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[male voice] Ignition sequence starts.
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Six, five, four,
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three, two, one, zero.
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All engine running.
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Liftoff.
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["Barabajagal (Love is Hot)" by Donovan]
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♪ She came, she came to meet a man ♪
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♪ She found an angel ♪
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♪ Goo goo, goo goo Barabajagal
Was his name now… ♪
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[man] The time is spring 1969.
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The place is Ed White Elementary School
in El Lago, Texas,
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a South Houston suburb
right down the road from NASA.
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The occasion on this fateful day
that put everything in motion?
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Fourth grade recess.
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No, that's not me.
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That's Ricky Rodriguez,
one of my many ne'er-do-well buddies.
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They had changed the rules,
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so you weren't supposed
to throw the ball at people,
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which was kind of the most fun thing
about kickball.
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It was taking some gettin' used to.
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And that's Mr. St. George, our PE coach,
walking Ricky over to the wall.
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He was a very specific disciplinarian,
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drawing you a little circle
on the nearest wall.
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Here. Put your nose in there
and keep it in there.
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And it was always just a little higher
than was comfortable,
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so you'd be up on your tippy-toes
until the end of the class.
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The one time he was sticking my nose
to the wall, I was ready for him.
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The key, I figured,
was to imperceptibly spread your stance
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and slump ever so slightly lower
at the crucial moment of his calculation.
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Put your nose there.
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So that's me. Stanley.
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Everyone just called me Stan,
unless I was in trouble, of course,
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or on the first day of class
when they read roll.
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In kickball, I was kind of a shortstop
and general field rover,
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instructed by teammates
to try and catch everything I could.
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And, you know,
I was a pretty impressive kicker as well.
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But back to how it all got started.
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It was those guys
that changed my life forever.
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There's our kid.
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["Out of Limits" by The Marketts]
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[kids yelling]
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We scouted you on the kickball field,
we spoke with your teachers.
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We're impressed with…
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a few of your science reports,
and we like that you've earned
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a Presidential Physical Fitness Award
three years running.
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We've selected you
as the perfect candidate for this mission.
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Mission? For what?
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Listen, time's a factor here,
so we're gonna be very blunt.
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We accidentally built the lunar module
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a little too small.
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But we're not gonna let that set us back.
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How'd that happen?
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Are you good at math?
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-Yeah.
-Do you get a perfect 100 on every test?
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-No.
-Okay.
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We are this close,
but we need to test this…
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[sighs] …accidentally smaller version
on the lunar surface, and soon.
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And we need a kid like you to help us out,
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so we can beat those damn Russians
to the moon.
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Why don't you just send a chimpanzee?
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Because you speak
more actual words of the English language.
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Stan, you're our only hope.
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Come on. What do you say?
Do it for your country.
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Do it for the free world!
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Okay.
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Great. Secret training starts
end of school year.
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Secret?
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Top secret, Stan.
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This is a covert operation.
It does not exist. Get it?
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This meeting? This never happened.
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No one can know about this.
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Not your parents.
Not your brothers. Not your sisters.
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-No one.
-[Stan] Wait.
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How will we get away with this?
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Where will everyone think I am?
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Summer camp.
You were recommended, accepted,
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and received a scholarship
to Camp Grizzly,
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a special outdoor camp
just outside of Lake Traverse, Michigan.
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You went up in late May
and stayed through almost all of June.
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I'm not gonna lie, the weather and bugs
were arduous, but you had a great time.
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[man 1] Hmm.
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-A great time indeed.
-[jet engine rumbling]
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Some things you never forget, Stan.
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["Out of Limits"]
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[whirring]
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-[bleeping]
-[whooshing]
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[Stan] Okay, pause!
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Let's forget about all this for now.
We'll come back to this part later.
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First, let me tell you about
life back then.
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It was a great time and place to be a kid.
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Living in the Houston area
in the late '60s,
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and especially near NASA,
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was like being
where science fiction was coming to life.
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The optimistic technological future
was now,
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and we were at the absolute center
of everything new and better.
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Leading the way was,
of course, the space program.
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The goal of going to the moon
had been declared
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when President Kennedy gave his speech
at Rice University in Houston.
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But why, some say, the moon?
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Why choose this as our goal?
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And they may well ask,
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"Why climb the highest mountain?"
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"Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic?"
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"Why does Rice play Texas?"
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We choose to go to the moon.
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[cheering]
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We choose to go to the moon in this decade
and do the other things,
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not because they are easy,
but because they are hard.
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[Stan] The Space Center was relocated
to the outskirts of town in 1962.
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That same year, Houston started to build
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the world's first dome stadium.
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The eighth wonder of the world.
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The Astrodome.
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When they did the groundbreaking,
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instead of ceremonial digs
in the earth with shovels,
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all the officials shot Colt .45 pistols
into the ground instead.
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And the dome
had the first animated scoreboard
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with all kinds of fun, lit-up graphics.
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But the best
was when an Astro hit a home run,
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or, as they like to say,
put the ball into Astro orbit,
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which set off this huge,
electronic fireworks display.
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-[fanfare]
-[fireworks exploding]
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And this was the place
that first had Astroturf.
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The artificial surface would need
no watering, mowing, or weeding,
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and be the perfect expression of this era
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when everything was new
and man-made and therefore better.
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Even though Joe Namath said
it was like playing on concrete,
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it felt like nature
and all her earthly restrictions
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were being conquered.
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And no one doubted that, in our lifetimes,
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we'd have the option to live on the moon,
or maybe a nearby planet,
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probably in some kinda domed space colony.
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And, given the rate
of all this technological innovation,
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it was easy to imagine
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that we'd all probably be livin'
well past the age of a hundred.
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For example,
just over at the medical center,
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DeBakey and Cooley
were perfecting the heart transplant.
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And even closer to home,
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we were one of the first regions
in the country to get push-button phones.
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Y'all, listen to this.
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It was the coolest. No more dialing.
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-And you could play songs with the tones.
- [plays tune]
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My sister Vicky
was the musical one in the family.
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She was the oldest, followed by Steve,
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then Jana, Greg, Stephanie, and then me.
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Okay. Show your moves.
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Okay, good.
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[plays tune]
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[man] Hello? Hello?
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[all laughing]
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[shot echoing]
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[Stan] Sure, our country was at war.
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Cities were on fire,
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and all hell was breaking loose
everywhere.
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But from a kid's perspective,
out in the suburbs,
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it was all confined to the television.
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And as a kid,
you just figure it's all normal.
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Another riot.
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Another famous leader assassinated.
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I guess that's just how adults act.
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In our family, it seemed
that only Vicky embodied
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the so-called generation gap of the time.
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She was the only one of us who seemed
o know or care very much
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about what was going on in the world.
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The closest we ever got to the action
was when we were in Houston with Mom
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near the college where it seemed she was
forever in grad school during this time.
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♪ Goo goo, goo goo barbajagal… ♪
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-Look at how they're dressed.
-Those?
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See, kids,
this is why we moved to the suburbs.
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To get away from these kinds of people.
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[whispers] The squares are scared.
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No. Your sister is full of crap.
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-We moved here because of your dad's job.
-[Vicky] Mm-hmm.
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He was sick of commuting an hour each way.
Got it?
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-[Jana] Okay. Okay, Mom.
-[Greg] Got it.
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Got it. Um, Mom, is that one a hippie?
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Yeah. Yeah, that's a hippie.
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[Stan] How about that one?
