APOLLO 11 FACEBOOK 2014
As some of you may know, I am obsessed with the Apollo 11 mission. A friend
and I were the only college journalists officially accredited by NASA to cover
the mission, and were among the youngest with press credentials. I recently
found some of the 1969 documentation of my coverage which I will post in the
weeks ahead. The Apollo 10 flight successfully ended 45 years ago today so it
appeared that Apollo 11 would indeed be the first try at a lunar landing. I was
just finishing my freshman year at the University of Michigan
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #1 (May 26, 2014)
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #1 (May 26, 2014)
The next step 45 years ago in my plan to witness the Apollo 11 launch was
to get press credentials. I had joined the Michigan Daily, the independent
student newspaper, as a freshman reporter. By May, 1969, the end of the school
year, I was an assistant night editor--a position way down on the totem pole.
The Daily had a long and honorable tradition of covering national political
stories, but those assignments usually went to juniors or seniors. My ace in
the hole was that I was practically the only person in that left-leaning
building at 420 Maynard St.
With an assignment letter in hand from the Michigan Daily
to cover Apollo 11, 45 years ago I approached NASA's Public Affairs Office
about press credentials. I ran into a roadblock. NASA had more than 3,000
requests for credentials and could not fill them all. More importantly, NASA
had a policy not to accredit college journalists. So the answer was: no. I was
devastated and reconsidered my plan-- after all there were other events that
would be going on in the summer of 1969, and I had only spent $10 on the motel
reservation.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #3
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #3
It was the end of May, 1969 and I
needed to sort out my summer. I had an assignment letter for Apollo 11 from the
Michigan Daily but no NASA credentials. I also had a summer job lined up at a clothing
store on Michigan Ave. Cape in July for Apollo 11 without a press
pass, or whether to go elsewhere. There was a lot happening that summer. I had
heard about plans for a huge three-day rock festival in New York
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #4
As I considered in May, 1969 my
choice of space (Apollo 11) or rock ‘n roll (Woodstock Chicago
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #5
As I became a teenager, I actually
had chances to meet some real, live astronauts. After Gemini 4 in 1965 , Jim
McDivitt and Ed White visited Chicago McCormick Place Bellwood ,
Gene’s hometown. A Sun-Times photographer caught us in the crowd. It was with
this long history of fascination with space that I made my decision.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #6
ith or without a NASA press pass, I
decided to persist with my plans to go to the Cape for Apollo 11 instead of attending
Woodstock Florida
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #7
“Deus ex machina” is an ancient literary
plot device where a “seemingly
unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the contrived and
unexpected intervention of some new event, [or] character...” The “deus
ex machina” of my Apollo 11 story was a senior editor of the Michigan Daily,
Jim Heck. I heard Jim had been appointed Editor of the College Press Service
(CPS) Wire Network in Washington ,
DC Washington , DC
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#8
I established my credibility regarding space at the
Michigan Daily during my freshman year by writing several stories, including
this Editorial printed October 23, 1968, the day after the Apollo 7 landing. It
concludes: "If funds must be cut, the already limited space budget should
not be clipped and used as a scapegoat. The war In Vietnam and pork barrel
projects cost far more than space exploration and yield far fewer benefits,
both actual and potential, than the space program. A sensible, stable space
program is an investment in the future, an investment this country should
make." I think this stands up pretty well after 45 years. #Apollo11Eyewitness Post #9
While waiting to hear about NASA
credentials for Apollo 11, I prepared to leave Ann Arbor
in 1969 to return to my home near Chicago Michigan Ave. U.
of Michigan University
Avenue
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #10
I am writing in
serialized form the story of how I covered as a 19 year-old college student the
Apollo 11 launch from the Cape in 1969. The
posts started here on May 26 and will continue every few days through the end
of July. Several people suggested that I put them on a blog so that they are
all together and so that people who are not members of Facebook have access.
This is that blog, although I warn you that the order of the posts is out of
whack. So let's return to the summer of 1969.... (June 11, 2014)
As I prepared for my trip to the Cape for Apollo 11, much more was happening in the world
in the summer of 1969 besides space exploration. The Vietnam War was raging and
there was already strong opposition to American involvement in that Asian civil
war. Planning had started for a massive Moratorium March on Washington , D.C. Washington China Woodstock
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #11
As I awaited word from NASA, political
changes in early 1969 would have a profound effect on the future of NASA and
the space program. President Lyndon B. Johnson had left office on January 20,
1969. Johnson was the “Godfather” of the space program. As the powerful Senate
Majority Leader, he worked to establish NASA, set up an influential Senate Committee
to oversee it, and shepherd large budget increases for NASA through Congress.
