I'd said I was going to post this a couple of weeks ago, but with everything that happened it couldn't be done.

Anyhow, here's a short clip of my first visit to the USA in 1969 to see Apollo 11 on her way to open up the universe to human explorers. It just seems like yesterday.

Posted in memory of my cousin - also on the video - who passed away at the beginning of last month.

RIP Gina.

Visit to Cape Kennedy for Apollo 11 Launch - July 1969 (4 min 24 sec)

Leccy,
Thanks so much for posting! These well edited home movies of the event really capture the moment. The juxtaposition of beach goers with the launch was my favorite part.

-Steve

Neat! I remember my mother calling me into the house to see the tv
coverage of the landing...I was outside flying a big paper airplane made
from a magazine cover to which I had attached a thin paper tube
filled with match heads (for that special rocket action...back in those
days I was even trying to launch spark plugs with match heads!).

Pretty darn cool Brian.

It's a bit of a shame that You Tube have muted the video soundtrack that my boy used because of copyright issues. I doubt Billy would mind, given his attitude to bootlegs and might well drop him an email for permission to use his track. Either that or get Tim to record a version himself.

Originally Posted by Griffin

Leccy,
Thanks so much for posting! These well edited home movies of the event really capture the moment. The juxtaposition of beach goers with the launch was my favorite part.

-Steve

Thanks Steve - that's me in the checked shirt and crew cut

The pictures in the Vehicle Assembly Building I had long sleeved sweatshirt on, because my arms were so badly burned with blisters about four inches long. I've still got the scars. Anyway the two white spacecraft are the Apollo 12 and the ill fated Apollo 13 CSMs before they were mated up to their Saturn V boosters.

Oooh, neat video. You watched from Melbourne beach? Cocoa Beach?

Thanks for sharing...

--Bill

We watched from Satellite Beach Bill. After a couple of months watching several launches, both day and night, from the beaches I was getting to be a bit of a launch veteran. I thought it was the height of space-ageness that the local paper carried launch details in the byeline, just like the late footy results in the local paper at home.

Satellite Beach, that would be betwixt Melbourne and Cocoa.

I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama but spent 1967-1968 in Melbourne (long, involved story). Brought back memories. I was watching your video (be patient, we're on dialup) and was first "in line" to reply, but got stuck over in Mapquest Maps (aerial photos of Melbourne) doing some sightseeing. After all these years, I still recognised landmarks.

Yes, the whole place was "space crazy" during the late 1960's. Wonderful times, then.

--Bill

My official stifficate says Brevard County and the house at the beginning of the video was in Satellite Beach itself, the dish antenna thingy on the video was down on the beach where we used to watch from but that might even have been on Cocoa Beach, they were right next to each other.

When Tim gets a round tuit he can edit up the second video, showing the first subsea launch of a Royal Navy Polaris II missile, which is quite spectacular and has sailors and a submarine in it too for those who like all things maritime.

Nice momento Bri!

Seen this?

Haynes Manual - Apollo 11

tim

There's a Saturn V model sitting on my desk here Tim. When you look at the tiny capsule compared to the giant booster and realise that none of it was really designed to be anything other than single use, the Haynes Manual becomes even funnier. I can just imagine the NASA engineers deciding whether to risk embarking on a 3 spanner job or not