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No. His hair's not long enough.
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But he's wearing bell-bottoms.
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Oh.
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Okay. Yeah. Yeah, that's a hippie.
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I think I like hippies.
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[Stan] And in those new suburbs
expanding south of Houston,
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housing divisions were springin' up
all over the place.
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Our neighborhood
was full of houses under construction.
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The land was totally flat.
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The only thing remotely resembling a hill
was the overpass out on the interstate.
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We're talking coastal plains,
a mere 30 or so feet above sea level.
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Of course,
they hadn't put in enough drainage,
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so every time it rained for
any length of time, everything flooded.
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-Look! It's a water moccasin!
-[squeals]
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[laughs] Every time!
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[Stan] There was no sense of history here,
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for everything as far as you could see
was brand new.
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New and endless shopping centers
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with grocery stores, burger restaurants,
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and, best of all,
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a bowling alley and arcade.
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At least once a week, we'd walk
or ride bikes over to the bowling alley.
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00:10:41,918 --> 00:10:44,668
We'd bowl when our parents were paying,
but on our own,
202
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the arcade was where the action was.
203
00:10:47,543 --> 00:10:51,543
We developed a self-sustaining system
that extended our meager allowance.
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00:10:52,043 --> 00:10:55,751
For an investment of a quarter each,
we could get an RC Cola for 15 cents
205
00:10:55,834 --> 00:10:57,709
and a pinball game for a dime.
206
00:10:58,834 --> 00:11:00,876
♪ Early in the evenin' ♪
207
00:11:00,959 --> 00:11:03,876
We'd concentrate on the games
we'd mastered, like Aquarius.
208
00:11:04,418 --> 00:11:07,168
All the pressure would,
of course, be on the first game.
209
00:11:07,668 --> 00:11:10,209
Immediately winning,
not only to keep playing,
210
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but to eventually
fill up the machine with free games.
211
00:11:13,834 --> 00:11:16,084
Then when it was time to go home,
212
00:11:16,168 --> 00:11:19,168
we could usually sell them off
for 50 cents to some older person
213
00:11:19,251 --> 00:11:20,793
who thought that was a good deal.
214
00:11:20,876 --> 00:11:22,876
["Going Up the Country" by Canned Heat]
215
00:11:28,209 --> 00:11:30,334
Maybe part of the allure
of the bowling alley
216
00:11:30,418 --> 00:11:32,459
was it was
where the local hoodlums hung out.
217
00:11:33,126 --> 00:11:34,709
We would marvel at their swagger
218
00:11:34,793 --> 00:11:37,043
and the methods they used
to beat the system,
219
00:11:37,126 --> 00:11:40,168
whether crudely lessening
the gravitational pull of the machine
220
00:11:40,251 --> 00:11:43,084
or deftly getting a game
without putting in any money.
221
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When done just right, the machine would
apparently start a new game.
222
00:11:48,793 --> 00:11:50,293
It was masterful.
223
00:11:51,084 --> 00:11:53,418
I tried that maneuver
for the next several years
224
00:11:53,501 --> 00:11:54,793
but never figured it out.
225
00:11:58,543 --> 00:12:01,418
We'd been one of the first houses
completed on our street,
226
00:12:01,918 --> 00:12:05,584
and it felt like the entire neighborhood
was a construction site and up for grabs.
227
00:12:06,543 --> 00:12:09,293
You could build a whole fort
out of the throwaway wood piles.
228
00:12:10,334 --> 00:12:11,501
That would have to suffice,
229
00:12:11,584 --> 00:12:14,834
because tree houses
were probably a couple decades away.
230
00:12:15,793 --> 00:12:17,876
Dad, isn't this stealing?
231
00:12:17,959 --> 00:12:19,918
Well, the way I figure it,
232
00:12:20,001 --> 00:12:22,168
they charged us way too much
for the house,
233
00:12:22,251 --> 00:12:24,459
so technically, they owe us.
234
00:12:25,168 --> 00:12:27,918
It's just a piece of plywood.
They'll never miss it.
235
00:12:28,001 --> 00:12:30,084
[Stan] I'm still not sure
if my dad was in the frugal,
236
00:12:30,168 --> 00:12:33,168
struggling-to-make-ends-meet category
237
00:12:33,251 --> 00:12:34,876
or closer to a scam artist.
238
00:12:34,959 --> 00:12:37,168
Pull it back. Tighten the net. There.
239
00:12:37,251 --> 00:12:41,376
But it was clear our family's sole mission
was to save as much money as possible.
240
00:12:41,876 --> 00:12:42,918
Nice.
241
00:12:47,876 --> 00:12:49,751
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
242
00:12:49,834 --> 00:12:53,126
You're not finished.
Put the nozzle back in my gas tank.
243
00:12:55,751 --> 00:12:57,459
Now squeeze the handle completely open.
244
00:12:58,543 --> 00:13:00,293
Now lift the hose from back to front.
245
00:13:04,293 --> 00:13:05,793
That's my gas in the hose.
246
00:13:05,876 --> 00:13:07,001
-I paid for it.
-[Greg] Dad…
247
00:13:07,084 --> 00:13:07,918
He knows that.
248
00:13:08,834 --> 00:13:12,168
[Stan] Even though my dad was in charge
of shipping and receiving at NASA…
249
00:13:12,251 --> 00:13:14,334
You go beat those Russkies.
250
00:13:14,418 --> 00:13:16,001
Roger that, comrade.
251
00:13:16,084 --> 00:13:17,959
…and apparently made a good enough living
252
00:13:18,043 --> 00:13:20,293
to more or less raise a family
with six kids,
253
00:13:20,793 --> 00:13:23,126
I was embarrassed
he was more of a paper pusher
254
00:13:23,209 --> 00:13:25,626
than someone who had
anything to do with the missions.
255
00:13:25,709 --> 00:13:28,334
There is and there isn't
a possibility of advancement…
256
00:13:28,418 --> 00:13:31,376
He felt as far away from being
an astronaut as you could get.
257
00:13:31,459 --> 00:13:33,251
My dad targets the coordinates
258
00:13:33,334 --> 00:13:36,751
so that when the astronauts
splashdown in the ocean,
259
00:13:37,251 --> 00:13:39,418
the navy can come pick them up.
260
00:13:39,501 --> 00:13:42,876
He's the guy that when the countdown
finally gets to blast off,
261
00:13:42,959 --> 00:13:47,293
my dad's the one actually
pushing a button launching everything.
262
00:13:47,376 --> 00:13:49,043
When I was walking home from school…
263
00:13:49,126 --> 00:13:51,168
[Stan] I guess I was
what you'd call a fabulist,
264
00:13:51,251 --> 00:13:54,001
which is just a nicer way of saying
"persistent liar."
265
00:13:54,084 --> 00:13:55,709
So I got a little closer.
266
00:13:55,793 --> 00:13:57,209
That's when I realized
267
00:13:57,293 --> 00:13:59,418
there were wires attached to him,
268
00:13:59,501 --> 00:14:01,793
stretching up to, like, outer space.
269
00:14:01,876 --> 00:14:04,043
He was some kind of robot.
270
00:14:04,959 --> 00:14:07,418
I was hoping I could bring him here today,
271
00:14:07,501 --> 00:14:10,626
but suddenly,
he just got pulled up by the wires.
272
00:14:11,584 --> 00:14:13,376
[murmuring]
273
00:14:13,459 --> 00:14:16,251
Mrs. Ulrich said you didn't bring
anything to show and tell.
