50 Years

   That's how long it's been since the Apollo 11 moon mission lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on the Saturn V rocket

   Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins arrived in lunar orbit July 19th. On July 20th, and while Collins stayed in the command module, Armstrong and Aldrin left in the Lunar Module, and safely touched down in the Sea of Tranquility.
   A few hours later, the L.M hatch opened, and Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another world. His words "that's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind". He was joined by Aldrin a short time later, who called the lunar landscape "magnificent desolation". They spent most of the mission collecting samples and setting up experiments, some of which are still in use today. They also took hundreds of photographs, including this of Armstrong's reflection in Aldrin's visor

   Where was I in all this? As a then 13 year old, I, along with my father, was glued to the T.V. I remember vividly an electrical storm caused the power to go out, just as the L.M was getting set to touch down. It came back on just in time. I also watched the 2 take their historic walk on the moon. Apollo 11 safely returned to Earth July 24th. Armstrong died in 2012, and of the 2 remaining crew, only Michael Collins was back at the launch pad today to commemorate the event.

TTFN