It was a nice touch by the Galway Arts Festival having the Museum of the Moon event coincide with the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the actual moon. The exhibit, in the atrium of the new Human Biology building in NUIG, is a huge model of the actual moon, based on high-definition NASA photos of the real thing. The actual moon landing was a major television event around the world , and my Dad told me later that he held me in front of the TV as it unfolded so that I could witness history I was just two at the time but it is my earliest memory¹. Not everyone shared the wonder – the Irish Independent’s TV column for later that week was headed “Tedium in Viewing Moon Shot”.²
Someone on Twitter asked what people were doing 49 years ago when the Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle, landed on July 21st. One answer beat all the rest.
I was on the Moon! #Apollo11 @NASA https://t.co/6Nb2cQVU32
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 21, 2018
And while we’re thinking about space travel, relax and watch this :-
¹ The moon landings were repeated thousands of times afterwards so I can’t say for certain that I remember the actual event, or just one of the many repeats.
² Irish Independent, Thursday, July 24, 1969; p20