274
00:14:16,334 --> 00:14:20,209
You know, I just did the "tell" part,
hoping they'd imagine the "show" part.
275
00:14:20,293 --> 00:14:22,293
She says you told the entire class
276
00:14:22,376 --> 00:14:26,043
that your father's scheduled to go
on Apollo 14 or 15 in 1972.
277
00:14:26,126 --> 00:14:28,084
Honey. Honey, is that true?
278
00:14:28,751 --> 00:14:31,751
Why can't Dad do something important
at NASA?
279
00:14:31,834 --> 00:14:34,501
-It's a little bit embarrassing.
-Stan.
280
00:14:35,334 --> 00:14:39,543
Your father has worked very hard
to make it to the top of his department.
281
00:14:39,626 --> 00:14:42,084
He's in charge of everything
that goes into that place,
282
00:14:42,168 --> 00:14:43,668
from a pen to a space suit.
283
00:14:43,751 --> 00:14:45,584
He is important. Okay?
284
00:14:45,668 --> 00:14:46,501
[Stan] Okay.
285
00:14:47,126 --> 00:14:51,334
I was just wondering why he couldn't be
an astronaut or something actually cool.
286
00:14:51,418 --> 00:14:55,293
Honey,
not everyone gets to be an astronaut.
287
00:14:55,376 --> 00:14:58,626
Everyone does their part,
and it takes a lot of people.
288
00:14:58,709 --> 00:15:00,501
Including your father. Got it?
289
00:15:00,584 --> 00:15:02,126
-Got it.
-Good.
290
00:15:02,209 --> 00:15:05,751
[Stan] It was true. A neighbor behind us
worked on the helmets.
291
00:15:05,834 --> 00:15:08,084
Several friends' dads
were engineers at NASA.
292
00:15:08,168 --> 00:15:10,709
A girl in my class's mom
helped make the suits.
293
00:15:10,793 --> 00:15:13,751
It was like everyone was doin'
somethin' for NASA one way or another.
294
00:15:13,834 --> 00:15:17,626
My dad was doin' his part, too,
however meager in my eyes.
295
00:15:18,793 --> 00:15:21,126
Like I said, I was the last of six
296
00:15:21,209 --> 00:15:23,376
in our own
Brady Bunch configuration of a family,
297
00:15:24,043 --> 00:15:26,293
-and the only one born in the '60s.
-[all laughing]
298
00:15:26,376 --> 00:15:28,126
By the time I came around,
299
00:15:28,209 --> 00:15:31,709
my parents were largely done with
documenting everything their kids did.
300
00:15:31,793 --> 00:15:33,418
[all] Aw!
301
00:15:33,501 --> 00:15:35,959
I was incorporated into
the existing system,
302
00:15:36,043 --> 00:15:37,209
but that was about it.
303
00:15:37,709 --> 00:15:40,709
I'm hardly in any family photos
or home movies.
304
00:15:40,793 --> 00:15:43,084
My siblings used to mess with me about it.
305
00:15:43,584 --> 00:15:46,293
[Steve] See?
See how you're not in any of these?
306
00:15:46,959 --> 00:15:49,918
They're afraid to tell you,
but you were adopted.
307
00:15:50,584 --> 00:15:54,043
Mom and Dad are too broken to tell you,
but we got you in an orphanage.
308
00:15:54,126 --> 00:15:56,709
They picked you
out of a crowd of screaming babies.
309
00:15:56,793 --> 00:15:58,126
Har-di-har-har. Very funny.
310
00:15:58,209 --> 00:16:00,084
I learned later that after I was born,
311
00:16:00,168 --> 00:16:02,709
my mom got on this new thing
called the pill
312
00:16:02,793 --> 00:16:05,918
but never told our priest,
for fear of being excommunicated.
313
00:16:06,001 --> 00:16:07,459
[laughter]
314
00:16:07,543 --> 00:16:09,001
-Dad, you're it.
-You're it!
315
00:16:09,084 --> 00:16:10,043
Gotcha!
316
00:16:11,126 --> 00:16:12,626
-Aah!
-Got you. You're it!
317
00:16:13,793 --> 00:16:16,751
Then there were
our next-door neighbors, the Pateks,
318
00:16:16,834 --> 00:16:18,709
who were clearly not using contraception
319
00:16:18,793 --> 00:16:21,501
because they were still kickin' out
a kid about every year.
320
00:16:22,001 --> 00:16:23,668
Their mother was so overworked,
321
00:16:23,751 --> 00:16:27,793
she'd sometimes just give the kids
rubber bands to chew on between meals.
322
00:16:28,793 --> 00:16:31,001
And she was obsessed with cleanliness.
323
00:16:31,584 --> 00:16:33,584
She kept their house spick and span,
324
00:16:33,668 --> 00:16:37,043
and to aid in this, she'd put
all her kids outside almost all day long.
325
00:16:37,126 --> 00:16:38,876
Except the newborn, of course.
326
00:16:38,959 --> 00:16:40,043
[boy] No!
327
00:16:40,126 --> 00:16:42,959
She'd put the next-to-youngest outside
in the care of the older kids
328
00:16:43,043 --> 00:16:45,751
while she stayed inside
with the youngest and cleaned.
329
00:16:45,834 --> 00:16:47,126
[baby crying]
330
00:16:47,209 --> 00:16:49,834
Every now and then,
somethin' like this would happen.
331
00:16:52,334 --> 00:16:53,334
But we all seemed
332
00:16:53,418 --> 00:16:55,626
-to somehow survive our childhoods.
-Stop, stop!
333
00:16:55,709 --> 00:16:56,709
Wait, wait, wait!
334
00:16:59,209 --> 00:17:00,918
After the Pateks' dad got off work,
335
00:17:01,001 --> 00:17:05,043
he'd usually just sit in the open garage
most of the evenin' smokin' cigars.
336
00:17:05,668 --> 00:17:08,876
I guess he was also doin' his part
in keepin' the house clean.
337
00:17:12,001 --> 00:17:14,418
The six of us
formed quite an army of workers,
338
00:17:15,334 --> 00:17:19,001
keepin' the house and yard clean
and executing our systems with precision.
339
00:17:20,751 --> 00:17:22,584
In addition to endless outdoor work,
340
00:17:22,668 --> 00:17:25,793
my biggest indoor job
was to empty all the trash cans.
341
00:17:26,293 --> 00:17:28,668
I'm not even sure
if they had plastic trash bags yet,
342
00:17:28,751 --> 00:17:32,418
but it wouldn't have mattered,
because we only used old grocery bags
343
00:17:32,501 --> 00:17:33,793
which were prone to leaking,
344
00:17:33,876 --> 00:17:36,668
depending on whatever liquid-y crap
everyone threw away.
345
00:17:37,168 --> 00:17:40,251
And, of course, it was my job
to clean up the floor after.
346
00:17:41,084 --> 00:17:44,751
Maybe because we couldn't afford it,
we hardly ever went out to a restaurant.
347
00:17:44,834 --> 00:17:49,334
Mom was a genius at conjuring up meals
and carryin' 'em out for days.
348
00:17:49,418 --> 00:17:52,918
The canned ham would have brown sugar
and pineapple on it Sunday.
349
00:17:53,001 --> 00:17:54,751
Monday, there'd be ham casserole.
350
00:17:54,834 --> 00:17:56,293
Tuesday, ham sandwiches,
351
00:17:56,376 --> 00:17:59,543
and Wednesday's navy bean soup
would have the rest of the ham in it.
