HISTORY’S Moment in Media: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin Walk on the Moon

The race to put a man on the moon had started more than a decade earlier in the shadow of the Cold Waramp160 At that time the Soviet Union USSR and the United States were in a fierce battle for ideological domination on the world stage and the space race became a proxy for who was winning on Earthamp160 The USSR had won round one by surprising the US with the launch of the Sputnik satellite in 1957amp160 The US responded by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA in 1958amp160 By 1961 President John F Kennedy promised to put a man on the moon by the end of the decadeThe promise of exploring the final frontier was made all the more intoxicating to the public because it happened to arrive at the same time as an exploding home technology televisionamp160 American networks immediately grasped that they had a great horse race to coveramp160 The news relentlessly followed every detail of America39s trials and tribulations in moving toward space casting the Soviets as communist villains against the handsome young astronauts as American heroesamp160 The nation lapped it upWhen the day for America to go to the moon finally arrived on July 16 1969 the entire country was on the edge of its seatamp160 The networks were ready and broadcasted live as Apollo 11 successfully lifted offamp160 More importantly however was July 20 1969 the day the astronauts were to land on the moon The Apollo lunar module Eagle touched down on the moon39s surface at 418 pm EDT much to the obvious joy and relief of the command center in HoustonWhile the American public watched and believed the trip to be smooth and without incident there were in fact many malfunctions behind the scenesamp160 amp160For example the Eagle only had 30 seconds of fuel left when it landedamp160 The computer also overloaded and sent out confusing beeping noisesIt would be six more hours until Armstrong and his partner Buzz Aldrin would walk on the moon39s surface and plant the American flagamp160 NASA was so aware of the power of visual images that it crinkled the flag to make it look like it was blowing in the wind in reality it was stiff as a boardAmericans who viewed that stunning lunar broadcast would remember it as a defining moment for the rest of their livesamp160 They would recall where they were sitting with whom they were watching and how proud they were feelingamp160 It was a time when television still brought people togetheramp160 Former CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite would later recall quotAfter seeing it happen knowing it happened it still seems like a dreamquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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HISTORY’S Moment in Media: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin Walk on the Moon

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HISTORY’S Moment in Media: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin Walk on the Moon

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