Space was one of Johnson’s assignments as Vice President. Then Projects Gemini
and Apollo through Apollo 8 occurred during his presidency. It is no
coincidence that he was invited to, and attended the Apollo 11 launch, as shown
in this picture I took. On the other hand, his successor, President Richard M.
Nixon, saw space exploration as a tool for political advantage and
international prestige. Nixon would later cancel Apollo 18-20 and in 1972 approve
plans for a scaled-down space shuttle which would be only be partially
reuseable, leading to many problems later.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #12
As I waited to hear whether Jim Heck had any success in Washington with NASA getting us Apollo 11 press passes, I
spent June, 1969 working at a men's clothing store in downtown Chicago
The Number 1 hit that week was
Credence Clearwater Revival' s classic tune "Bad Moon Rising," which
they would later play at Woodstock in August and is still popular today (over
18 million YouTube hits). The Number 2 song that week was "Good Morning
Starshine" from the musical "Hair" as sung by Oliver. It was a
sweetsy tune with bubble gum lyrics that grated on my nerves then and still
does 45 years later. Not all oldies were goodies! Overall, however, 1969 was a
time of memorable music as Woodstock Woodstock
in favor of Apollo 11 and I was preparing to go to Florida
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post # 13
It was now the middle of June, 1969
and there was no news from NASA about press passes so I figured the odds were
not in our favor. Then a thin envelope from the College Press Service (CPS)
arrived in the mail. I opened it with much anticipation. In a letter dated June
17, 1969, Jim Heck informed me “I’m now editor of the College Press Service
wire network and it is only after this, and two weeks of red tape, talking to
high NASA officials, etc. that I have finally gotten you and your friend some
press credentials.” SUCCESS!! The was
the news I had been waiting for—my
friend Marv and I were going to cover Apollo 11 for the CPS, as well as the
Michigan Daily, with full NASA press credentials. As Jim wrote, “You will be
the only ungraduated people there.” I awaited arrival of our NASA press passes
and further instructions.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#14
I received the news that NASA was
going to grant me and my friend official Apollo 11press credentials with great
excitement because I knew press passes would open many doors. Jim Heck informed
me that NASA was going to be mailing the credentials. In addition, he wrote
that I needed my Michigan Daily press card with a photo as well as regular identification.
He also included this June 17, 1969 courtesy letter confirming that “David
Chudwin is a bonafide reporter for the College Press Service and its 500
subscribers throughout the world. All courtesies extended him during the Apollo
11 lunar landing will be appreciated.” I then checked the mailbox every day
because I would not be sure it was really true until I had the actual NASA
press pass in my eager hands
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #15
Not longer after, I received my
NASA press badge in the mail accrediting me for Apollo 11 representing the
College Press Service. My friend and I were the only college journalists as
such to receive approval by NADA. The
badge was stapled inside a plastic badge holder and was accompanied by
instructions from NASA’s Public Affairs Office. It allowed coverage at both the
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida and the
Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) in Houston Houston
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #16
Could I afford to go to Houston , as well as the Cape ,
with my NASA Apollo 11 credentials? First, I needed a budget. I called around
and found that Hertz would rent a car to a 19 year-old like me for $16 a day
(remember these are 1969 dollars). I already had my $94.50 return air flight
and my $10 per night motel. My friend Marv would split the car and motel
expenses. These and other items brought the total estimated expenses to $220.
That doesn’t sound like much, but it is about $1,420 in 2014 dollars. I had
some money saved up from working, but I would barely be able to cover going to
the Cape . So Houston
was out—I would watch the launch from the Cape
and hopefully cover the landing from there as well. I also had an idea to help
pay for the expenses.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #17
Besides the press badge, NASA
Public Affairs also sent a six-page Press Advisory detailing plans for media
coverage. Because over 3,500 journalists were expected, NASA was setting up an
Apollo 11 News Center in a two-story industrial building in Cape
Canaveral . The News
Center Kennedy
Space Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #18
At the end of June, 1969, with less
than 3 weeks coming until my departure for the Cape ,
I needed to come up with an idea to pay for part of the trip. I had savings
from summer jobs but not enough for the over $300 (in 1969 dollars) that I
needed. Both my Mom and my Aunt Riss had been writing freelance magazine
articles; I realized that my Apollo 11 coverage as a teenage journalist might provide
a unique perspective. I borrowed my
Mom’s Writer’s Digest and went to
work to find magazines that might be interested. I sent off query letter to
Highlights for Children, Boys Life, Senior Science and the American Junior Red
Cross News.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post # 19
Fast forward to July 11, 1969. It
is my 19th birthday today and I am leaving in two days for Cape Kennedy to cover the first attempt to land men on
the Moon. There are so many details to remember that I type out a reminder
list. I don’t want to forget to bring important items such as “tickets, NASA
badges, CPS badge and letter, motel reservation confirmation, NASA
instructions, road map…” I also remind myself to “check in with NASA News
Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #20
It is July 13, 1969 and I am
leaving for Florida Dee ’s husband. Three years earlier, Marv and I had
attended a celebration in Bellwood ,
Illinois Cape
to see the Apollo 11 launch. We take off from O’Hare for Tampa
where we and Mrs. Cernan switch planes to head to the Melbourne
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #21
We arrive at the Melbourne , Florida Cape . “I’m next,” he tells us.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #22 July 13, 1969 Events
We exit the small Melbourne
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#23
July 13, 1969 Events
The shuttle bus arrives and for $3.50
takes us to the Sea Missile Motel in Cocoa
Beach Eastern Test
Range
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #24
July 13, 1969 Events
Early on July 14. 1969, Marv and I
pick up our rental car and head to the NASA Apollo 11 News Center-- a complete
madhouse, full of journalists from all over the world. There are long tables with telephones for reporters
to call in stories, other tables with NASA press releases and flight plans, and
industrial exhibits where companies are touting their contributions to Apollo. We sign up with NASA for a 4 hour-long tour of
KSC and surroundings. Nine of us, including journalists from Spain , Switzerland ,
and Belgium
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post# 25
July 14,1969 Events
Our tour guide drives the mini-bus
to within ¾ mile from the Saturn V on Pad 39A, where we stop to take pictures.
