Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 21, 1994 TAG: 9407210085
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
On Wednesday, the silver anniversary of the first landing on the moon, Armstrong stood with his two Apollo 11 comrades in the White House before 18 other Apollo astronauts and President Clinton.
He addressed his remarks not to them, but to a group of grade-school scientists.
``To you we say we have only completed a beginning,'' Armstrong said. ``We leave you with much that is undone. There are great ideas undiscovered, breakthroughs available.
``There are places to go beyond belief. Those challenges are yours - in many fields, not the least of which is space, because there lies human destiny.''
Armstrong's fellow moonwalker, Buzz Aldrin, and command module pilot Michael Collins, who orbited the moon awaiting their return, did not speak.
Clinton praised the threesome as ``our guides to the wondrous, the unimaginable at that time, the true handiwork of God.''
``They realized the dreams of a nation; they fulfilled an American destiny,'' he said. ``They taught us that nothing is impossible if we set our sights high enough.''
At 4:17 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 20, 1969, Armstrong and Aldrin set their lunar lander down on the moon's Sea of Tranquillity, with only seconds of fuel left after dodging boulders. ``The Eagle has landed,'' Armstrong radioed to NASA's Mission Control.
It was the first time humans had traveled to another heavenly body and the world rejoiced at the monumental achievement. Church bells rang, people prayed and 500 million or more around the world sat entranced in front of their television sets to watch the ghostly figures, 250,000 miles away, descend to the dusty virgin surface.
Five other Apollo ships carried pairs of astronauts to different parts of the moon but interest dropped and a jaded nation stopped the Apollo adventure.
``For every American who followed your journey, especially for those of us who were young on that fateful day 25 years ago, and for the young Americans who still dream dreams of a future in space, we thank you all,'' the president said.
For the astronauts invited to the ceremony, it was not so much an anniversary as a reunion. They represented the glory days of space: Alan Shepard, whose 15-minute flight was America's first; John Glenn, who first wore the American flag in orbit around the globe; James Lovell, whose Apollo 13 ship was crippled by explosion 200,000 miles out, and John Young, whose record six flights spanned the Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs.
Ten of the 12 men who walked on the moon were present. Not attending were Harrison Schmitt, the geologist who flew on the last moon mission, Apollo 17 in 1972, and James B. Irwin, who died in 1991.
``There were more astronauts in there than I've seen for many, many years,'' said Glenn after the ceremony. He bristled at the suggestion that it was a melancholy occasion.
``Melancholy? I saw some of that in the papers. I think that's a bunch of nonsense,'' Glenn said. ``We are doing new things and it's exciting. And the fact that it doesn't move ahead on some sort of precise schedule like the Fourth of July is expectable.''
Aldrin, who now is board chairman of the National Space Society, said ``for one crowning moment, we were creatures of the cosmic ocean, an epoch that a thousand years hence may be seen as the signature of our century.''
But, he said, ``an eerie apathy now seems to afflict the very generations who were witnesses and were inspired by those events.''
by CNB