DATE=6/4/99
TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE
NUMBER=7-32161
TITLE=DATELINE MOON: 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST LUNAR WALK
BYLINE=KEMING KUO
TELEPHONE=619-0936
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=NANCY SMART
CONTENT=
INTRO: ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG IS BEST KNOWN AS THE FIRST
HUMAN TO WALK ON THE MOON. BUT HE ALSO SHOULD BE
RECOGNIZED FOR TAKING SOME OF THE WORLD'S BEST-KNOWN
PHOTOGRAPHS. IT WAS ASTRONAUT ARMSTRONG WHO TOOK THE
PICTURE OF FELLOW MOONWALKER EDWIN "BUZZ" ALDRIN IN HIS
SPACE SUIT WITH THE LUNAR LANDSCAPE REFLECTED IN HIS
VISOR. SUCH ICONIC IMAGES OF THE HISTORIC APOLLO LUNAR
MISSIONS FORM THE CENTERPIECE OF A NEW EXHIBIT ABOUT
MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EFFORT TO LAND ON THE MOON,
ENTITLED "DATELINE MOON," AT THE NEWSEUM IN ARLINGTON,
VIRGINIA. THE OPENING OF THE EXHIBIT -- WITH BUZZ
ALDRIN ON HAND -- COINCIDES WITH THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE FIRST LUNAR WALK. ___________ HAS DETAILS.
TEXT: "DATELINE: MOON" -- THE BIGGEST EXHIBIT THE NEWSEUM HAS
EVER MOUNTED -- BEGINS WITH A DISPLAY OF HOW POPULAR
MAGAZINES OF THE 1950S, SUCH AS COLLIER'S, ENVISIONED
WHAT SPACE TRAVEL MIGHT BE LIKE. IN ANOTHER HALL OF THE
NEWSEUM -- A MUSEUM ABOUT THE NEWS -- ARE THE FRONT
PAGES OF 150 NEWSPAPERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ABOUT
MAN'S FIRST STEPS ON THE MOON, JULY 20, 1969. THE
NEWSEUM'S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, JOE URSCHEL [ERR-SHUL],
SAYS THE NEWSPAPER DISPLAY PROVIDES VISITORS WITH
INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES OF VARIOUS
COUNTRIES INFLUENCED COVERAGE OF THE HISTORIC AMERICAN
ACCOMPLISHMENT.
TAPE: CUT ONE -- URSCHEL :29
"ON THE SURFACE, EVERY FRONT PAGE SEEMS PRETTY MUCH THE
SAME. LOCAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES TEND TO RECEDE. YET
EACH IS UNIQUE. U.S. PAPERS TEND TO PLAY UP THE
'AMERICAN ON THE MOON' ANGLE, WHILE THE EDITORS OF [THE
LEFTIST NEWSPAPER] HUMANITE', IN FRANCE, KEPT THE WORDS
'UNITED STATES' OFF THE FRONT PAGE ALL TOGETHER. PRAVDA
IN MOSCOW GAVE MORE PLAY TO THE JULY 17TH LUNAR LANDING
OF THE SOVIET UNION'S UNMANNED PROBE LUNA 15."
TEXT: THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE EXHIBIT "DATELINE: MOON" CONSISTS
OF 36 PHOTOGRAPHS FROM APOLLO MISSIONS. THE PHOTOGRAPHS
WERE SELECTED FROM 129 PICTURES CONTAINED IN A NEW
BOOK, "FULL MOON," EDITED BY MICHAEL LIGHT. MR. LIGHT
SPENT FOUR YEARS SIFTING THROUGH 32,000 IMAGES IN NASA'S
ARCHIVES. HE SAYS SOME OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE APOLLO
ASTRONAUTS ARE AMONG THE BEST-KNOWN PICTURES IN THE
WORLD. BUT PARADOXICALLY, HE SAYS, MOST OF THE
PHOTOGRAPHS ARE VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN.
TAPE: CUT TWO -- LIGHT :14
"PEOPLE SEEM TO BE REDISCOVERING THE MOON. NINETY
PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT MY BOOK SAY -- AND
THESE ARE ADULTS WHO LIVED THROUGH THE APOLLO EXPERIENCE
-- 'MY GOODNESS, I HAD NO IDEA! ..."
