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Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon
Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11
In the summer of 1969, all eyes turned to a spit of land on Florida's Atlantic coast—the site of the Kennedy Space Center, named for the president who had challenged the nation to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. That July, the Apollo 11 mission would attempt just that. I was 22, a year out of Colorado College and working as a photographer at Time magazine's Miami bureau. In the days before the launch, thousands of people drove from all over the country to see it firsthand, converging on Titusville, across the Indian River from NASA Launch Complex 39-A. I asked my superiors if I could cover these witnesses to history. The previous year had been one of division over the Vietnam War and trauma over the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, but now a sense of common purpose pervaded the beach. At 9:32 a.m. on July 16, the rocket's engines ignited amid a plume of smoke and flame. I didn't see it. I was looking into the faces of my proud, expectant countrymen.
People brought their children, their folding chairs and their binoculars. The previous Christmas Eve, the Apollo 8 astronauts had read from the Book of Genesis as they orbited the moon; that hopeful mood translated into the selling of Apollo 11 souvenirs even before the flight. At takeoff, as the noise and the shock waves rippled across the water toward us, I told myself, "I'm not going to come all this way and not see the rocket." So I turned around and made one frame of it clearing the gantry before turning back to my assigned subject, the crowd.
The day before the launch was like an exodus in reverse. Local officials expected nearly a million visitors, and it seemed as if their expectations would be met. Early arrivals staked out campsites on the Indian River across from the launch site or took rooms in motels, where space-related pastimes prevailed. As I sought spots from which I could shoot crowds on the beach, it dawned on me that I'd have to wade into the water; I made a mental note to look out for broken glass. that evening I headed over to a square dance at the local mall and was surprised to see a lot of people there. I couldn't say why, but a square dance seemed like a fitting send-off for the astronauts.
Around dusk the lights went up on the launchpad, and the vigil seemed to begin in earnest. Late into the night I photographed people sleeping in, on or beneath their cars, though I thought many of them were too excited to sleep. Women stood in a long file outside a gas station restroom without detectable annoyance, almost as if the wait were a badge of honor. Even after launch day dawned, hours passed before liftoff. It was so long in coming and so quickly gone, yet it remains burned into my memory like a slow-motion movie.
David Burnett returned to Florida this past May to shoot the launch of the mission to repair the Hubble space telescope.
Comments
I will never forget being mad at my Mother for making me come in from my back yard baseball game to watch the launch of Apollo 11. "This is history" she told me. At the time baseball seemed much more important! I have since forgiven and thanked her many times.
Posted by Pete Iseppi on June 19,2009 | 08:25AM
It's too bad that what everyone saw was just the external face of the space missions. The real missions have been visiting Mars since the 50's.
Posted by James on June 22,2009 | 01:21PM
I will never forget where I was on July 20, 1969 when Neil and Buzz took those first steps. My mother was yelling at me to go to bed because I was only 7 years old at the time. My dad told her to settle down and let me watch this historic event. We were the first on our block to have a color TV. Not that it really mattered, but it was very cool watching the simulations in color. Watched Walter on Channel 2 (CBS) in Pittsburgh. This was truly the greatest technological achievement of my lifetime. I only hope that my kids will get to see us go to Mars and beyond. Heck, I would even take "back to the moon". Happy 40th Mike, Neil, Buzz and the other 400,000 who made it possible.
Posted by Jay Graham on June 22,2009 | 06:02PM
I attended the launch with a group of teachers from Abington, PA and because we were staying in Daytona we knew we would have to spend the night outside in Cocoa Beach. We parked at a school and settled in for the night of waiting for the launch in the morning. I can still picture the rocket on the launch pad lighted up at night like a great monument eight miles away. At one point I remember removing myself from the group to try to catch some sleep in the grass some distance away from all the others. I was wakened sometime later by the loud noise of a car and excited voices of others asking if I was OK. Unknown to me, a car had turned around in the grass and I almost didn't make it through the night to see the dawn of the next morning.
I still remember the countdown time of 9:32 to this day and the strange sensation of silence for the 40 seconds until the sound of the launch reached us. (Made even stranger with the rocket's sound coming from portable TV's nearby.) We had waited all night for that moment that lasted only a few minutes, but it was one of the most memorable times of my life. And we made it home before they reached the moon!
