This time of year forty years ago, Americans sat glued to their television sets or transistor radios, amazed to be witnessing man's first landing on the moon. Auburn commemorated the 40th anniversary of this historic day on Thursday, July 16 with a public symposium called "The Eagle has Landed at Auburn."
The symposium began at 8:30 a.m. in the Jule Collins Museum of Fine Art auditorium with a prologue speech by Dr. Jim Hansen, who organized the commemoration. Hansen is a history professor and director of the honors college here at the University.
"The Moon landing in 1969 marked the first time the human species had ever left its home planet," Hansen said. "We saw the whole Earth in one view from space. It looked so fragile, an oasis in the vast blackness of space."
The event lasted all day and included speeches, book signings, and a documentary screening.
The morning's keynote speaker was former NASA administrator Michael Griffin, who spoke on "Keys to Apollo's Success and What They Should Mean for Our Future in Space." Griffin is now a professor of engineering at University of Alabama at Huntsville.
"To have the individual who served at the top of the space agency for over five years was a terrific experience for everyone at Auburn who has an interest in the progress of aeronautics and space in our country," Hansen said.
In the afternoon, attendees could attend multiple book signings in the museum foyer by Dr. Michael Griffin, Dr. Tahir Rahman, MD, Dr. Christian Gelzer, Dr. James R. Hansen. Copies of their books were on sale at the museum.
"Evidenced by the number of books that were autographed, the audience also planned to do a lot of reading about Apollo 11 and the space program," Hansen said.
The afternoon speeches included "Behind-the-Scenes & Unsung Heroes of the Moon Landings," given by Mr. Andrew T. Baird, Auburn University Doctoral candidate and Columbus State University History Instructor, "We Came in Peace for All Mankind: The Untold Story of the Apollo 11 Silicon Disk," given by Dr. Tahir Rahman, M.D., author of book by same title, and "Armstrong and Aldrin: The First Men on the Moon as Global Icons," given by Dr. James R. Hansen, Auburn University History Professor and Neil Armstrong Biographer.
Attendees were also allowed to sign a memory book that will be sent to Neil Armstrong for his upcoming birthday. More than 40 people signed the book. One of the most memorable signatures read: "Through you, Mr. Armstrong, we all touched the Moon." It was written by Randy Mountcastle, a student at the University.
"Someday I hope I will be able to bring Neil Armstrong himself to campus so he can talk to everyone," Hansen said. "He is an extraordinary person--a much more interesting three-dimensional person than he is a one-dimensional icon. Neil should always be remembered for his incredible integrity, strength of character, and the fact that he never tried to exploit his fame or reputation."
The evening program began at 7 p.m. and consisted of two videos: "CBS News Coverage of Apollo 11", introduced by Herman O. Howard, Instructor of Media, Johnson C. Smith University, and "Moonwalk One (1970)", introduced by Dr. Guy Beckwith, Auburn University History Professor.
"The audience sat in absolute silence through the film, taking every second of it in, and when the film ended, a long round of applause was delivered by the audience," Hansen said. "A number of viewers stayed afterwards to discuss the message of the film. Some expressed that this was the first documentary they had ever seen worthy of the immensity of the moon mission itself."
Attendance at the event was high, with 60 at the morning session, 50 at the afternoon session, and 50 at the evening film session for a total of 160 attendees.
"The videos were very informative and interesting," said Allie Self, a senior in pre-med who attended the evening session. "It was nice to see this commemoration on an important day in history that isn't usually given the reverence it deserves."
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