On July 20, 1969, just after 4 pm in my hometown (2017 GMT), Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon. The actual landing had been anticipated and watched for days on local media as the mission had begun with the Apollo 11 launch from Cape Kennedy on July 16th.
Upon learning of the moon landing, we thought it would be
appropriate to announce our nation’s accomplishment to our cruise companions.
It just seemed like the appropriate thing to do since we were involved in the
aforementioned “Cold War.”
Since the landing had taken place just 8pm GMT (the Belmont’s
exact location, and time, are not recalled), it may have taken a half hour to
an hour for us to announce to our Russian companions a gloating message which
was then sent using flashing lights (Morse Code). I don’t know what was
expected from the Russians in terms of a response – apparently they didn’t
either. But we waited up for some response. In the wee hours of the morning,
some 4-5 hours later, a terse message of acknowledgement was received.
Looking back, there have been any number of accusations
regarding the actual reality of this accomplishment. Did we really land on the moon, or was it some
kind of political theater? It certainly would have been much cheaper for the
United States to have staged the event. However, I cannot imagine the Russians
verifying the accomplishment – which they did in their response to us on the
Belmont late that night.
So, cynic that I am, and willing to play along with the
notion of political theater, I guess that I’m actually a “witness” to the facts
of that day 53 years ago.
