  Mary Okeefe