Who I Am

My name doesn’t matter. I’m a regular American — married, two kids, a job that keeps the lights on. I grew up in the suburbs. I mow my lawn on Saturdays. I read the newspaper every morning before work.

In April 1961, I heard on the radio that a Soviet cosmonaut named Yuri Gagarin had just become the first human being to leave the Earth. I was sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. My coffee went cold while I listened.

I’ve been paying attention ever since.

Why I’m Writing This

I started clipping newspaper articles about the space program in 1961. My wife Betty says I have a problem. I say I have a filing system. Twelve years later, I have seventeen shoeboxes of clippings, a dog-eared copy of The Right Stuff manuscript I borrowed from the library, and memories of watching two men land on the Moon on a Saturday night in July 1969.

I’m writing this because I don’t want to forget any of it. Not the bad parts — the fire in 1967 that took Grissom, White, and Chaffee. Not the terrifying week of Apollo 13. Definitely not the magnificent, impossible, astonishing parts: the Earthrise photograph from Apollo 8. Neil Armstrong’s first step. Pete Conrad saying ‘Whoopee!’ Gene Cernan’s final words before he climbed back up the ladder for the last time.

Twelve men walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. I watched every single mission. I would like to think that counts for something.

What This Blog Is

These are my entries, written close to the events themselves. I’m not a journalist or a scientist. I’m just a person who paid close attention to something extraordinary. I’ve tried to be accurate about the facts — the dates, the crew names, the events. Where I got confused or got things wrong, I’ve left those moments in. They’re honest, at least.

The entries go from April 1961 (Gagarin’s flight) through December 1972 (the end of Apollo 17, the last lunar mission). I didn’t know in 1961 that I was starting a twelve-year project. I thought I was just paying attention to the news.

I hope you find something worthwhile in here. The space program was the greatest thing I’ve ever watched in my life, and I’m still not entirely sure how we did it.