Two Moon Rockets, One Launch.

Joe Rudmin

December 10, 2012

The first memory of space that I have is being carried in my Dad's arms late one clear night, and looking up at a sky full of stars. The sky seemed very deep. Not long after, I became aware of a lot of TV news coverage of rockets to the moon. I was two years old at the time, and the artist depictions of the future landing confused me. Because I lacked the vocabulary, I found it difficult to ask my Dad if anyone had landed on the moon yet. But eventually I found that we had not yet landed on the moon. Not long after I saw Neil Armstrong's first steps. It seemed like and anti-climax. Earlier, when the launch was shown on TV, I was confused by the closeups which showed both the rocket and the gantry, because I had not yet learned to discern relative movement. I thought that two rockets were launching: a square one and a round one. When I asked my Dad why two rockets launched, he told me that one was the orbiter and the other was the lander!