‘The world was filled with uproar’ at Apollo 11 launch

As Apollo-11 blasted into space, hundreds of thousands of people on the ground cheered from the sidelines.

The Australian, July 16, 1969.

Apollo 11 launched into space from Cape Kennedy on this corres­ponding Wednesday 50 years ago, beginning the historic space adventure to put man on the moon.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins blasted into space in a 36-storey rocket as hundreds of thousands of people on the ground cheered from the sidelines in anticipation of the feat, and the sheer noise of the rocket.

In The Australian’s Countdown to the Moon coverage of the blast-off, the story was accom­panied by a picture of Apollo 11 only seconds after blast-off, and documented the tense moments before and after the launch.

“Intense monitoring of the rocket’s thousands of systems during the countdown, backed up by intense security against interruptio­n or sabotage, resulted in a flawless performance from the 3000-ton Saturn 5,” the newspaper article read.

On the day, Apollo 11 flight directo­r Christopher Kraft said the whole team was anxious to make it to the moon. “To be honest­, we’re all a little bit awed by what’s ahead of us. We’re getting excited and ­anxious to get on with the flight,” he said prior to the launch.

“If the flight of Apollo 11 goes as planned, Armstrong and Aldrin will take little over an hour to make the journey from the CSM to the moon’s surface,” the front-page story read.

“Success or disaster will hang in the balance during the last 100 feet of the descent to the moon and again on Tuesday in the first few seconds of the launch back into lunar orbit,” it said.

The Australian reported that the ­atmosphere three miles away from the launch pad was a mix of tension and excitement as the ­astronauts prepared for countdown and blast-off. “Scientists claim (the sound of Apollo 11 blasting off) is the loudest man-made sound that is not an explosion,” it said. “The sound raged across the miles of flat country and open water, and the world was filled with fury and uproar.”

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Life-changing event kindled love of space

Apollo 11 launched on my 12th birthday and then we waited for the landing a few days later. On the landing day, I recall sitting in our school classroom listening to the scratchy communications from the Eagle on the radio. For me, it was a life-changing event and triggered a love of space and astronomy that I hold to this day. The whole Apollo program was an absolute triumph of innovation, courage and technical brilliance that I do not think has been surpassed since.

Geoff Howell, New Zealand