Jul 15 1969
From The Space Library
President Nixon sent telegram to Apollo 11 astronauts: "On the eve of your epic mission, I want you to know that my hopes and my prayers-and those of all Americans-go with you. Years of study and planning and experiment and hard work on the part of thousands have led to this unique moment in the story of mankind; it is now your moment and from the depths of your minds and hearts and spirits will come the triumph all men will share. I look forward to greeting you on your return. Until then, know that all that is best in the spirit of mankind will be with you during your mission and when you return to earth." President also telephoned astronauts: ". .. as you lift off to the moon, you lift the spirits of the American people as well as the world. You carry with you a feeling of good will in this greatest adventure man has ever taken. . . ." (PD, 7/21/69, 997)
First notables to arrive at Cape Kennedy on eve of Apollo 11 launch included former President and Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson and Southern Christian Leadership Conference President, the Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy. Johnsons arrived in military aircraft assigned by President Nixon, to attend luncheon honoring James E. Webb, former NASA Administrator. Abernathy led 25 poor southern families to protest Federal funding priorities. Dr. Thomas O. Paine, NASA Administrator, met group of 150 poor people outside KSC gate where Abernathy requested 40 VIP passes to launch, asked Dr. Paine to join fight against poverty, and urged that NASA technology be converted to finding new ways to feed poor. Dr. Paine agreed to admit members of group to launch and pledged to do what he could to adapt space-developed food concentrates to aid undernourished. "It will be a lot harder to solve the problems of hunger and poverty than it is to send men to the moon." But, "if it were possible for us not to push that button tomorrow and solve the problems you are talking about, we would not push the button." He said space program and science could be used to help solve poverty problems. "I want you to hitch your wagon to our rocket and tell the people the NASA program is an example of what this country can do." The poor people said they would pray for Apollo 11 astronauts. By evening 500,000 tourists had arrived in Brevard County, site of KSC, with total one million expected by early morning. Air traffic had quadrupled, with 10 local airfields handling over 1,200 small aircraft, and 200 private jets. Aircraft were to bring Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, over 200 Congressmen, 60 ambassadors, 19 governors, 40 mayors, and other public figures July 16. More than 1,000 police struggled to control road traffic, and hordes settled to sleep on beaches from which they could see illuminated spacecraft on launch pad. (Weinraub, NYT, 7/16/69, 22; Greider, W Post, 7/16/69)
Proximity of probable date of lunar landing to date of arrival of Mariner VI and VII cameras near Mars surface would provide U.S. TV viewers with "double space feature," NASA said. Gerald M. Truszynski, NASA Associate Administrator for Tracking and Data Acquisition, credited feat to advances in electronics through which streams of signals could be returned from moon and from Mars into tracking centers and switching points on earth, thence via comsats into TV networks throughout globe. Apollo 11 mission would include eight color telecasts from spacecraft. Lunar telecasts would be black and white since LM would lack power for color TV. Mars telecasts from Mariner VI would produce 50 photos; Mariner VII would deliver 91. Best resolution from closeup would be 900 ft; it had been 2 mi in 1965 Mariner IV photos and was 100 mi by best optical means from earth. (NASA Release 69-831)
Europeans were "as excited as many Americans" about Apollo 11 launch, New York Times reported. But "only the sharpest observer of the Soviet news media could guess, as he went to bed tonight, that Americans will try to send men to the moon tomorrow," according to Baltimore Sun. Last mention of Apollo 11 in Soviet press had been July 9 meeting of President Nikolay V. Podgorny with Astronaut Frank Borman. hi U.K." BBC and commercial TV were planning extensive Apollo 11 coverage, some live via comsat. British newspapers were competing with special space supplements and guides. Exceptions to generally "adulatory" reportage was The Times of London article in which philosopher Lord Russell had said: "Men will not be content to land upon the moon and try to make it habitable. They will land simultaneously from Russia and the United States, each party, complete with H-bombs and each intent upon exterminating