Posted by Art Drescher on June 23,2009 | 12:41PM
Been in, and still in Aero Space since April of 1960. Was in the control room for the Launch of all of the Saturns and there is no feeling that you describe when that 365 foot awakened with 7.5 million pounds of thrust. The size of the rocket (a 36 story building) slowly lifting off of the Pad.
Happy Birthday Apollo!!!!!!!
A comitment was MADE for all America and the World, and in 1969 we were on the MOON.
Posted by Richard Milton on June 24,2009 | 03:23AM
This is so fun, my parents are in that photo! They are the standing couple in the light blue shirt and the green plaid shirt.
Posted by Rebecca Robb on June 24,2009 | 04:33PM
This is so cool. I got a call the other night from my sister who subscribes to Smithsonian and she told me I had to come here look at these pictures. When I got to the third one I was shocked. It is the picture of the three boys. Well the little one on the left is me and the one with his arm around my neck is my brother. I was three and he was six. My family was friends with a man named Tillman Smith, his son David is the other kid in the picture. Tillman worked for a radio station at the time and he was sent to take pictures of the moon shot for them.Imagine that, taking pictures for a radio station!! He was one of only a handful of press people who had unlimited access to the whole event. He was allowed to take one person with him and he took my father. Even though I was only three years old I have many memories of that trip. I remember going through the VAB and seeing Apollo 13 up close and personal, my brother told me that he actually touched it. I also remember the launch. We were with my mom at a motel almost 20 miles away. I remember watching the contrail and my brother said that the windows shook and it even caused the water to ripple in the pool. My father was only one mile away with all of the VIP's at the time and he has some amazing pictures that he took. I can't tell you how amazing it is to see my picture in Smithsonian magazine. I grew up in Pennsylvania and every year we would take a trip to the institute and it has always been one of my favorite places on earth. I still have my Apollo 11 t-shirt and a lot more items that my father was able to collect from all of the press events he was able to attend. Thank you Smithsonian for including this picture in your article.
Posted by Gregg Seigfried on June 24,2009 | 07:14PM
When I was 16, my friend Mack Reid and I hitch-hiked from Texas to Florida to see the launch of Apollo 11. It took us three days to reach Cape Kennedy. When we got there, there were thousands of people from all over. We made friends with a guy from Manchester England. We slept on the beach. We bummed food. Everybody was excited on the morning of the launch, which only lasted a minute. My one vivid memory was a few moments after the rocket was out of sight. The shape of the smoke coming up from the launch pad formed a perfect question mark. After that, some of the young people we met were heading up to New York for some music festival near Woodstock. We headed back to Texas and got home in time to see Armstrong set foot on the moon on TV. Thanks for recalling this special time.
Posted by James Rader on June 28,2009 | 08:51AM
"40 YEARS,AND WE WERE THERE. WE WERE SO PLEASED TO SEE PART OF OUR FAMILY IN THE PICTURE ON PAGE 54. THE MAN ON GROUND TRYING TO START A FIRE WITH A FOLDING CHAIR IN FRONT OF HIM WAS MY HUSBAND. WHAT A CAMP OUT WE HAD,HOT,BUGS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE JUST LIKE US TO SEE THAT LAUNCH OFA LIFE TIME. I COULDN"T WAIT TO SHOW MY GRANDSON THE PICTURE IN OUR JULY ISSUE. THANKS FOR SHARING OUR PICTURE WITH A PART OF HISTORY.
PAT ELLIOTT,HENDERSONVILLE,NORTH CAROLINA
APOLLO11"
Posted by PAT ELLIOTT on June 30,2009 | 08:33AM
As a small boy I've always looked to the heavens, facinated with airplanes and space. I promised myself I will be there when our astronauts leave for the moon, and I was on Cocoa beach that morning when Armstrong, Aldren and Collins lifted off. Of all of my life's experiences, that was my second most memorable. My first, was when I soloed as a student pilot. I spent my entire life in love with airplanes, and I am so happy I picked aviation as a career. I still look up each and every time an airplanes flies over, and I still marvel.
Posted by Al Cenci on July 1,2009 | 10:28AM
My husband, now deceased, worked with Dr. Werner von Braun's team to put the men on the moon. It was a very exciting time in Huntsville, Alabama.