The Saturn V rocket soars 363 feet (110 m) above a huge concrete structure. The
rocket is surrounded by a grey Mobile Service Structure (MSS) gantry and is
attached to a red Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT). “God, is it huge!” is my comment.
We drive to another vantage point where we are only 2,000 feet from the rocket
where we see the wire escape system and the fire escape vehicle. (Astronauts
would rush into a gondola, ride down the wire, and jump into the vehicle in
case of an emergency). We then go to the unoccupied Pad 39B where we see another
large concrete structure with a blackened slit in the center and flame
deflectors 30 feet high.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post# 26 July 14, l969 Events
Our press tour continues stoping at
the incredible crawler-transporter which hauls the Saturn V from the Vehicle
Assembly Building (VAB) out to the pad. The mammoth transporter weighs 6
million pounds, is adjustable from 20 to 26 feet high, and has 8 giant
tracks. We go to the VAB where we take
an elevator to the top floor and look down over 500 feet (more on the VAB later). Our tour
ends at the modernistic Launch Control Center (LCC) where we are allowed inside
to see the three firing rooms, including the one where Apollo 11 is being
prepared for launch in 2 days. We are permitted on the floor of another firing
room where Apollo 12 is being worked. After this KSC tour we head back to the Apollo 11 News Center
in Cape Canaveral for a key briefing.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post# 27
July 14,1969 Events
We hurry to the “Center Director’s
Briefing,” scheduled at 2:30 p.m. on July 14, 1969. The speakers include Wernher
von Braun (Marshall Space Flight Center), Kurt Debus (Kennedy Space Center), Robert
Gilruth (Manned Spacecraft Center), George Mueller (NASA Associate
Administrator for Manned Space Flight), and John Clark (Goddard Space Flight
Center). Jack King is the moderator. I am in awe to be in the presence of these
great space leaders and visionaries. They are the men, along with Sam Phillips,
George Low and Chris Kraft, who are directly responsible for getting us to the
Moon. I take pictures and notes. Von Braun, as usual, is the most quotable.
When asked about the significance of the upcoming flight, von Braun compares it
to “aquatic life crawling on land for the first time.”
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #28
July 14, 1969 Events
Marv and I eat dinner at the Cape
Kennedy Hilton. We then head back to the Apollo 11 News Center to watch a 7
p.m. live television interview with the Apollo 11 crew. They are in quarantine
and speak to us by closed circuit TV from their crew quarters. We are present
with the interviewers at the News
Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #29
July 14, 1969 Events
After the Apollo 11 crew press
conference, we take a NASA bus to a close-by vantage point to photograph the
Saturn V on Pad 39A at dusk and then, under
high-intensity xenon lights, at night.
We take some pictures of ourselves in front of the rocket and then wait for
dusk. As the night sky starts to darken, we see round lights at various levels
of the gray MSS (Mobile Service Structure) and the red LUT (Launch Umbilical
Tower
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #30
Juy 14, 1969 Events
We get back to the Sea Missile motel
completely exhausted, but what a day it has been! From getting within 2,000
feet of the Saturn V to going to the top of the VAB and then down to the LCC firing
room floor. From seeing the architects of Apollo at the “Center Director’s
Briefing” to attending the live television interview with the crew and ending
with the magnificent display of lights focused on the Saturn V at night. Full of
adrenaline, Marv and I stay up until
1:30 a.m. going through the stacks of
NASA press releases and contractor publications we had picked up at the News Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#31
July 14, 1969 Events
We have another jam-packed schedule
for July 15, 1969, the day before the planned Apollo 11 launch. We take another
NASA press tour to return first to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a more
detailed visit. We board a NASA bus at the News Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#32
July 15, 1969 Events
The NASA press bus then takes us from
the VAB to the nearby Launch Control Center (LCC) where we go to the top and have
a spectacular view of Launch Complex 39A. The Saturn V is still encased in the gray
Mobile Service Structure (MSS) gantry, which is scheduled to be rolled back
later this afternoon. The crushed-rock roadway leading from the VAB to the pad
is clearly visible, as is the large white round tank used to store liquid
hydrogen. We go inside the LCC where there are 3 firing rooms which process the
Saturn V rockets. Firing Room 1 preparing Apollo 11 is off- limits, but we are
escorted to the floor of the other two.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post # 33 July 15, 1969 Events
On the floor of the KSC Launch
Control Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #34
July 15, 1969 Events
We then take a NASA bus to observe
the roll back of the Mobile Service Structure (MSS) which has been surrounding
the Saturn V rocket on Pad 39A. Our bus stops just before a road block manned
by policemen. We get out to take photos as the huge gray metal gantry gradually
pulls back from the pad. Unfortunately clouds come in and it is hazy.
Afterwards we drive to a different vantage point where we have a beautiful view
of the “naked” Saturn V which is scheduled to take off tomorrow. Then it is
back to the KSC Press Site for the “Prelaunch Briefing.”
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #35
July 15, 1969 Events
At the KSC Press Site, the top
operational officials for Apollo 11 are on a stage facing the press grandstands
for the “Prelaunch Briefing.” They include (left to right) Deke Slayton (flight
crew operations), Dr. Charles Berry (medical operations), George Low (Apollo
program manager), George Hage (Apollo mission director), Rocco Petrone (KSC
launch operations director), Lee James (Saturn V program manager), Ozro
Covington (Goddard support) and Col Royce Olson (DOD space flight support). NASA’s
Jack King (right) is the moderator. Hage reports that all is proceeding well
toward the planned launch tomorrow at 9:32 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Petrone
states the weather looks very good as far as launch conditions. Then the
members of the media go on to ask a series of mostly inane questions. We
briefly talk to Deke Slayton and Dr. Berry
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #36
July 15, 1969 Events
When we had first arrived at the
Apollo 11 News Center we had an opportunity to sign up for individual interviews
with NASA officials. We were able to land a 3:15 p.m. appointment for today
with Dr. George Mueller, Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight. We go
back to the News Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #37
July 15, 1969 Events
Marv and I have dinner at the
Holiday Inn the evening of July 15, 1969. I go back then to the Apollo 11 News
Center to write a story for the Michigan Daily and the College Press Service
(CPS). The Daily this morning published a preview article about Apollo 11,
which we had written earlier; it had also been sent out on CPS’s wire network.
I work a couple of hours on an article about the preparations for tomorrow’s
launch using a portable typewriter and then dictate it via a pay telephone to the Daily for tomorrow’s edition (no cell
phones, faxes or internet). I can’t get through on the phone to CPS. I drive
back to the Sea Missile motel to try to get some sleep—we hope tomorrow will be
the big day and I set the alarm for 4:30 a.m.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post#38
July 15, 1969 Events
We go in the pre-dawn darkness on
July 16, 1969 to the Apollo 11 News Center to catch a press bus to see the
Apollo 11 astronauts leave for the Moon. The bus takes us near the Manned
Spaceflight Operations Building (MSOB), later known at the Operations and Checkout Building
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #39
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
Astronauts Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin
briskly walk down the ramp in their spacesuits from the MSOB towards the
transfer van. There are loud cheers; hundreds of flashbulbs go off.
