Apollo 11 Moon Landing / July 20,1969
Apollo 11 was the first space flight to put humans on the moon. The event captured the attention of the entire world. This event, planned by President John F. Kennedy, was a great moment of national pride for the United States. The following is an example of how this event may have been talked about online if the internet and Twitter were available at the time (and the spaceship had excellent wifi).
Well my blog post topic is an easy one this week since we just landed on the freaking moon! It was almost a decade of planning and trial and error, but we came from behind and beat the Soviets to the goal line. Well done JFK and NASA!
On May 25th, 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced to our country and the world that we would be putting humans on the moon. His goal was to take the leading role in space exploration over the Soviet Union and to bring our country together behind this common goal.
And 8 years and two months later here we are. As the astronauts prepare to board the lunar module, it’s obvious they are proud and a bit cocky about their progress so far.
It’s obvious that Collins is feeling a bit lonely and under-appreciated now that the other 2 have left the Command module and will be landing on the moon soon.
The lunar module touches down on the moon at 3:17 pm EST on July 20th 1969.
Buzz and Armstrong get suited up and prepare to exit Eagle. The first steps on the moon are only moments away.
At 3:56 PM Neil Armstrong takes the first ever step on the moon. Armstrong acknowledges the event with an historic Tweet:
Following a brief conversation with the two astronauts on the moon, Nixon tweets to the proud American people on such an historic moment in our history:
Maybe we can all agree that Twitter should be used for everyday social interaction and less for historic events and important communication. I think this ties into an article we read in class about how social media can endanger knowledge because I think it can cheapen important occasions and can bring out the worst in some people. https://www.wired.com/story/wikipedias-fate-shows-how-the-web-endangers-knowledge/.)
This type of communication didn’t exist in the 60’s and well after, so most news was provided through traditional outlets that functioned at a higher standard. This allowed people time to think through situations before firing off spontaneous comments to the world. Less off the hip and more thoughtful dialogue is certainly needed in our country. Maybe we are just too immature as a society to handle this incredibly powerful tool.
Works Cited
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo11.html
https://www.history.com/topics/space-exploration/moon-landing-1969
https://www.space.com/apollo-11-complete-guide.html