Posted by Kathryn Hamilton Willis on July 8,2009 | 02:54PM
I was about 9-month old in July of 69, and I've said to my parents that I vividly remember sitting in my dad's lap in our living room late at night when Neil Armstrong set foot on the surface of the moon. I guess the importance and excitement of the moment stuck with me and made me remember such event.
Posted by Alonso Martinez on July 8,2009 | 07:34PM
Regarding your promotion of the story on the moon landing, I was wondering do you have a picture of the earth in the moon sky that has been taking from the moon with an astronaut in the foreground. Would you please send it to me.
Posted by Rick on July 8,2009 | 10:13PM
I will never forget being 11 years of age and my mother having us crowd around the t.v. to watch the landing on the moon. I was excited about it. We all need to thank our mothers for making us watch it. To answer REM's question, I believe there was a man on the moon.
Posted by Jean Tatum on July 8,2009 | 10:32PM
My memory of the walk on the moon...I was working at the telephone company as an operator between my sophomore and junior year of college. I answered a "light" which was someone calling the operator to make a long distance call. The person in a very excited voice said, "He is walking on the moon!" I guess she had no one else to call so she called the operator. I was so pleased to hear the news.
Posted by Marilynn Gholston Shaw on July 9,2009 | 05:33AM
Mom parents, sister, Aunt and Uncle and two cousins all drove down from Ontario in a big station wagon to watch the launch. The beach was a giant party, people from all over the US and Canada. My dad and his brother had built a big wooden box for our luggage on top of the car and my sister and cousins and I staked claim to it for our night's sleep
I have told this tale to my sons as they grew up in Maine, how the world changed that day. We came together as a planet, not just a nation or a political genre. The awe and optimism I felt that day returns to me whenever I think back to the launch. I felt that same optimism watching President Obama's inaguration. A feeling that, maybe, our best was ahead of us, not behind.
Posted by Julie Green on July 9,2009 | 08:43AM
I was 7 in 1969 and my only memory of Apollo 11 was the comment from one of the astronauts that the moon did not appear to be made out of cheese but that it looked more like a chocolate milk shake.
Posted by Matt on July 9,2009 | 02:44PM
The whole Apollo mission adventure was our shining achievment at the C.S. Draper Lab where the Guidance syastem was developed. So having played a small role in that venture I was particularly proud on the 20th of July to be at at the Red sox ball game that day with my son.
The game was stopped--- the announcement "The Eagle has Landed" was broadcast over the speaker system---They played our national anthem, and the crowd (and the players) at Fenway Park sang, saluted,clapped, and some of us cried for about 10 minutes before the game resumed. A moment my son and I will cherish forever!
Posted by Bob Price on July 12,2009 | 04:37AM
This is a memorable day! Having been there to witness this historic event your article has brought back wonderful memories. The most incredible thing about the article in this month's magazine came when my daughter called me from New Mexico to tell me about a photo of three boys on page 54. I came to your web site and much to my surprise two of the three boys are my sons. At the time they were 6 and 3. The boy with them is Michael Smith (not David) Michael's father, Tilghman Smith, was a good friend of mine who invited our family to go with him to see the Apollo 11 launch. My older son Dayl, who lives in AZ, said "who would ever think that of the 1000's of photos there would be one with 3 boys from a small town in PA." As my son Gregg commented above, my husband and I had privileges that few others have had. We did have an extensive tour of the VAB, saw Apollo 12 and 13 in various stages of assembly and attended a press party where we met Eugene Cernan and Apollo 12 astronaut Ron Evans. My husband being in the press box was able to take some wonderful pictures of the launch that have never been published. The boys and I were 20 miles away to witness this historic event. As the rocket launched skyward it was framed on both sides by 2 palm trees that I still picture in my mind's eye. The windows in the motel shook and the water in the pool rippled. This once in a life-time event will never be forgotten. Thank you for this article.
Posted by Bertha Seigfried on July 20,2009 | 07:14AM
For Rick re poster of earth in the moon sky:
Poster is available at
http://www.mcmahanphoto.com/prco-space-apollo11.html
Posted by Reader Services on July 27,2009 | 12:12PM
Hey, that's us, younger 40 years ago, of course. I'm in the green shirt and my wife to my right in blue. We came from California to see the launch. We had a picture of David Burnett, the photographer, taking pictures that day and sent it to him.
Steve Robb
Posted by Stephen and Lillah Robb on August 15,2009 | 10:32AM