Photographers jostle for position, elbows flying, as we try to get off some
shots. I am able to take 5 photographs but I have no idea whether they will
turn out (I am using Kodachrome slide film, long before digital cameras allowing
instant review). All three astronauts have a smile, Armstrong cocking his head
a little, Collins looking serene, and Aldrin with a big grin. Armstrong and
Aldrin each give a “thumb’s up” as they approached the van. In so many ways
this is the emotional high point
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #40
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
The Apollo 11 crew walks to the
base of the ramp towards the van that will take them to Pad 39A where their
Saturn V awaits. I take a third
photograph with my primitive film camera. I miss Armstrong giving a “thumb’s
up” because of someone’s head in the way, but catch Mike Collins (right) and
Buzz Aldrin, followed by two white- helmeted spacesuit technicians. The first
one (left) is Joe Schmitt, the veteran who also suited up Alan Shepard and who is
still alive at last report at age 98. The second one is a very young Ron Woods,
who is still working for NASA and has become a noted space artist. Following
behind them is Deke Slayton, his head partially obscured. (Years later I send
both Schmitt and Woods copies of this photo, one for them to keep and the other
to autograph). The fourth and final fifth photographs show the astronauts
entering the van but are blurred and have obstructed views.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #41
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
Full of adrenaline from viewing the Apollo 11 crew walkout at dawn, we head out
on a slow-moving NASA bus, caught in heavy traffic, to the KSC Press Site. It
is a large grandstand about 3 ½ miles from Pad 39A. We climb to the top and I
take a picture of the scene in the early morning light. We look around the
Press Site but then decide that we will view the launch from the VIP Site along
with the hundreds of dignitaries NASA has invited for the occasion. Politicians,
military leaders, former NASA brass, ambassadors and entertainers are among the
invitees. Even Hermann Oberth, one of the fathers of rocketry, is there (we
briefly encounter him earlier at a hotel)
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #42
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
At the KSC VIP Site there are
several low grandstands for invited Apollo 11 guests. Marv and I mill around on
the grassy area in front as they gradually arrive. We have a brief talk with
Australian scientist- astronaut Phil Chapman. Former President Lyndon Johnson appears
with a Secret Service escort. Former NASA Administrator James Webb sits to
LBJ’s right. Not too far away are Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver and Gen.
William Westmoreland, U.S. Army Chief of Staff at the time. In a different
section, we notice entertainers Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. We also see
Senators Barry Goldwater and Bill Proxmire. (Vice President Agnew is in the Launch Control
Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #43
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
We stand on the grass a few hundred
feet in front of the KSC VIP grandstands to watch the final countdown for
Apollo 11. Jack King—the voice of Launch Control-- can be heard on loudspeakers
giving commentary about the progress of the countdown. I have a new roll of
film in my Kodak Retina camera and resolve to take a quick series of pictures
of the launch itself. The camera is manual without automatic focusing or
controls; I do not have a telephoto lens either. As the countdown goes to T – 9
seconds I start taking pictures every few seconds, watching the scene through
the view finder. The Saturn V is 3 ½ miles away but so huge it is clearly
visible. At “ignition” we see a small
ball of yellow flame at the base of the Saturn V, but all is silent—at least
for now.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #44
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
Flames then quickly shoot out
hundreds of feet from either side of Pad 39A, but the Apollo 11 Saturn V just
seems to silently sit there. Then there is a slight, slow upward movement of
the 363 foot tall rocket stack with Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin riding on
top. We start to hear a rumble and then
an increasingly louder crackling roar. Waves of sound assault our ears and
physically batter our chests—we feel the sound as well as hear it. The rocket
rises agonizingly slowly above the launch tower. It very gradually gains speed
and rises through the scattered, sparse clouds. Soon all that is visible is a
bright white dot in the sky. Meanwhile, as the crowd cheers the spectacle, I
have been furiously snapping pictures of the liftoff. I am surprised both by how slowly the Saturn V
rises from the pad and by how violently the delayed, deafening sound waves
attack us.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #45
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
The huge rocket soars into the blue
sky and gradually becomes a point of light among the scattered clouds. I
continue to take photos until I am out of film. There is silence again except
for the final cheers and applause of the onlookers. Marv and I go back to the
VIP grandstand to get some quotes. We talk briefly to Johnny Carson and Ed
McMahon, and then to Bill Anders and Fred Haise, the backup LMP who saw the
crew off in the White Room. “Their spirits were very good, just like anyone
who’s waited along time and worked very
hard for something like this—looking forward to it,” Haise tells us. We
also see Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan but don’t get a chance to talk to them.
We go to the T+1 briefing at the Press Site where we learn all is OK with the flight.
Then it’s back to the Sea Missile motel for a post-launch swim after an
exhilarating morning.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #46
July 16, 1969 Events
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#Apollo45
uring the afternoon of July 16,
1969, after a swim at the Sea Missile motel, I return to the NASA Apollo 11
Press Center in Cape Canaveral . The first
thing I do is pick up the latest transcripts of the pre-launch commentary and
also air-ground voice communications since launch. NASA stenographers record on
a real-time basis every word spoken on the public communications voice channel;
copies for reporters are laid out on tables at the Press Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #47
July 16-17, 1969 Events
Forty-five years ago today (July
20, 1969) I was at the NASA Apollo 11 News Center at Cape Canaveral to report
on America’s first attempt to land on the Moon. After the launch on July 16,
most of the 3,400 journalists left for Houston Cape to follow the
mission. The newsroom had loudspeakers which relayed the PAO voice loop from Houston News Center News
Center Houston
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #48
July 20, 1969 Events
#Apollo45
After the landing at 4:17 p.m. EDT,
I went to dinner at the Camelot Inn (my friend Marv had to leave the day
before). The hatch opening and first
steps on the Moon were scheduled for around 9:30 p.m EDT. I was much more
excited about the landing because getting safely to the lunar surface in the LM
was the greater challenge; the first steps were more symbolic. I arrived back at the NASA Apollo 11 News
Center a little before 9 p.m. but the astronauts were running behind. We huddled
around the few television sets to see the ghostly pictures from the Moon.
