Cape Canaveral evokes the excitement of the first lunar adventure half a century ago

Hundreds of people resurrected excited this Tuesday in Cape Canaveral (United States) the start of the mission of Apollo 11 who brought man to the moon for the first time only half a century ago, thanks to a "live" broadcast of the world's first television phenomenon.

Exactly fifty years earlier, on July 16, 1969, at 9:32 am local time, CBS broadcast the take-off of the vessel Saturn V and On Tuesday, he recovered these historical images to be projected on giant screens in front of the LC-39A launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

That day, Robert Hart was not sitting in front of the television. At age 93, he attended the famous show for the first time.

Hart, who was a technician NASA and he has worked on several space missions, including Apollo 11, which brought Neil Armstrong, "Buzz" Aldrin and Michael Collins on the Moon, this historic day is still fresh.

In a statement to Efe, he said that he would like to see a new trip to the moon in order to establish a base for reaching in the near future March

Charlie Duke, who was responsible for communications with the spacecraft ordered by Armstrong and to whoever told him the famous phrase "a small step for the man a big leap for humanity", he also participated in the act.

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Duke, the youngest astronaut to walk on the Moon, aged 36, when he participated in the Apollo 16 mission, told participants that it was "a shame" that, although it was in 1972, record has not been beaten yet. at the stop of lunar trips.

But he added that the space dream is still alive, as there are still thousands of aspiring astronauts and private companies have launched various space initiatives, including taking a man for the first time to Mars.

It was the general feeling of the people who came to C on TuesdayI'm entering Apollo / Saturn V from the Kennedy Space Center for this reenactment of the launch of 50 years ago with the images of the special broadcast broadcast by the CBS network in 1969 and which began 92 minutes before the takeoff of Apollo 11.

An imposing full moon welcomed early birds like Mark G. McLaurin, 63, who drove for seven hours from South Carolina to be among the first.

He was one of those who paid the $ 175 cost of entry and he was pleased to live in the first person this reconstruction of the takeoff he was living at 12 years of a US air base in Germany, where his father was destined, pilot of aviation.

Remember that that day was a "real show of patriotism" that marked him so much that years later, already in the United States, he built a one-meter-tall model of the Saturn V rocket.

McLaurin He was one of those who enthusiastically accompanied the last ten seconds of the countdown to reach the zero marking the beginning of the successful Apollo 11 mission and ending with the applause of the delighted badistants who celebrated this historic event as if happened at that time.

Read also: The Moon "will celebrate" the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 with a partial eclipse

Like him, many frustrated astronauts also dream that the United States is once again demonstrating their leadership and putting a man on Mars before anyone.

Meanwhile, the public followed the television broadcast hosted by Walter Conkrite, a famous CBS presenter, who in 1969 presented these iconic images to the hundreds of millions of people who followed the mission on the small screen and made it the first televised event. world

Also that day, about one million people traveled to Cape Canaveral to witness the take-off. More than 3,000 journalists from 56 countries have been postponed, pending the development of a mission as part of any summary of the highlights of the century. XX

"Things will not be the same after Armstrong stepped on the Moon," Conkrite said before July 20, 1969, when the commander left his mark on the lunar surface.

But it all began on July 16, when Hart helped the three astronauts put on their spacesuits and biomedical sensors.

"Everything was very quiet, we all did our work, concentrated, there was virtually no conversation," he told Efe. It was mainly the landing and taking off of the ship from the Earth satellite.

Duke, meanwhile, remembered feeling the "pressure" that everything was fine, as well as the noise and vibrations coming from the rocket.

Andrew Aldrin, Buzz 's son, also went to Cape Canaveral on Tuesday to remember the event.

He was 11 years old at the time and saw him on TV. In the unconsciousness of this age, his biggest concern was that his father did something wrong and "embarrbaded" him in front of his clbadmates, he laughed.

In Florida, a historic day has not been restored.

The The John F. Kennedy Library and technology company Digitas have joined forces in the application JFK Moonshot, which uses Augmented Reality to show off the Saturn V rocket, though this one does not come from Cape Canaveral but from Dorchester Bay (Boston).