352
00:18:00,043 --> 00:18:03,334
Other staples included
tomato soup and grilled cheese,
353
00:18:03,418 --> 00:18:05,584
tuna casserole with potato chips,
354
00:18:06,209 --> 00:18:08,043
pot pies, meatloaf,
355
00:18:08,626 --> 00:18:12,918
endless variations of chicken,
and, of course, a lot of creamed corn.
356
00:18:13,001 --> 00:18:15,209
The fun stuff was deviled eggs,
357
00:18:15,293 --> 00:18:17,751
homemade Popsicles, Vienna sausages,
358
00:18:17,834 --> 00:18:21,084
-and on special occasions, Jiffy Pop.
-[loud popping]
359
00:18:22,043 --> 00:18:24,918
It was also the first wave
of the Jello mold craze.
360
00:18:26,209 --> 00:18:27,418
Aah!
361
00:18:28,626 --> 00:18:30,876
School lunches were their own production.
362
00:18:30,959 --> 00:18:33,043
Every Sunday night,
we'd all be Mom's helpers
363
00:18:33,126 --> 00:18:37,376
as we'd systematically make a week's worth
of sandwiches for school lunches,
364
00:18:37,459 --> 00:18:40,126
and then freeze 'em
to be thawed out overnight
365
00:18:40,209 --> 00:18:42,126
before each day of the school week.
366
00:18:48,251 --> 00:18:50,376
Sometimes the thawing wasn't complete,
367
00:18:50,876 --> 00:18:55,084
and you'd end up with a half-frozen,
soggy white bread bologna sandwich.
368
00:19:01,459 --> 00:19:04,001
My dad's parents lived in
an old neighborhood in Houston,
369
00:19:04,084 --> 00:19:06,626
-and we'd go visit on weekends.
-[hammering]
370
00:19:07,126 --> 00:19:09,376
You just keep tappin' it lightly…
371
00:19:14,001 --> 00:19:15,376
until it straightens out.
372
00:19:15,876 --> 00:19:16,709
See there?
373
00:19:16,793 --> 00:19:19,834
A nail will last forever,
so you don't ever want to throw 'em away.
374
00:19:19,918 --> 00:19:22,043
Just make sure
you got a good place to store 'em.
375
00:19:22,126 --> 00:19:24,543
-[Stan] Mm-hmm.
-My grandparents' reaction
376
00:19:24,626 --> 00:19:26,126
to havin' lived through the Depression
377
00:19:26,209 --> 00:19:28,626
was to feel it was goin' to happen again
at any moment.
378
00:19:28,709 --> 00:19:29,751
Don't hit your fingers.
379
00:19:32,209 --> 00:19:35,001
They saved everything
that had the slightest value
380
00:19:35,084 --> 00:19:38,084
-and reused everything they could.
-See? I think you got it.
381
00:19:38,168 --> 00:19:39,001
[laughs]
382
00:19:39,793 --> 00:19:43,459
They even reused paper towels,
which begged the question,
383
00:19:43,543 --> 00:19:47,376
what the hell's the point of a paper towel
as opposed to, like, a rag?
384
00:19:47,459 --> 00:19:50,084
[chuckles] But none of us
ever said anything.
385
00:19:50,584 --> 00:19:51,709
We're not going to…
386
00:19:51,793 --> 00:19:54,751
And I swear my grandmother took us
to see The Sound Of Music
387
00:19:54,834 --> 00:19:56,251
about every six months.
388
00:19:56,334 --> 00:19:58,168
♪ …jam and bread ♪
389
00:19:58,251 --> 00:20:00,126
♪ That will bring us back to ♪
390
00:20:00,209 --> 00:20:03,126
-♪ Doe ♪
-♪ A deer, a female deer… ♪
391
00:20:03,209 --> 00:20:06,043
I'm not sure if the movie
was playing for years and years
392
00:20:06,126 --> 00:20:07,959
-or if they kept bringin' it back.
-[yawns]
393
00:20:08,043 --> 00:20:10,959
-♪ Me, a name I call myself… ♪
-It was just another outing with Grandma…
394
00:20:11,043 --> 00:20:14,126
-♪ Far, a long long way to run… ♪
-…who, like her movie choices,
395
00:20:14,209 --> 00:20:16,751
was a very sweet lady
you couldn't find much fault in.
396
00:20:16,834 --> 00:20:18,751
♪ …thread, la ♪
397
00:20:18,834 --> 00:20:22,543
My other grandmother
was much more edgy and paranoid,
398
00:20:22,626 --> 00:20:24,084
but very entertaining.
399
00:20:24,793 --> 00:20:26,876
She would stay with us for long stretches
400
00:20:26,959 --> 00:20:29,584
and regale us
with various conspiracy theories
401
00:20:29,668 --> 00:20:31,501
and doom and gloom scenarios.
402
00:20:31,584 --> 00:20:36,293
We now know
JFK didn't die that day in Dallas.
403
00:20:36,376 --> 00:20:37,418
Mm-mm.
404
00:20:38,251 --> 00:20:40,001
Poor man was rendered a vegetable
405
00:20:40,084 --> 00:20:42,709
due to the severe brain trauma
from the bullets.
406
00:20:43,209 --> 00:20:49,168
But they are keepin' him alive
in seclusion on a Greek island.
407
00:20:50,293 --> 00:20:53,418
They didn't think we could handle
seeing the president as a vegetable,
408
00:20:53,501 --> 00:20:56,918
so they are shieldin' us
from the true facts.
409
00:20:57,626 --> 00:20:59,918
[whispers] It's Aristotle Onassis's
island.
410
00:21:00,459 --> 00:21:02,751
Which explains his marriage to Jackie.
411
00:21:05,376 --> 00:21:08,001
[Stan] To her,
the world was goin' down the tubes,
412
00:21:08,084 --> 00:21:09,418
and fast.
413
00:21:11,084 --> 00:21:14,459
Overpopulation is chokin' the planet.
414
00:21:15,501 --> 00:21:16,751
And within a few years,
415
00:21:16,834 --> 00:21:19,959
we are gonna be past
the point of no return.
416
00:21:20,751 --> 00:21:24,334
Scientists say
that the Earth cannot technically handle
417
00:21:24,418 --> 00:21:28,918
more than 3.5 billion people,
and at some point in the '70s,
418
00:21:29,001 --> 00:21:33,084
food supply's just gonna collapse
for most of the world's inhabitants,
419
00:21:33,168 --> 00:21:36,876
which leads to mass starvation
and war and famine.
420
00:21:37,751 --> 00:21:39,959
Don't know how they'll keep up
with the dead bodies--
421
00:21:40,043 --> 00:21:43,376
Enough already, Mom.
You gotta stop with the paranoia talk.
422
00:21:43,459 --> 00:21:45,793
You're scarin' the kids.
You're drivin' me nuts.
423
00:21:45,876 --> 00:21:47,668
You won't shut up. Please stop.
424
00:21:47,751 --> 00:21:49,543
Stop. Stop.
425
00:21:51,334 --> 00:21:55,334
[man] It costs over $4.5 billion
every year to cart the mess away…
426
00:21:55,418 --> 00:21:59,626
[Stan] Yes, with such threats looming,
the future was often terrifying.
427
00:21:59,709 --> 00:22:02,168
We were told
if everything continued as it was going,
428
00:22:02,251 --> 00:22:06,251
we'd be knee-deep in trash
and wearing gas masks just to breathe.
