Man most recently walked on the moon December 14, 1972, the Apollo 17 mission.
Early 2028 is the current target for the mission of Artemis IV, NASA’s first crewed landing since the Apollo era ended.
In case you missed it, Monday marked the 57 years since Apollo 11 and man’s first steps on the moon, July 20, 1969. It was such a magnificent event that’s it difficult to believe we take it for granted now.
Probably because it’s been 57 years, and probably because we’ve all seen Apollo 13 a few dozen times.
To anyone younger than 60, Apollo 11 must seem like just another old movie you’ve intended forever to watch but haven’t … “Yeah, seems I heard something about that …”
The column below was written on the 25th anniversary of those first lunar steps, a humongous, larger-than-large deal at the time. Do you remember where you were in 1969 — or in 1994?
Late on the night of the 25th anniversary of Americans first walking on the moon, I walked into my back yard and looked at the moon, bright and nearly full in a clear sky, and I wondered:
If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t I drive from here to the Tyler zoo without having to stop and ask for directions?
The man in the moon would not answer this, and the stars were quiet.
But still I looked at the moon, alive, beaming, almost beating, the majesty of it all, and wondered:
Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? And why this craving for Tang?
Then I remembered I hadn’t eaten supper so I went inside and made some Frosted Flakes and ate them.
It’s hard to look at the moon and think on an empty stomach. I wondered if they ate Frosted Flakes on the moon while they drank Tang.
Relapsing into a serious space addiction came unexpectedly this week. I watched all the documentaries, all the specials, from Moon Shot to The Right Stuff, some two and three times.
Didn’t meant to; one came on early in the week, and I accidentally watched some of it and then was in orbit, a willing projectile into an atmosphere of wonder and nostalgia.
I am just now re-entering Earth’s gravitational pull.
It all started happening when I was 8 or 9. I had all the models: the command module, the lunar module, the service module, the Saturn 5 rocket.
The command and lunar modules would even hook to each other with a push and a twist.
I was a human Mission Control.
The model thing has been mentioned to other guys my age, but none have admitted owning them. I was ahead of my time — or weird. Probably just weird.
We watched the moon walk live that night in South Carolina: me, my parents, my two sisters. We watched on a black-and-white Sylvania, and the picture was more grainy than usual. The reception was always a gamble from the Florence TV station 44 miles west; made sense to my small, still developing brain that Tranquility Base was going to be a bigger challenge.
Was thrilled we could see anything at all.
I was sitting on the edge of a brown oval rug, my feet on the hardwood floor, six feet from the willing but outmatched 20-inch screen, and looked at the moonwalk, a man really and truly walking around up there in what looked like a form-fitting balloon, and wondered:
If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we get our Impala two-door with us in it to Six Flags Over Georgia?
Such memories flooded back as I stood in my yard and looked at the night sky and at the same moon I’d looked at 25 years ago. Of the two of us, the moon was the one that hadn’t changed.
This magical moment was broken only when I turned to walk inside … then smelled something. My dog, a loyal former stray named Mr. Elfie Smith, looked at me.
That smell … My shoe.
The dog smiled. A satisfied, relieved smile.
That’s one giant leap backward for mankind.
The astronauts never had to worry about stepping in The Wrong Stuff. Did they?
IN THE LUNAR MODULE …
Aldrin: “Nice walk, Neil.”
Armstrong: “Thanks, Buzz. You too.”
Aldrin, (sniffing): “Hey, you smell something?”
Armstrong: “It smells like …” (checking the bottom of his astronaut moon boot) “AWWW, MANNN! Doggoneit! I’m sorry. Gee whiz …”
Aldrin, (fanning): “Uh, Mission Control, we’ve got a little problem here. Anybody got a paper towel? … Did we pack Lysol? Air freshener? … Gonna have an interesting sample for you …”
Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu