First Man

[CanuckTravlr]

I can remember watching this with my Dad. I seem to think it was on about 10pm when they landed on the moon here in Calif.

I just looked it up. The Eagle landed on the moon at 20:17 UTC or 1:17 pm Pacific Time on 20 July 1969. Six and a half hours later, at 2:56 UTC on 21 July or 7:56 pm Pacific Time on 20 July, Neil Armstrong took that one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

Funny how memory can be distorted over time. I watched the landing with a group of about six friends at the home of one of the friends and her parents, because they had a colour TV. Colour TVs in Canada at that time were still fairly rare, since Canadian networks only started broadcasting in colour in 1966. We had all just finished our first year of university and were home for the summer. We decided to have a "moon landing party".

I can still picture "perfectly" in my mind some of the details of the room and all of us huddled around the TV watching as The Eagle manoeuvered and finally landed successfully. I also could have sworn that it was at night, but the record obviously states it was 4:17 pm EDT. Maybe it was the dark rec room we were in that fools my memory into thinking it was night-time? We stayed for dinner and then watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon at almost 11 pm EDT. So by the time we all dispersed that night it was obviously dark, so maybe that is why I remember the landing as taking place at night???

Anyway, a seminal moment in the history of mankind...and to borrow the words of the immortal Walter Cronkite, " except you were there". I look forward to seeing the movie.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Funny how memory can be distorted over time. I watched the landing with a group of about six friends at the home of one of the friends and her parents, because they had a colour TV. Colour TVs in Canada at that time were still fairly rare, since Canadian networks only started broadcasting in colour in 1966. We had all just finished our first year of university and were home for the summer. We decided to have a "moon landing party".

I can still picture "perfectly" in my mind some of the details of the room and all of us huddled around the TV watching as The Eagle manoeuvered and finally landed successfully. I also could have sworn that it was at night, but the record obviously states it was 4:17 pm EDT. Maybe it was the dark rec room we were in that fools my memory into thinking it was night-time? We stayed for dinner and then watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon at almost 11 pm EDT. So by the time we all dispersed that night it was obviously dark, so maybe that is why I remember the landing as taking place at night???

Anyway, a seminal moment in the history of mankind...and to borrow the words of the immortal Walter Cronkite, " except you were there". I look forward to seeing the movie.

Hi CanuckTrvlr,

Your memory was correct - Eagle landed on the moon at 4:18pm (est) and Buzz Armstrong didn't step foot on the lunar surface until 6 hours later.


Richard

 

[CanuckTravlr]

Thanks, for the gracious reply, Richard. But my memory was only correct about the first moonwalk, since it occurred later on July 20th. Here in Toronto we are UTC-4 in summer on EDT and UTC-5 in winter on EST. So the actual initial landing at 4:17 EDT, would have been in broad daylight, since the sun doesn't set here in midsummer until after 9 PM. But I could have sworn we watched the whole thing in the late evening, until you pointed out the official times.

Also, maybe you need another cup of coffee this morning, Richard (LOL)? It was "Neil" Armstrong, the mission commander, who was first to set foot on the moon. Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, the Eagle pilot, was the second man to set foot on the moon about 9 minutes after Armstrong at 11:15 pm EDT.

 

[MULTIZ321]

Thanks, for the gracious reply, Richard. But my memory was only correct about the first moonwalk, since it occurred later on July 20th. Here in Toronto we are UTC-4 in summer on EDT and UTC-5 in winter on EST. So the actual initial landing at 4:17 EDT, would have been in broad daylight, since the sun doesn't set here in midsummer until after 9 PM. But I could have sworn we watched the whole thing in the late evening, until you pointed out the official times.

Also, maybe you need another cup of coffee this morning, Richard (LOL)? It was "Neil" Armstrong, the mission commander, who was first to set foot on the moon. Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, the Eagle pilot, was the second man to set foot on the moon about 9 minutes after Armstrong at 11:15 pm EDT.

Yep, I certainly did have a senior moment. Thanks for the correction.

Richard

 

[Makai Guy]

Deleted. Info already posted.

 

[Patri]

Hi CanuckTrvlr,
Your memory was correct - Eagle landed on the moon at 4:18pm (est) and Buzz Armstrong didn't step foot on the lunar surface until 6 hours later.
Richard

You are thinking of Buzz Lightyear.

 

[Talent312]

You are thinking of Buzz Lightyear.

Maybe he meant Lance Armstrong?...

Or possibly, Buzz Aldrin, the 2nd man on the moon. Sequel: "Second Man."
Obscure fact: Aldrin was a Presbyterian elder and took communion on the moon.

