Gagarin’s feat forced Kennedy’s hand

The first man in space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, was the impetus for America’s Apollo program.

The Australian, July 12, 1969.

This weekend half a century ago, The Australian’s former science writer, Leonard Bicknel, left Australia for Cape Kennedy by invitation from NASA to begin reporting on its historic moon landing attempt.

The Apollo 11 astronauts — Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins — were due to lift off on their 800,000km return journey a few days later.

To commemorate this month’s 50th anniversary of the moon landing, The Weekend Australian wants to hear readers’ recollections of the moment. Where were you when the landing took place? What was the atmosphere like? Perhaps the event sparked an ­interest in space and adventure?

The Countdown to the Moon, which we are recreating in the lead-up to July 21, was a day-by-day series of full-page features to illustrate every step of the momentous and dangerous undertaking.

Our moon landing coverage on the corresponding Saturday — July 12, 1969 — reflected on the journey of the first human to venture into outer space, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

“All I have lived for has been this moment,” Gagarin said in his April 12, 1961 pre-flight speech.

“To be the first into outer space, to meet nature face to face … could I have dreamt of more?”

A few hours later, Gagarin had circled Earth in less than 100 minutes. He never ventured into space again and was tragically killed in a plane crash, aged 34.

A month after Gagarin’s flight, US president John F Kennedy made a commitment to plant an American footprint on the moon by 1970, providing the catalyst for the Apollo missions. “Now is the time to take longer strides, time for a great new American enterprise,” Kennedy told congress in 1961.

Go to theaustralian.com.au/memories to submit your moon memories and photographs.

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The vodka flowed, even in Leningrad

I was 21 and travelling through Russia with three other Australians in an old Jeep.

Arriving at the Leningrad (St Petersburg) camping ground on the moon landing day, we and other campers were given a room in which to watch the event. In the middle of the Cold War and the first time a US event was shown in Russia, it was an unforgettable experience. There were many nationalities present but almost all were ecstatic that the West had won the race! I wish there was more detail but from memory we all had quite a heady time on Russian vodka.

Helen Fox, Brisbane