TEXT: [OPT] ALSO ON VIEW AT THE NEWSEUM ARE CONTINUOUS
SHOWINGS OF HIGHLIGHTS OF TELEVISION NEWS COVERAGE OF
THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING -- INCLUDING NEIL ARMSTRONG'S
FIRST STEPS ON THE MOON. [END OPT]
AMONG THOSE ADMIRING THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EXHIBIT WAS ONE OF
THE SUBJECTS OF SOME OF THE PICTURES, FORMER ASTRONAUT
BUZZ ALDRIN. MR. ALDRIN NOTED THAT AT THE TIME OF THE
FIRST LUNAR LANDING 30 YEARS AGO, HE AND HIS APOLLO 11
COLLEAGUES, NEIL ARMSTRONG AND MICHAEL COLLINS, FOCUSED
ON THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE MISSION. AND IT'S ONLY
BEEN IN THE PAST DECADE OR TWO -- WITH SOME HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE -- THAT HE'S BEEN ABLE TO COMPREHEND THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS LUNAR WALK.
TAPE: CUT THREE -- ALDRIN :33
"I LOOK BACK AT THOSE YEARS; I WAS KIND OF NAIVE. I WAS
INTIMIDATED. I KNEW WHAT WE WERE DOING, CERTAINLY. IT
WAS VERY IMPORTANT. BUT THE IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE -- AND
WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WOULD BE OF THAT -- TOOK THE
EXPRESSIONS OF OUR INFORMATION AGE AND THE
COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY, WHICH HAS BURGEONED SO MUCH IN
THE LAST 50 YEARS. IT TOOK THAT [DEVELOPMENT] TO REALLY
TELL THE STORY."
TEXT: BUZZ ALDRIN SAYS WHEN HE MEETS PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE
WORLD, THEY REGALE HIM WITH STORIES ABOUT WHERE THEY
WERE AT THE TIME OF THE FIRST LUNAR LANDING. SUCH
PUBLIC REACTION LED MR. ALDRIN TO SUGGEST WRYLY THAT HE
AND NEIL ARMSTRONG MAY HAVE MISSED THE MOST IMPORTANT
PART OF THE MOON WALK.
TAPE: CUT FOUR -- ALDRIN :29
"I TELL THE STORY FREQUENTLY ABOUT COMING BACK IN THE
LUNAR RECEIVING LAB AND SEEING VIDEOS OF THE REACTION
WHEN WE TOUCHED DOWN ON THE MOON. AND I TOLD NEIL
[ARMSTRONG], 'NEIL, LOOK UP THERE. WE MISSED THE WHOLE
THING!' BECAUSE THE ACTION THAT WAS IMPORTANT -- THE
SIGNIFICANCE -- WAS HERE (ON EARTH). IT WAS NOT THE
ROCKS WE BROUGHT BACK, OR ALL THESE TECHNICAL ASPECTS,
OR THE THINGS WE SAID. BUT IT WAS, 'WHAT IMPACT DID
THIS HAVE ON PEOPLE WORLDWIDE?' MILLIONS OF PEOPLE."
TEXT: THE PUBLIC INTEREST IN SPACE EXPLORATION HAS LED MR.
ALDRIN TO PUSH FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF REUSABLE LAUNCH
VEHICLES -- WHICH COULD EVENTUALLY ALLOW CIVILIANS TO
EXPERIENCE SPACE TRAVEL.
TAPE: CUT FIVE -- ALDRIN :19
"THOSE PEOPLE, I'M CONVINCED, WANT A SENSE OF
PARTICIPATION IN THE SPACE PROGRAM. THEY DON'T WANT TO
SEE GOVERNMENT PEOPLE COMING BACK SHOWING THEM PICTURES,
OR GOVERNMENT PEOPLE TELLING THEM WHAT IT IS. THEY'RE
TAXPAYERS. THEY'VE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PROGRAM FOR A
LONG TIME. AND I THINK THEY DESERVE TO HAVE ADVENTURE
TRAVEL AS SOMETHING THAT'S PART OF THEIR LIVES."
TEXT: BUZZ ALDRIN, THE SECOND HUMAN TO WALK ON THE MOON,
HELPED OPEN THE EXHIBIT "DATELINE: MOON," AT THE
NEWSEUM IN ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA. "DATELINE: MOON"
EXPLORES MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE FIRST LANDING AND WALK ON
THE MOON, WHICH TOOK PLACE [OPT] NEARLY [END OPT] 30
YEARS AGO. (SIGNED)
NEB/KK/NES
04-Jun-99 5:03 PM EDT (2103 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
