QUOTATIONS

Memorable quotations of my lifetime





"Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed"


-Astronaut Neil Armstrong; July 20, 1969





We sat in silence in our living room, without breathing, for long seconds that Summer night. Hoping against hope that everything went as planned. Men landing on the Moon was almost beyond comprehension. Yet, there it was on live TV. Nothing to listen to, nothing to hear except the transmissions of the three man crew of Apollo 11 and their earthbound partners at NASA in Houston, Texas.




We had followed their journey from the July 16 launch from the Kennedy Space Center to the July 20th touchdown in the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. Everyone prayed when they passed on the backside of the Moon and communicating with them was impossible. Then, there they were again, The lunar lander named Eagle, with Armstrong and 'Buzz' Aldrin on board, left the command module Columbia, with Michael Collins at the helm, and started its descent. Get down safely, we now prayed, but don't use up too much fuel so that you can't get back up to Columbia in Lunar orbit.




You often hear Armstrong's famous words, "One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" but the real suspense that night was broken with his simple transmission above.