429
00:22:06,334 --> 00:22:09,418
They did a great job
of scarin' the hell out of everyone.
430
00:22:09,501 --> 00:22:10,959
It must've worked.
431
00:22:11,043 --> 00:22:15,334
President Nixon signed the Clean Air Act
and the Clean Water Act,
432
00:22:15,418 --> 00:22:18,043
and it soon became unacceptable to litter.
433
00:22:18,126 --> 00:22:20,126
["Riders in the Sky"]
434
00:22:22,834 --> 00:22:27,334
Now, that, young Steven, is the difference
between a redneck and white trash.
435
00:22:27,959 --> 00:22:31,959
A redneck's gonna throw his cans on the
floor of his car, the back of his truck.
436
00:22:32,043 --> 00:22:34,793
White trash,
he's gonna throw his cans out the window
437
00:22:34,876 --> 00:22:35,876
and be a litterbug.
438
00:22:36,376 --> 00:22:37,293
That's no good.
439
00:22:38,543 --> 00:22:40,209
So we're rednecks?
440
00:22:40,293 --> 00:22:41,668
Oh, no, no, no, no, no.
441
00:22:42,168 --> 00:22:45,293
A redneck would just leave the cans
just laying there.
442
00:22:45,876 --> 00:22:48,084
You're gonna clean those up
when we get back to the house.
443
00:22:48,168 --> 00:22:49,584
-[Greg laughs]
-Sh!
444
00:22:49,668 --> 00:22:50,584
[Greg] Oh.
445
00:22:50,668 --> 00:22:51,584
Take the wheel.
446
00:22:52,251 --> 00:22:53,293
-What?
-Drive.
447
00:22:55,209 --> 00:22:56,459
[Stan] That's right.
448
00:22:56,543 --> 00:22:59,001
It wasn't against the law
to drink and drive back then.
449
00:22:59,084 --> 00:23:01,126
You just couldn't be legally intoxicated.
450
00:23:01,209 --> 00:23:02,251
Make a wish.
451
00:23:02,334 --> 00:23:03,376
Dad, I just--
452
00:23:03,459 --> 00:23:06,084
I remember how he'd drop the tab
into the beer itself.
453
00:23:06,751 --> 00:23:11,751
And I wasn't sure if it was a ritual
or if it was Dad's anti-littering effort.
454
00:23:11,834 --> 00:23:13,626
Either way, it was appreciated,
455
00:23:14,209 --> 00:23:18,084
'cause those tabs are on the ground,
and they could really slice up your feet.
456
00:23:18,668 --> 00:23:20,293
-However, I heard…
-How'd you do?
457
00:23:20,376 --> 00:23:22,209
…that six people a year died by choking
458
00:23:22,293 --> 00:23:25,001
when the tab came back out
and they swallowed it.
459
00:23:25,501 --> 00:23:28,126
I would always think that
maybe this could be the day.
460
00:23:28,626 --> 00:23:31,084
But like so many
of the doomsday scenarios,
461
00:23:31,168 --> 00:23:32,876
it thankfully never happened.
462
00:23:33,584 --> 00:23:37,001
But all the dissonance
was a lot to process for a young mind.
463
00:23:37,084 --> 00:23:40,376
On the one hand, okay,
the world was goin' to hell.
464
00:23:40,459 --> 00:23:42,459
[machine-gun fire]
465
00:23:43,584 --> 00:23:45,251
We were in a war in Vietnam,
466
00:23:45,334 --> 00:23:49,168
but even more scary was the Cold War
we were in with the Soviet Union,
467
00:23:49,251 --> 00:23:53,126
who we were told at any minute
could be dropping a hydrogen bomb on us.
468
00:23:53,709 --> 00:23:56,918
Anyway, we were the last
of the duck-and-cover generation.
469
00:23:57,001 --> 00:24:00,376
♪ And cover, duck and cover ♪
470
00:24:00,459 --> 00:24:02,751
-[siren blares]
-[man] It's a bomb. Duck and cover.
471
00:24:02,834 --> 00:24:04,834
-[bell ringing]
-[Stan] I thought bein' under a desk
472
00:24:04,918 --> 00:24:08,668
wasn't gonna do much good
on the vaporization or radiation front.
473
00:24:08,751 --> 00:24:10,334
-But what the hell.
-[bell stops]
474
00:24:10,834 --> 00:24:11,918
You did the drill.
475
00:24:14,168 --> 00:24:17,834
But on the other hand,
the future was so cool and optimistic.
476
00:24:17,918 --> 00:24:20,501
-We were heading to the moon and beyond.
-[cheering]
477
00:24:21,376 --> 00:24:23,876
It was easy to be swept up
in the promise of the future
478
00:24:23,959 --> 00:24:25,876
and the thought
that science and technology
479
00:24:25,959 --> 00:24:28,584
-would ultimately fix almost everything.
-[radio chatter]
480
00:24:28,668 --> 00:24:32,626
At the top of the heap, the embodiment
of all these positive feelings was NASA
481
00:24:32,709 --> 00:24:34,876
and, of course, the astronauts themselves.
482
00:24:36,793 --> 00:24:39,334
-[applause]
-The names still roll off the tongue.
483
00:24:39,418 --> 00:24:40,709
The original Mercury guys,
484
00:24:40,793 --> 00:24:43,959
John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Alan Shepard,
485
00:24:44,043 --> 00:24:45,876
Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper,
486
00:24:45,959 --> 00:24:48,251
Gus Grissom, Deke Slayton.
487
00:24:48,334 --> 00:24:50,418
Then the Apollo names became familiar.
488
00:24:50,501 --> 00:24:53,168
Pete Conrad, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin,
489
00:24:53,251 --> 00:24:55,168
Michael Collins, Frank Borman,
490
00:24:55,251 --> 00:24:56,918
James Lovell, Gene Cernan,
491
00:24:57,001 --> 00:24:58,834
John Young, Alan Bean.
492
00:24:58,918 --> 00:25:01,126
They were the bravest. The best.
493
00:25:01,209 --> 00:25:04,584
[announcer] This is a CBS News
special report.
494
00:25:05,168 --> 00:25:09,959
America's first three Apollo astronauts
were trapped and killed by a flash fire
495
00:25:10,043 --> 00:25:13,209
that swept their moon ship early tonight
during a launch pad test…
496
00:25:13,293 --> 00:25:14,251
[Stan] When Gus Grissom,
497
00:25:14,334 --> 00:25:17,834
Roger Chaffee, and Ed White died
during a test for Apollo 1,
498
00:25:18,459 --> 00:25:20,834
-I remember my mom crying.
- Oh my God.
499
00:25:20,918 --> 00:25:24,168
Our school was named Ed White Elementary
even before the tragedy.
500
00:25:25,168 --> 00:25:27,293
After, it became kind of a memorial.
501
00:25:28,376 --> 00:25:31,543
But the world was changing,
and so was how we saw ourselves in it.
502
00:25:32,626 --> 00:25:35,084
When Apollo 8 snapped
the famous Earthrise photo
503
00:25:35,168 --> 00:25:37,001
over the moon on Christmas Eve,
504
00:25:37,584 --> 00:25:40,543
it gave us Earthlings
a perspective we'd never had.
505
00:25:41,918 --> 00:25:46,918
There we were, all together
on this floating blue ball in space.
