Area residents still remember moon landing
By JESS MANCINI, jmancini@newsandsentinel.comArticle Photos
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Front page from 1969 News
PARKERSBURG - Apollo 11 blazed a trail to the moon and into the memory of those who watched the historic mission 40 years ago today.
"It was probably the greatest technological achievement of mankind," said John Michel, who from 1963 to 1965 worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Library at Pasadena on unmanned missions to Mars.
He was in graduate school when Apollo 11 landed on the moon and began teaching math at Marietta College in 1970, but has worked for NASA on other unmanned missions including to Venus, the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn.
Apollo 11 astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, who commanded the mission, landed in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Michael Collins remained in the command module orbiting the moon.
"It was wondrous,'' said Michel, who taught for 34 years. "Very overwhelming."
Roger Kerr, Rockport, believes the United States should return, this time with other countries to explore the moon.
"It was spectacular," he said. "Man had landed on the moon."
Pat Dowler of Davisville 40 years ago was on vacation with family.
"My brother and his wife and my other brother were in my GTO and we went on a trip to Miami. That was the only thing on TV then, no matter the time of the day or night,'' Dowler said. "All during out trip it was everywhere. We were in a motel in Virginia when it took off. It was amazing."
Edward Osborne of Marietta said he and his wife, Karen, have five prints made from the film shot by the Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon that were processed by the photographer who shot their wedding in September 1969 in Cincinnati.
"When we got the photos of our wedding, the photographer Jan Lipincky, was developing photos of the moon landing," Mrs. Osborne said. "She asked us if we wanted copies and we said yes."
It is unknown how Lipincky came by the negatives or why she was making prints, Osborne said.
The five photos are matted in one frame and are on a wall of their home on Glendale Road. One of the photos shows an astronaut facing the American flag planted in the Sea of Tranquility.
"I always thought the one of the flag was fantastic," Mrs. Osborne said. "It's really neat to see the foot steps to the flag and then the stars and stripes is just great."
Besides the astronaut facing the flag, another shows an astronaut, probably Aldrin, coming down the ladder, he said. The others are of an astronaut standing near a landing pad of the lunar module, in front of the lander and several yards in front of the spacecraft.
Even with the closest shots, the identity of the astronauts can't be easily determined, Osborne said.
"You still can't tell who he is," Osborne said.
Les Anderson is a retired physics professor at Marietta College where the new Anderson-Hancock Planetarium is named after him and Whit Hancock, another professor at the college. Anderson taught astronomy.
Anderson, 75, was on sabbatical in Iowa in July 1969 and watched the landing with his wife and children in the game room of the home he rented.
"I was just overwhelmed by the accomplishment technologically and the courage of the individuals willing to do that," Anderson said. "It takes somebody special with lots of courage and confidence to do that and accept that you may not have gotten back."
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wildbill
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07-20-09 11:25 AM
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It sure was a great moment in American History. Too bad there are still people who truly believe that we never landed on the moon and that it was all done on a movie lot. I feel sorry for these people.
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