Vintage Thingies Thursday - Apollo 11

This week is the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first moon landing. Above are a few postcards made from official NASA film showing the Apollo astronauts and the moon. (See below for the descriptions from the backs of the postcards).

The first moon landing was a really impressive event. It was shown on TV and featured in newspapers and magazines. I had several magazines that I used as reference material in making this acrylic painting. The style of my painting was influenced by pop art which was popular at the time. Earlier this week I was afraid that I had thrown this painting away when I moved, but I finally found it hidden behind something else in the back of a closet.

I no longer have my Apollo 11 magazines, but I still have my December 29, 1969 Newsweek with a cover featuring many memorable images from the 1960s. It seems like there were so many more memorable events and images from the last few years of the 1960s than there have been from more recent decades.

Descriptions of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, July 20, 1969 from the backs of the postcards:

1. Apollo 11 Astronauts, History's Three Greatest Heroes. Astronaut portrait: Left to right, Neil A. Armstrong, Commander; Michael Collins, Command Module Pilot; Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., Lunar Module Pilot. On July 24, 1969, at 12:50 PM (EDT) Apollo 11 bearing the three astronauts zoomed out of the sky into the blue Pacific. They had conquered the moon on a 750, 000 mile journey of 8 days, 3 hours and 18 minutes. Armstrong and Aldrin etched their names alongside history's great explorers when they landed on the moon and were the first men to walk on the lunar surface. To complete this historic space triumph, Armstrong & Aldrin blasted the LM, Eagle off the moon and rejoined Collins orbiting in the Command ship, Columbia.

2. Descending The LM Ladder. Astronaut going down ladder prior to walking on the lunar surface. Neil A. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon was followed by Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. Their lunar boot print, 13 inches long, 6 inches wide, 10 ribbed treads in each print were stomped in the moon dust. Both Armstrong's and Aldrin's moon walk lasted for 2 hours before they returned to the LM, Eagle.

3. Man's First Walk On The Moon. Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., LM pilot, walking on the moon. The knees of his pressure suit are smudged with moon dirt. Reflected in his golden-faced visor are the white outlines of Neil A. Armstrong, Commander, the landing craft, Eagle, the American Flag and one of the scientific experiments they set up. Their footprints are visible in the foreground.

4. "We Came In Peace For All Mankind." Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., LM pilot, posed next to the U.S. flag on the moon for Commander Neil A. Armstrong. Old Glory seems to be waving, but with no wind on the moon, the effect was obtained by the use of wire on the 3x5 foot American Flag. Note astronaut's footprints.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays