FEW events in our recent history are of such significance and magnitude to cause one to remember exactly where they were when it happened.
My folks clearly recall where they were when President John F Kennedy was assassinated.
I myself was relaxing in the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts bar when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11.
And everyone of all ages who was around to see it on July 20, 1969, was glued to their television sets watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first people to walk on the moon.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s mission to the moon, which became the first of six successful missions launched by NASA over the following years.
In total 12 astronauts have left their mark on the lunar surface, the last of which was Gene Cernan from Apollo 17.
You don’t ever hear too much about the other Apollo missions to the moon, or see many of the photos they took or the video they shot.
The only things I can recall are a short video of the moon buggy riding the lunar dunes and I think an astronaut teeing up for a challenging par four on the Tranquility Base Back Nine.
The dominant and popular images of man on the moon are those from the very first mission, which only fuels the debate as to their authenticity.
Conspiracy theories abound as to whether the moon landings were real.
The photos have been picked apart by experts who have identified shadows cast by the sun that lie in opposing directions.
There are also apparently reflections which shouldn’t exist and a complete absence of stars in the space above and beyond.
Furthermore there are many doubts as to the level of technology available at that time to send a video signal back to earth.
The best one I heard, though, was about the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (who made 2001: A Space Odyssey the previous year), who was supposedly hired to design and shoot the film of the moon landings to be broadcast to the world just in case the actual footage didn’t make it back home.
Some photos even appear to have a studio light in them with named and numbered prop rocks in the foreground!
Let’s not forget the USA was deeply embroiled in the war in Vietnam at the time.
They badly needed a victory in the “hearts and minds” campaign, which they nailed with the lunar landings.
Whatever you choose to believe, I’m going to play Scully to the conspiracy theorist’s Mulder, and argue confidently that all those niggling points can be examined and understood logically.
I don’t doubt for a second Armstrong and Aldrin walked on the moon – many brave souls have died in pursuit of that dream and many still do today.
I hope in my lifetime to watch man take one small step back to the moon and to one day witness a giant leap to the red planet, Mars.