Loudspeakers in the newsroom relayed the voice communications. I wrote notes in
my pocket diary. Armstrong stepped off the LM at about 10:56 p.m. His famous first words were a little
garbled to us at the News
Center News
Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #49
July 20, 1969 Events
#Apollo45
On July 21, 1969 I slept until
10:30 a.m. at the Sea Missile motel, grabbed some brunch at the Astrodine, and
went to the News Center News
Center to the critical lift-off of
Eagle’s ascent stage back to lunar orbit and a rendezvous with Mike Collins in Columbia Cape was at an end, but not my reportage of Apollo 11.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #50
July 21, 1969 Events
After the Apollo 11 crew landed on
July 24, 1969, they were quarantined for 3 weeks aboard the USS Hornet and then
in Houston Chicago Chicago Michigan Avenue Chicago
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #51
August 13, 1969 Events
#Apollo45
The Chicago parade route for the
Apollo 11 crew on August 13, 1969 went south on Michigan Avenue past Tribune
Tower, then west on Wabash, just across the Chicago River from the Chicago
Sun-Time building (since demolished for Trump Towers). I followed along the
route, taking close-up photographs of the crew. As the motorcade drove adjacent
to the Chicago
River , fireboats sprayed arcs of water in honor of Armstrong,
Collins, and Aldrin. The motorcade turned up State Street
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #52
August 13, 1969 Events
#Apollo45
As the Chicago State Street LaSalle Street LaSalle Street
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #53 August 13, 1969 Events
#Apollo45
I returned home from the Cape July
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #54
August, 1969 Events
One of the first rejection letters
I received was from Readers’ Digest (not surprising because it was certainly a
long shot). However, as more rejections came back, I despaired about my Apollo
11 article being published. However, in early September, 1969, I received this
letter from Edgar Good from the American Red Cross Youth Journal offering me
$125 for the manuscript and first publication rights ($812 in 2014 dollars).
This would cover my $94.50 airfare and a little more so I quickly accepted. I had
sent with the manuscript some crude
photographic copies of my best color slides. Then I waited to see how the first
memoir of my trip would turn out (more in different formats would come later).
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #55
August-September, 1969 Events
My Apollo 11 article appeared with
the title “New Worlds for Tomorrow” in the November, 1969 issue of the American
Red Cross Youth Journal (vol. 46, pg.
22-25). The first two pages had the title over an “Earthrise” image, and
there were 5 other photo illustrations, including my “walkout” picture of the
Apollo 11 crew and NASA images of Dr. George Mueller, the launch and the
“Moonwalk.” An Editor’s note: “David S. Chudwin officially covered the flight
of Apollo 11 for several college publications and for the JOURNAL. He is l9
years old, a sophomore at the University
of Michigan
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #56
November, 1969 Events
After returning home from the Cape , I went through a stack of papers containing a
flight plan, press kit, public relations plan, lunar orbit maps, hundreds of
pages of transcripts, industrial folders and press releases. I also brought
back some envelopes I had postmarked at the Cape Canaveral Post Office on the
July 20 landing date. I had collected space memorabilia, including launch and recovery
ship covers, since 1965 so I decided that, over time, I would try to get some
of these items autographed by the crew. A few months after Apollo 11 came back,
I wrote Mike Collins, sending him some of the “walkout” and parade pictures I
had taken. I requested an autograph on a KSC launch cover with an official NASA
cachet and on a recovery cover from the USS Hornet. It took a while, but not
only did Collins sign the two envelopes, but he also sent a crew lithograph he
inscribed to me (the Armstrong and Aldrin autographs are autopen (mechanical)
signatures). This is one of my most cherished Apollo 11 souvenirs.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #57
November, 1969 Events
After Apollo 11, I sent launch and
recovery envelopes to Buzz Aldrin but, as expected, I received back autopen
signatures (the crew was inundated with thousands of autograph requests). Almosy 20 years later, in 1987, Buzz was kind enough to inscribe for
free an Apollo 11 crew litho to my young son Adam. However, he soon started
charging increasing autograph fees for signatures. I decided to have him sign a few key items in
2000 since by then Armstrong had stopped giving autographs, as did Mike Collins
for a while. So I sent my Apollo 11 flight plan and press kit, as well as a
lunar orbit map, paying $100 each. I thought that was expensive at the time,
but at the most recent Spacefest Aldrin’s base fee was $600 per signature—and
there was still a line to get his autograph!
