Apollo 15
July 31, 1971
Dave Scott drove the Lunar Rover on the Moon today and the television camera on the rover broadcast it live. I watched the Moon scroll past — the mountains, the craters, the edge of Hadley Rille — from my living room. Scott's voice narrating the drive. I will never get…
Read the full entry
Apollo 11
July 21, 1969
Neil Armstrong descended the ladder of the Eagle at 10:56 PM Eastern and stepped onto the Moon. His first words: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Buzz Aldrin followed twenty minutes later. I watched on television, the picture grainy and miraculous, and I kept thinking:…
Read the full entry
Apollo 8
December 24, 1968
On Christmas Eve 1968, three American astronauts in orbit around the Moon read from the Book of Genesis. Before they read, Bill Anders took a photograph. He called out: "Oh my God, look at that picture over there!" He had seen the Earth rising above the lunar horizon. Earthrise. The…
Read the full entry
Apollo 7
October 22, 1968
Eleven days in orbit. All systems tested. Three men home safe. Schirra had a head cold the whole time, which made him even more cantankerous than usual with Mission Control. But more importantly: they broadcast live television from space for the first time. The picture was shaky. The men were…
Read the full entry
January 5, 1960
The Mercury Seven have been everywhere this past year — magazine covers, television appearances, press conferences. I've been watching them carefully.
Read the full entry