506
00:25:47,001 --> 00:25:50,709
It was said that someday soon,
when humans fully grasped what this meant,
507
00:25:50,793 --> 00:25:54,501
there would be a shift in consciousness,
and there would be no more wars.
508
00:25:54,584 --> 00:25:59,668
♪Then peace will guide the planets ♪
509
00:25:59,751 --> 00:26:02,918
♪ And love will steer the stars ♪
510
00:26:03,001 --> 00:26:07,501
♪ This is the dawning
Of the Age of Aquarius ♪
511
00:26:08,209 --> 00:26:12,668
♪ Age of Aquarius ♪
512
00:26:12,751 --> 00:26:14,709
♪ Aquarius… ♪
513
00:26:14,793 --> 00:26:17,168
[Stan] And back in our little part
of that blue ball,
514
00:26:17,251 --> 00:26:18,918
everywhere you looked,
515
00:26:19,001 --> 00:26:22,168
there were reminders of NASA
and the manned space program.
516
00:26:23,418 --> 00:26:25,334
On our playground,
there was a rocket slide
517
00:26:25,418 --> 00:26:26,793
you could climb up and pilot.
518
00:26:27,293 --> 00:26:30,084
I think everyone knew
spaceships didn't have steering wheels,
519
00:26:30,168 --> 00:26:31,293
but no matter.
520
00:26:32,001 --> 00:26:34,918
The space race was such
an all-pervasive element of our culture.
521
00:26:35,001 --> 00:26:36,793
It found its way into everything,
522
00:26:37,293 --> 00:26:41,251
including advertising and promotion,
however ridiculous.
523
00:26:41,334 --> 00:26:43,084
Howdy, folks! I'm Sam the Rocket Man!
524
00:26:43,168 --> 00:26:45,793
We're shootin' the moon
with out-of-this-world savings!
525
00:26:45,876 --> 00:26:48,959
The closer they get to the moon,
the lower our prices are.
526
00:26:49,043 --> 00:26:50,459
We'll trade anything.
527
00:26:50,543 --> 00:26:54,043
Used spaceships,
lunar modules, or even used cars!
528
00:26:54,918 --> 00:26:56,918
[whispering]
529
00:27:00,043 --> 00:27:03,168
[Stan] At school on launch days,
it was always the same ritual.
530
00:27:03,668 --> 00:27:05,626
The teacher would wheel in a TV.
531
00:27:06,959 --> 00:27:08,793
We'd watch the rocket on the launchpad
532
00:27:08,876 --> 00:27:10,543
-for five minutes…
-[man] Fifteen…
533
00:27:10,626 --> 00:27:14,584
[Stan] …and then all count down in unison
with the TV for the last ten seconds.
534
00:27:14,668 --> 00:27:18,751
-[all] Ten, nine, eight, seven…
-[man] Ignition sequence started.
535
00:27:18,834 --> 00:27:21,418
[all] Six, five, four…
536
00:27:21,501 --> 00:27:26,376
-[man] We have ignition.
-[all] Three, two, one, blastoff!
537
00:27:26,876 --> 00:27:30,459
-[kids applauding]
-[man] We have liftoff. We have liftoff.
538
00:27:32,918 --> 00:27:36,834
[Stan] And then just stare at the screen
as the rocket took off into the sky.
539
00:27:37,376 --> 00:27:40,959
Science class was so exciting,
because it felt like current events.
540
00:27:41,459 --> 00:27:44,793
It was all astronomy,
cosmology, and Apollo related.
541
00:27:44,876 --> 00:27:48,334
[girl] Until Edwin Hubble
proved otherwise in 1922,
542
00:27:48,418 --> 00:27:52,959
humans thought the entire universe
might only consist of our galaxy.
543
00:27:53,043 --> 00:27:57,709
Now we know we are
but one of 100 billion galaxies.
544
00:27:58,959 --> 00:28:02,168
As of yet,
we have no proof of other solar systems
545
00:28:02,251 --> 00:28:06,126
revolving around distant stars
or planets outside our nine.
546
00:28:06,959 --> 00:28:10,168
But the odds that we're
the only nine planets in the universe
547
00:28:10,251 --> 00:28:12,376
and that we're
the only one with life on it,
548
00:28:12,459 --> 00:28:17,168
we've calculated out
at ten billion trillion to one.
549
00:28:17,251 --> 00:28:21,293
Yes, whatever was going on
in the formation of our solar system
550
00:28:21,376 --> 00:28:24,126
is undoubtedly going on in others, right?
551
00:28:24,209 --> 00:28:28,293
It's the same material,
gravity, and conditions everywhere.
552
00:28:28,376 --> 00:28:30,918
In other words,
there's just no way that we're alone.
553
00:28:31,001 --> 00:28:34,126
It's just a matter of time
before we have an encounter
554
00:28:34,209 --> 00:28:38,751
with other beings from other places
in the universe, if we haven't already.
555
00:28:38,834 --> 00:28:40,001
[crickets chirping]
556
00:28:40,084 --> 00:28:41,293
[eerie chanting]
557
00:28:44,668 --> 00:28:48,043
[Stan] We'd already gone to Jupiter
and beyond in the movie 2001,
558
00:28:48,626 --> 00:28:51,126
and there was no doubt
we'd be there soon enough.
559
00:28:56,626 --> 00:28:58,418
I remember bein' so entranced by the film,
560
00:28:58,501 --> 00:29:00,709
I would try to describe
the deeper meaning of it
561
00:29:00,793 --> 00:29:02,209
to anyone who would listen.
562
00:29:03,584 --> 00:29:05,584
And then as he goes past Jupiter,
563
00:29:05,668 --> 00:29:08,209
he goes through
this kind of crazy time warp.
564
00:29:08,293 --> 00:29:10,834
There are
all these bright lights flashing by,
565
00:29:10,918 --> 00:29:13,543
and suddenly he's in this old room,
566
00:29:13,626 --> 00:29:16,501
and then he's this old man.
567
00:29:16,584 --> 00:29:19,293
Then he sees the black slab,
568
00:29:19,376 --> 00:29:21,543
the same one from Jupiter,
569
00:29:21,626 --> 00:29:23,709
at the foot of his deathbed.
570
00:29:24,543 --> 00:29:25,459
Or is it?
571
00:29:25,959 --> 00:29:28,334
He reaches out, trying to touch it,
572
00:29:28,418 --> 00:29:31,876
and then he turns into a baby
that hasn't even been born yet!
573
00:29:34,168 --> 00:29:35,668
Go back, go back!
574
00:29:35,751 --> 00:29:38,251
-No, it's going-- Run, run!
-Back, back, back, back!
575
00:29:39,001 --> 00:29:41,376
[Stan] Well, like I said,
it was all around us.
576
00:29:42,126 --> 00:29:44,001
We were being told that people our age
577
00:29:44,084 --> 00:29:46,626
would one day be able
to have our honeymoons on the moon.
578
00:29:47,209 --> 00:29:48,668
And by the end of the century,
579
00:29:48,751 --> 00:29:52,043
we could be a paying customer
on the six-month flight to Mars.
580
00:29:52,543 --> 00:29:54,334
It was all so close.
581
00:29:54,834 --> 00:29:58,251
We literally had the astronauts themselves
buzzing above us in jets
582
00:29:58,334 --> 00:30:00,543
because Ellington Air Force Base
was down the road.