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #58
The situation with Neil Armstrong’s
autograph is more complex. While a genuine autograph of the First Man may now cost
$1,000 or more, until 1994 Neil Armstrong was among the most generous of signers
among the astronauts. It is estimated that he may have signed over 100,000
autographs up until the 25th Anniversary of the Moonlanding, in 1994
when he stopped giving any autographs (with very rare exceptions). My first
Armstrong signature was after Gemini 8 in 1966 when I sent to him a NASA photo
of the Agena liftoff which he inscribed to me (Dave Scott was added years
later). I knew that after Apollo 11 Armstrong would be swamped with autograph
requests so I was not surprised that my first request for signed launch and
recovery covers would come back with autopen signatures. I waited a few months
and sent him one of the envelopes I had postmarked at the Cape Canaveral Post
Office for the July 20 landing. I was thrilled to get the cover back with his
autograph in blue ballpen ink. A few years later he signed an Apollo 11 First
Day Cover (which is now part of a display).
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #59
One of my most prized Neil
Armstrong autographs is a rare Apollo 11 “insurance cover” signed by the crew
when the three were in quarantine before the launch. These covers, with a
Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club or Dow Unicover cachet, were produced to
help the astronaut’s families in case the astronauts did not come back. They
could not get standard commercial life insurance because of the risks of their
jobs, and though they did have some insurance through their Life Magazine
contracts, sales of the “insurance covers” were designed to supplement those
funds in case of tragedy. I was able to buy this insurance cover for $350 in
the 1980’s from noted space collector and space cover dealer Ken Havekotte. The
price was reduced due to the poor quality of the Houston
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #60
The most sentimental of my Neil Armstrong
autographs is this scarce NASA lithograph he personally inscribed to my son
Adam in 1987. That year, when Adam was
2, I sent pictures to all 12 of the Moonwalkers and asked them to sign for him;
I also included a snapshot of Adam so they could see to whom they were writing.. I was successful with everyone but John Young
and Dave Scott (who were added later).
Armstrong wrote “To Adam—All Good
Wishes” in dark ink on the NASA litho showing a picture Neil took of Buzz
Aldrin exiting the LM. While Armstrong signed thousands of autographs, very few
of them were of scenes on the Moon, as opposed to his individual spacesuit
portrait or crew portraits. This complete set of Moonwalker photos belongs to
my son, now in his late 20’s, although they are safely stored until he decides
what to do with this inheritance.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #61
The story of the most amazing, and
last, autograph I obtained from Neil Armstrong begins in 1993. Back in 1969 at
the Apollo 11 News Center at the Cape , I
snagged two copies of an Apollo 11 lunar orbit map. One of them I had signed
for a fee by Buzz Aldrin (see post 58). In 1993 I realized I had nothing to lose
by writing Armstrong again; I had not done so in many years. . By this time he
had retired to a farm near Lebanon Ohio , a small town near Cincinnati Johnson Space
Center Cincinnati
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #62
While most of the public attention
focused on the Apollo 11 crew, they stood at the top of a pyramid of over
400,000 people who worked on Project Apollo. Armstrong and Aldrin would not
have landed and returned from the Moon without the men of Mission Control in Houston
signed by some of the CAPCOMS and
added to it; it is imperfect because Al
Worden was not an official CAPCOM and
the autograph of Bruce MCandless appears both as an autopen and genuine
signature. Besides the Flight Directors and CAPCOMS, hundreds of other NASA and contractor
personnel worked at the Manned
Spacecraft Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #63
Besides the astronauts and Flight
Controllers, another key group of people
responsible for the success of Apollo 11 were the NASA leaders and managers who
directed this complex effort. In the
year following Apollo 11, I wrote many of NASA’s top brass to congratulate them on their
achievement and to seek their autographs on identical First Man on the Moon
stamp First Day Covers. Among others, at NASA Headquarters I wrote to NASA
Administrator Tom Paine, Apollo Program Director Gen. Sam Phillips and Apollo
11 Mission Director George Hage. I wrote
to Director Robert Gilruth, Deputy Director Chris Kraft and Apollo Spacecraft
Program Manager George Low at the Manned
Spacecraft Center Kennedy Space Center
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #64
I saw the entire Apollo 11 crew twice in person in 1969,
first during their walkout on the way to the Moon, and then again during their
triumphant parade in Chicago the next month. It would be 40 years, however, until
I saw all three again. I have had the pleasure of meeting Buzz Aldrin at a
number of space events from 2005 through this May at Spacefest 6. Of the Apollo
11 crew, Aldrin is the most gregarious and publicly active. While he can be
abrupt, rude and and even greedy at times (the “bad Buzz”), he is more often
genial, approachable, and friendly (the “good Buzz”). He has been a tireless
advocate for the future of space exploration, championing advanced technology
to get us to Mars and beyond. While critics have denounced some of his
activities as tasteless (“Dancing with the Stars”), no one can deny Buzz’s
energy, intelligence, and his passion for the future. At age 84 he has barely
slowed down.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #65
Michael Collins has led an active
life after Apollo 11 but has avoided most public events in recent years (except
meeting the President every 5 years on the anniversary of Apollo 11). One of
his greatest achievements was overseeing the construction and opening of the
popular National Air & Space Museum San Diego
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #66
The next time I again saw Neil
Armstrong in person was 40 years later in 2009. By then Armstrong had achieved
almost mythic status and was only making a limited number of public appearances.