the other." American Embassy in Warsaw was packed every day with Poles viewing space films. Spain's Evening Daily Pueblo had sponsored contest to send 25 readers to Apollo 11 launch. In France 22-page space supplement issued by France-Soir had sold 1.5 million copies at $1 each. Bild Zeitung in Germany had noted 7 out of 57 Apollo supervisors were of German origin. Austrian press had lionized Dr. Wernher von Braun during recent visit to Salzburg. Volume of Western European newspaper space devoted to lunar landing mission rivaled that in U.S." New York Times said, and "the whole story of the moon effort is improving the 'prestige' of the United States.. . . But respect voiced by individuals is often for America's technological power, not her humanity or civilization." (Lewis, NYT, 7/16/69, 20; B Sun, 7/16/69, A8, Mills, A9)
Across U.S. on eve of Apollo 11 launch, newspaper editorials commented on lunar landing mission: Los Angeles Herald-Examiner: "It is with an almost breathless sense of awe that we await tomorrow's blast-off from Cape Kennedy-the launching of three space explorers on the most ambitious and fearsome adventure in all human history. Mere words cannot capture the immensity of the flight of Apollo 11. Quite literally, man will be attempting a final break of the chains which have bound him to this earth." (LA Her-Exam, 7/15/69)
Newport News, Va." Times-Herald: "Now, this triumph of human courage and knowledge stands poised on the threshold of accomplishment. For a few fleeting moments, the attention of the world will follow the Eagle as it ferries its two astronauts toward a destiny until now only dreamed of in our history. Then, most probably, our attention will filter back to the pressing problems on earth." (Times-Herald, 7/15/69)
Milwaukee Journal: "Apollo 11 is providing insight into the meaning of life and the imperatives of human society. It is forcing us to face the grim paradox of exploiting human reason and the marvels of machinery to soar into the majesty of space while the world becomes fragmented into selfish national sovereignties-some armed, some arming, with the hideous capacity to end life itself." (Milwaukee Journal, 7/15/69)
Denver Post: "The Soviet attempt to send an unmanned spaceship to the moon in advance of Apollo 11 is a bold bid to draw attention to Soviet space prowess. But even if it succeeds . . . in mechanically scooping up samples of the moon and returning to earth, the Soviet project will not overshadow the American mission. Instead, the Soviet flight will serve to underscore the expensive duplication of effort created by the space race. If the Russians and Americans had cooperated, rather than competed, the risks and the costs involved in landing a man on the moon would have been far less." (Denver Post, 7/15/69)
Washington Evening Star: Soviet Luna XV seemed strangely timed. During their Moscow discussions on space cooperation, U.S.S.R. President Nikolay V. Podgorny had not given Astronaut Frank Borman "slightest hint that the Kremlin was planning to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon to coincide with the history-making Apollo 11 American mission." Was it really possible "to work together in space exploration with a country that seems to be playing tricks with ours at a moment when we are engaged in a historic effort to land men on the moon?" (W Star, 7/15/69, Al2)
San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto urged San Franciscans to fly U.S. flag from Apollo 11 blastoff to splashdown and to sound every bell, siren, and whistle in the city at splashdown. (AP, W Post, 7/17/69, A27)
Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched by NASA from Wallops Station carried Univ. of Wisconsin payload to 129.9-mi (209-km) altitude to examine auroral directions and intensities of isotopic component of cosmic x-rays. Magnetometer and star tracker functioned as planned but doors and covers shielding proportional counters failed to eject and no x-ray data were received. (NASA Rpt Sm.)
NASA awarded General Electric Co.'s Aircraft Engine Group $18.7- million, fixed-price contract with performance-award provision to construct and test two experimental quiet jet aircraft engines. To cut development costs, CF-6 and TF-39 engines developed for DC-10 and C-5A aircraft would be used as core of new engine. Engines would produce 4,900-lb thrust at cruise and 22,000-lb thrust for takeoff. Work was part of OART'S Quiet Engine Research Program to develop turbofan engine with noise level 15-20 db below present engines. Contract would be managed by LeRC. (NASA Release 69-103)
“What’s Beyond Our Flag on the Moon?” article in Look Magazine
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