 

[cp73]

I know we were watching something at 10pm. Maybe it was Star Trek....Last week we went to Kennedy Space Center. Truly fascinating. Amazing to think that the technology in your cell phone is more advanced than the computers used in the Apollo. Highly recommend going there if you have any interest or lived through all the space launches back to Gemini.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I remember watching the live TV coverage with my fiance. We watched it in black and white or a smaller TV. My parents were out of town and I had the house to myself. It is an evening that I still remember for a number of important reasons. That was a monumental moment for mankind.

 

[Brett]

I remember watching the moon landing on B&W TV in 1969. I didn't realize the current movie is controversial
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...h-is-more-complicated/?utm_term=.9fbdf6b17960

 

[MULTIZ321]

I remember watching the moon landing on B&W TV in 1969. I didn't realize the current movie is controversial
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...h-is-more-complicated/?utm_term=.9fbdf6b17960

Thanks for posting Brett.

Richard

 

[JanT]

I didn't realize it was controversial either. We saw it last week and it was a decent representation, albeit slow in a couple of spots. We did find it strange they didn't plant the American flag but I had no idea that became an issue for politicians, etc. For crying out loud, do they have to weigh in on EVERYTHING? The one thing that stood out for both of us is that they portrayed Neal Armstrong as kind of an ass in terms of his family life at times. Not sure if the film was accurate in that sense but it's how it came across to us.

 

[WalnutBaron]

I didn't realize it was controversial either. We saw it last week and it was a decent representation, albeit slow in a couple of spots. We did find it strange they didn't plant the American flag but I had no idea that became an issue for politicians, etc. For crying out loud, do they have to weigh in on EVERYTHING? The one thing that stood out for both of us is that they portrayed Neal Armstrong as kind of an ass in terms of his family life at times. Not sure if the film was accurate in that sense but it's how it came across to us.

I thought Chazelle did a great job in the creation of the film. The portrayal of Armstrong was pretty accurate. He was both emotionally detached and incredibly focused on the immense challenge before him, to the expense of his family. He and his wife did divorce after 27 years of marriage.

As for the controversy, I mentioned it in the original post on this thread. I had heard of it, but did not find it to be detrimental to the quality of the film--and it was abundantly clear throughout the film that the moon landing was an American achievement and the crowning point in the space race with the Soviet Union. It is, indeed, a shame that our nation's divisive politics may have blunted viewer interest in this movie. I hope the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences recognizes the film to give it a necessary boost and a second chance for audiences to take it in.

 

[JanT]

Yes, Chazelle did a great job in the creation of the movie. It was intense. When I said it was a decent portrayal of the event I was distracted and should have re-written that. It did lag in a few spots but overall was very good. I didn't read your original post again before I posted - just offered up my comments based on newer posts. Thank you for the info about Armstrong - I didn't realize he and his wife had divorced. It was an amazing time in our history.

I thought Chazelle did a great job in the creation of the film. The portrayal of Armstrong was pretty accurate. He was both emotionally detached and incredibly focused on the immense challenge before him, to the expense of his family. He and his wife did divorce after 27 years of marriage.

As for the controversy, I mentioned it in the original post on this thread. I had heard of it, but did not find it to be detrimental to the quality of the film--and it was abundantly clear throughout the film that the moon landing was an American achievement and the crowning point in the space race with the Soviet Union. It is, indeed, a shame that our nation's divisive politics may have blunted viewer interest in this movie. I hope the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences recognizes the film to give it a necessary boost and a second chance for audiences to take it in.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

We have a old restored theatre near us that offers $3.00 movies and I just went on Sunday to see First Man and it was great and the 3 of us that went had a great time... I'm glad that I remembered you had recommended this movie when it first came out.

 

[plpgma]

I have been an 'armchair' astronaut my entire life -- and yes, I remember watching the walk on unfold live TV (do you remember that the picture was upside down for the first few minutes?). Regarding Neil Armstrong, I read the book 'First Man' a few years before the movie came out. The book goes into great detail about Neil's life and experiences. I do intend to see the movie at some point -- but, to truly understand the depth and breadth of the story within the movie, I would recommend first reading the book so that you'll have factual knowledge to attach to what you'll see on the screen.

 

[plpgma]

Well I finally watched this movie, and I must say -- I was impressed! Being someone who is a very anal stickler for detail whenever a historical event is being portrayed, I had serious misgivings about whether Hollywood would get it right (re: not only have I read "First Man" a couple times, I am also a bonafide armchair astronaut whose passion is the Gemini and Apollo programs). While I did spot some errors and also believe there was a bit too much drama in certain places, I feel that the spirit of Neil was captured as well as the inherent danger these men faced in those early days of space flight.

So I say well done -- I'm glad I watched it!

Now I think I'll read the book again -- just for fun!