I was at the Apollo 12 40th Anniversary dinner, sponsored by the worthy
Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), when he arrived surrounded by security
men wearing ear plugs. I began to understand the reason when he was literally mobbed
by well-wishers seeking a photo with him or to say hello (it was well-known he
had stopped giving autographs). My hopes for a personal picture with Armstrong
were dashed, but I was able to get some close-up shots of him. However, when
ASF put on-line the photos from the event, I was thrilled to find a photograph showing
Neil at his table (with Gene Cernan and Charlie Bolden) with me lurking in the
background at upper right behind Alan Bean! So while I never had a formal picture
taken with Neil, there is at least this one photo with both of us in the same
frame. (I also saw him from a distance at the Apollo 13 40th
Anniversary dinner at the Adler Planetarium in 2010). No one could have been a
better choice for First Man than Neil Armstrong. He was a brilliant pilot, an
intellectual fascinated by the intricacies of subjects ranging from
aeronautical engineering to chronometers, a quiet man who conducted himself
with dignity but who was also comfortable with who he was. While some
criticized him for not being more of a cheerleader for space, Armstrong did
serve as vice-chairman of the commission investigating the Challenger disaster
and made appearances before Congress on the future of space. Neil Armstrong’s
name will be remembered for thousands of years; I feel privileged to have seen
him in person as he walked out in his spacesuit to fly to the Moon.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #67
The years went by, yet my
excitement about my 1969 experiences at the Apollo 11 walkout, launch and
parade did not diminish. Indeed, my enthusiasm for space exploration increased
as the decades passed. It took me a while for me to realize that both my story
and photographs were somewhat unique—my friend and I were the only college
reporters accredited by NASA to cover the First Landing on the Moon, and we
were among the youngest of the 3,500 journalists privileged to cover that epic
event.
As the 40th Anniversary
approached in 2009, I decided it was time to write about my adventures. For the
collectSpace website, founded and edited by the wonderful Robert Pearlman, I
prepared a series of on-line posts presenting an edited version of my 1969
diary (http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum29/HTML/000960.html)
For the astrophilatelic Space Unit’s journal the Astrophile, I summarized my
journey and dovetailed it with the story of space artist Paul Calle, who was
featured in the issue (pgs. 158-63, vol. 54, no. 2, May-August 2009) . Paul was
inside the MSOB sketching the crew as they suited up while I was just outside
the same building waiting for them to walkout on July 16, 1969. These two
articles had a limited audience, however, and I later decided to expand my horizons.
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #68
Positive comments about my 2009
collectSpace posts and Astrophile article concerning my Apollo 11 experiences convinced me that
there was interest in my story of how I covered
the Apollo 11 launch as a 19 year-old college journalist. My color slide photos
received an especially warm reception because they were so different from the
classic NASA images for Apollo 11 and how they had maintained their color and
clarity over more than 4 decades. It took a while, but I finished a longer
article based on my previous writings. Titled “Apollo 11: Eyewitness to
History,” it appeared in the January, 2013 issue of Spaceflight (pgs. 26-29,
vol. 55, no. 1), with one of my Saturn V photos as the cover picture. For the
45th Anniversary of Apollo 11 this year, I decided to post some of the pictures on
Facebook. This modest undertaking evolved into the 69 posts (only one more to
go!) on Space Hipsters and a new blog which you have been reading. A number of
you have suggested a book so I plan to explore my options over then next couple
years. The Fiftieth Anniversary of Apollo 11 in 2019 would be an appropriate
year for publication—stay tuned!
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #69
EPILOGUE: In 1969 President Nixon
appointed a Space Task Group, headed by Vice President Agnew, which concluded
that the U.S. U.S. China Alabama
and Florida
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #70 (END)
#Apollo11Eyewitness Post #70 (END)
