Hi HP3000-L !

Even in France, the moon landing was very well covered. At that time, I was
on holidays, with no TV in the trailer. No problem, we had a radio. I still
remember staying up till about 4 am (hey, we're a few hours ahead of you
Americans) to be part of the event, sort of.

[Some historical contribution snipped]

> I remember the launch, but I particularly remember the landing. It was
> Saturday night, and I had just turned 13. My parents, as was their
> regular Saturday habit, left to go out to dinner at about 7PM. I was
> incredulous that anyone would voluntarily miss the event. I still am.

Bruce, I beat you. I was about 9 when it happened. How old was everyone
else?

> >At the end of every millennium, there is always a great deal of
reflection
> >about what will be remember a thousand years from now. That first trip
to the
> >Moon will almost certainly rank among the very top few. All of the wars
and
> >all of the presidents and all of the kings will fade into a general
blur, the
> >mankind's first trip to the Moon in an amazingly rickety contraption
will be
> >remembered.

I'm pretty sure this will be the case. It's hard to realize how much
passion the trip to the moon could stir, especially for the younger
generation, but it did. I remember watching EVERY Apollo launch on TV for
about 5 years, and I would not miss a second of it, dinner or no dinner.
Except for 11, since we did not have TV there.

> I think that from the perspective of a thousand years, it will be the
> discovery of the first extrasolar planets that will seem the most
> important. In fact, I'll go out even farther on a limb and say that many
> people will presume that the discovery of extrasolar planets preceded the
> first flight to the moon, and provided the impetus for making the trip.

Open to discussion. The extra-solar planets are almost abstractions for the
person in the street. The moon conquest was live on TV, prime-time.

> >The engineered in-service, useful lifetime of Boeing's new 777 aircraft
is
> >specified at 70 years.

Hey, wait, good ole' B52 might beat that ! I bet it's still gonna be flying
in 2024. Anyone taking the bet ? And as far as I know (but I'm no aircraft
guru), it was not designed for such an exceptionallyt long lifespan.

Christian