A 40-Year Memory: On the Moon

July 20 - Apollo program: The Eagle lands on the lunar surface. The world watches in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his historic first steps on the moon.

It was a Sunday. I was doing my regular summer Sunday afternoon radio program on WMPT in South Williamsport, PA. The TV in the production studio on the other side of the glass was on. We got the info feed down the radio line from ABC Radio network. We were given the time that the network would go live with the feed from around the moon.

From around the moon as The Eagle prepared to land on the surface of another cosmic surface.

Probably it was near 4:00 in the afternoon, maybe earlier, memory is vague on details, when I switched to the national feed to listen with the world. At 4:17 pm EDT time we heard the historic words that "The Eagle has Landed."

Six hours later, sitting watching a fuzzy black and white picture, we saw Neil Armstrong go where no one had ever gone before.

Even 40 years later the power, the awe, the unbelievability of the moment is still real. We have seen many space flights. One took off only five days ago. We have seen triumphs and felt tragedies. But the first one lives as none other can.

It was when the truth of Spaceship Earth actually hit home.