583
00:30:00,626 --> 00:30:02,459
-[jet engine rumbling]
-It wasn't at all unusual
584
00:30:02,543 --> 00:30:05,084
to suddenly hear a whoosh low in the sky,
585
00:30:05,168 --> 00:30:08,168
see a jet streak by and disappear quickly,
586
00:30:08,793 --> 00:30:12,543
and then hear the sonic boom
of the sound barrier bein' broken.
587
00:30:14,043 --> 00:30:15,918
[sonic boom echoes]
588
00:30:17,251 --> 00:30:19,626
We'd run home as quickly
as we could from school
589
00:30:19,709 --> 00:30:23,459
to watch Dark Shadows,
a show we all got obsessed with.
590
00:30:24,376 --> 00:30:25,543
[eerie music on television]
591
00:30:25,626 --> 00:30:27,501
It was a truly bizarre and scary tale
592
00:30:27,584 --> 00:30:31,001
of an old patrician family
livin' in a castle by the sea
593
00:30:31,084 --> 00:30:32,668
and one ageless vampire…
594
00:30:32,751 --> 00:30:34,876
-Ugh!
-…Barnabas Collins.
595
00:30:35,751 --> 00:30:37,834
[dramatic music]
596
00:30:39,751 --> 00:30:41,001
[gasps]
597
00:30:42,543 --> 00:30:44,876
TV itself felt like an ongoing battle.
598
00:30:44,959 --> 00:30:46,793
First off, just gettin' decent reception
599
00:30:46,876 --> 00:30:50,209
in this era of antennas
and three major networks was a challenge.
600
00:30:50,709 --> 00:30:54,209
Then, in our family at least,
you had to stake out your territory
601
00:30:54,293 --> 00:30:57,043
and often bodily defend
what would be coming out of the tube
602
00:30:57,126 --> 00:30:58,334
for the next 30 minutes.
603
00:30:58,918 --> 00:31:01,209
There were so many great shows
going all evening.
604
00:31:01,293 --> 00:31:03,834
It was often hard to choose,
and they never let you down.
605
00:31:03,918 --> 00:31:06,293
-[Hawaii Five-0 theme plays]
-The Beverly Hillbillies,
606
00:31:06,376 --> 00:31:07,376
Gunsmoke,
607
00:31:07,459 --> 00:31:08,584
My Three Sons,
608
00:31:08,668 --> 00:31:10,376
The Munsters, Bonanza,
609
00:31:10,459 --> 00:31:11,293
Bewitched,
610
00:31:11,376 --> 00:31:12,376
Star Trek,
611
00:31:12,459 --> 00:31:14,293
Adam-12, Get Smart,
612
00:31:14,376 --> 00:31:15,793
Gomer Pyle, Batman,
613
00:31:15,876 --> 00:31:17,376
-Gilligan, Flipper…
-[squeaking]
614
00:31:17,459 --> 00:31:19,709
…Petticoat Junction, Andy Griffith,
615
00:31:19,793 --> 00:31:21,876
I Dream of Jeannie, The Addams Family,
616
00:31:21,959 --> 00:31:23,043
Dick Van Dyke,
617
00:31:23,126 --> 00:31:24,876
The Green Hornet, McHale's Navy,
618
00:31:24,959 --> 00:31:26,126
Mission: Impossible,
619
00:31:26,209 --> 00:31:27,793
Green Acres, Hogan's Heroes,
620
00:31:27,876 --> 00:31:31,043
Dragnet and Hawaii Five-O,
to name but a few.
621
00:31:31,126 --> 00:31:34,043
Then there were the shows
that never made it past one season
622
00:31:34,126 --> 00:31:36,876
and are mostly forgotten, but not by me.
623
00:31:36,959 --> 00:31:40,293
In The Time Tunnel,
two scientists are lost in time,
624
00:31:40,376 --> 00:31:42,751
always landing
at choice moments in history.
625
00:31:42,834 --> 00:31:45,418
The Titanic,
Little Bighorn, Ford's Theatre.
626
00:31:46,543 --> 00:31:49,043
Then there was a show called
It's About Time,
627
00:31:49,126 --> 00:31:52,251
a comedy about two astronauts
that, upon reentry,
628
00:31:52,334 --> 00:31:54,084
find themselves in a time warp,
629
00:31:54,709 --> 00:31:56,126
now living in prehistoric times
630
00:31:56,209 --> 00:31:58,459
-with cavemen and dinosaurs.
-I don't believe it!
631
00:31:59,751 --> 00:32:01,543
-I believe it!
-I do too!
632
00:32:03,043 --> 00:32:05,584
[Stan] It was also
the first wave of syndication…
633
00:32:05,668 --> 00:32:07,793
-It's so tasty!
-…where shows from slightly earlier eras
634
00:32:07,876 --> 00:32:09,668
-were also on all the time.
-I'm Mister Ed.
635
00:32:09,751 --> 00:32:11,376
And late at night, there would still be
636
00:32:11,459 --> 00:32:13,584
- Twilight Zone episodes.
-[theme plays]
637
00:32:13,668 --> 00:32:16,043
When I was really little,
before I knew what it was,
638
00:32:16,126 --> 00:32:19,043
I called it The Scary Flying Eyeball Show.
639
00:32:19,126 --> 00:32:22,501
[narrator] A dimension of sight.
A dimension of mind.
640
00:32:23,168 --> 00:32:27,709
You're moving into a land of both shadow
and substance, of things and ideas.
641
00:32:27,793 --> 00:32:30,001
-[Stan] Then there were Saturday mornings.
-[beep]
642
00:32:30,084 --> 00:32:32,418
We'd get up early
and stare at the test patterns
643
00:32:32,501 --> 00:32:34,251
and wait for the fun to begin.
644
00:32:34,334 --> 00:32:36,793
♪ Overture, curtain, lights ♪
645
00:32:36,876 --> 00:32:40,376
Late on Saturday nights,
there was a local show called Weird
646
00:32:40,459 --> 00:32:42,876
-that opened with a creepy theremin piece.
-[theme plays]
647
00:32:42,959 --> 00:32:46,209
[narrator] Welcome to Weird.
648
00:32:47,043 --> 00:32:50,251
They showed movies like the
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman,
649
00:32:50,834 --> 00:32:52,584
-The Incredible Shrinking Man…
-[screams]
650
00:32:53,168 --> 00:32:55,501
…The Thing, The Beginning of The End…
651
00:32:55,584 --> 00:32:57,043
-[screaming]
-…The Blob,
652
00:32:57,751 --> 00:32:59,584
-Attack of the Mushroom People.
-[screaming]
653
00:32:59,668 --> 00:33:02,709
Basically, anything
with atomic bomb-induced mutations.
654
00:33:03,793 --> 00:33:06,293
-[man] This concludes our broadcasting.
-Good night.
655
00:33:06,376 --> 00:33:09,001
-And now our national anthem.
-["The Star-Spangled Banner"]
656
00:33:09,084 --> 00:33:11,376
-It would come to an end around midnight…
-Hey.
657
00:33:11,459 --> 00:33:14,501
-…and the stations would go off the air.
-Hey. Turn everything off.
658
00:33:15,418 --> 00:33:19,501
By Sunday nights during the school year,
a feeling of outright dread set in.
659
00:33:19,584 --> 00:33:21,959
-♪ The Wonderful… ♪
-The Wonderful World of Color,
660
00:33:22,043 --> 00:33:25,459
which is what it was called before it was
The Wonderful World of Disney,
661
00:33:25,959 --> 00:33:28,501
was lathered in this melancholy feeling.
662
00:33:29,126 --> 00:33:30,918
With school looming the next morning,
663
00:33:31,001 --> 00:33:33,168
-no matter how good that particular show…
-Hey.
664
00:33:33,751 --> 00:33:37,084
…the freedom and fun of the weekend
was coming to a close.
665
00:33:38,001 --> 00:33:39,251
And then, once a year,
666
00:33:39,334 --> 00:33:42,459
there would be a special screening
of The Wizard of Oz on TV.
667
00:33:43,418 --> 00:33:45,376
We would all gather around and watch.
668
00:33:46,751 --> 00:33:48,918
-It's gonna go to color real soon, and it…
-No!
669
00:33:49,001 --> 00:33:50,959
It was so much more than a movie.
670
00:33:52,334 --> 00:33:55,418
Until we got a color TV,
everything had been in black and white,
671
00:33:55,501 --> 00:33:56,501
even Oz.
672
00:33:58,876 --> 00:34:01,001
But whether in color or black and white,
673
00:34:01,084 --> 00:34:03,459
the flying monkeys
always sent my sister Stephanie…
674
00:34:03,543 --> 00:34:04,834
-[gasps]
-…either under the covers
675
00:34:04,918 --> 00:34:06,751
-or out the door.
-Now fly! Fly!
676
00:34:08,793 --> 00:34:09,626
Fly!
677
00:34:09,709 --> 00:34:11,709
-[man] The latest casualties…
-[Stan] On the news,
678
00:34:11,793 --> 00:34:13,668
the war in Vietnam was a constant,
679
00:34:13,751 --> 00:34:16,168
and found its way
into almost everything goin' on.
680
00:34:16,251 --> 00:34:20,126
The US Command reports
148 Americans killed in the war last week…
681
00:34:20,209 --> 00:34:22,001
[Stan] For a kid, it was confusing.
682
00:34:22,543 --> 00:34:24,584
Adults were always guilt-tripping us.
683
00:34:24,668 --> 00:34:28,459
Everyone, finish every bite on your plate.
There are starving kids in Vietnam.
684
00:34:31,043 --> 00:34:33,668
We were at war with them, bombing them,
685
00:34:33,751 --> 00:34:35,834
but we cared about
their starving children?
686
00:34:36,668 --> 00:34:38,043
["The Horse" by Cliff Nobles]
687
00:34:38,126 --> 00:34:39,626
-Pass, pass!
-Go, go, go.
688
00:34:39,709 --> 00:34:41,084
-Gimme!
-Here!
689
00:34:41,876 --> 00:34:43,459
-Pass, pass!
-Here! Throw it!
690
00:34:43,543 --> 00:34:44,751
Yeah!*
691
00:34:44,834 --> 00:34:47,043
What made it
a perfect neighborhood to grow up in
692
00:34:47,126 --> 00:34:50,126
was there were a ton of young families
with kids in our age range.
693
00:34:50,709 --> 00:34:52,209
It was no problem gettin' a game goin'.
694
00:34:52,918 --> 00:34:57,001
We'd play in someone's front yard,
the street, or, for some things,
695
00:34:57,501 --> 00:34:59,876
we'd go down
to where the housing development ended,
696
00:34:59,959 --> 00:35:03,084
and there was a big field
with a water treatment plant.
697
00:35:03,168 --> 00:35:05,251
We called it Sewer Park.
698
00:35:06,043 --> 00:35:07,501
When it was raining or at night,
699
00:35:07,584 --> 00:35:09,751
my brother Greg and I invented
a baseball game
700
00:35:09,834 --> 00:35:11,501
we could play in the garage.
701
00:35:12,876 --> 00:35:16,001
Astros superstar Jim Wynn is up to bat.
702
00:35:17,543 --> 00:35:19,084
Home run!
703
00:35:19,668 --> 00:35:21,793
The Toy Cannon!
704
00:35:22,834 --> 00:35:27,209
And the scoreboard is going crazy
on the line drive!
705
00:35:28,418 --> 00:35:31,376
We'd have a baseball card draft
and create a team,
706
00:35:31,459 --> 00:35:34,209
with all roads
leading to our own World Series.
707
00:35:35,876 --> 00:35:39,543
This was just before the Nerf ball
was invented and changed everything.
708
00:35:41,709 --> 00:35:43,876
Occasionally,
there'd be a bench-clearing brawl.
709
00:35:43,959 --> 00:35:49,543
Next up, Boog Powell!
710
00:35:52,168 --> 00:35:53,709
That's it!
711
00:35:54,543 --> 00:35:55,918
[thunder rumbling]
712
00:35:56,001 --> 00:35:57,584
-Charge!
-Aah!
713
00:35:57,668 --> 00:36:00,251
I'll never forget
all the kids in the neighborhood.
714
00:36:00,334 --> 00:36:03,584
There was Larry,
who had a severe case of ringworm.
715
00:36:04,584 --> 00:36:07,168
It seemed like everyone
in the neighborhood took turns
716
00:36:07,251 --> 00:36:08,876
bein' the kid with a cast on.
717
00:36:10,584 --> 00:36:13,376
Of course, there was Byron,
the son of a NASA scientist
718
00:36:13,459 --> 00:36:16,209
and the local pyromaniac chemistry set kid
719
00:36:16,918 --> 00:36:20,501
who was always building
little rocket-like propulsion devices.
720
00:36:20,584 --> 00:36:23,418
Occasionally,
he'd put a grasshopper in the pilot seat.
721
00:36:23,501 --> 00:36:27,126
-[strikes match]
-[all] Three, two, one!
722
00:36:27,876 --> 00:36:29,334
[all gasp]
723
00:36:29,418 --> 00:36:31,876
[all] ♪ Oh, Susannah ♪
724
00:36:31,959 --> 00:36:33,751
♪ Why don't you cry for me… ♪
725
00:36:33,834 --> 00:36:37,376
Then there was Tony, the witty
smart aleck who would get you in trouble.
726
00:36:37,459 --> 00:36:41,043
-♪ …a banjo on my knee ♪
-He specialized in changing the lyrics
727
00:36:41,126 --> 00:36:43,251
-to songs in music class…
-Now to page 24.
728
00:36:43,334 --> 00:36:46,293
…from traditional to, of course, dirty.
-[teacher] Old Dan Tucker.
729
00:36:46,376 --> 00:36:49,418
♪ Old Dan Tucker was a mighty man ♪
730
00:36:49,501 --> 00:36:52,376
♪ He washed his face in a fryin' pan ♪
731
00:36:52,459 --> 00:36:55,126
♪ He combed his hair with a wagon wheel ♪
732
00:36:55,209 --> 00:36:57,584
♪ He died of a toothache in his… ♪
733
00:36:57,668 --> 00:36:58,501
Balls!
734
00:36:58,584 --> 00:37:01,126
Stan, Tony, go stand out in the hall.
735
00:37:03,209 --> 00:37:05,501
[Stan] One of the downsides
of bein' a kid during this era
736
00:37:05,584 --> 00:37:09,293
was they still thought it was a great idea
to train children like they were animals,
737
00:37:09,376 --> 00:37:13,251
which required constant reminders
of what was incorrect conduct.
738
00:37:13,834 --> 00:37:16,376
You were always one little screw-up
away from a beating
739
00:37:16,459 --> 00:37:18,376
from any number
of the adults in your life.
740
00:37:19,001 --> 00:37:20,918
Parents, principals, coaches,
741
00:37:21,001 --> 00:37:23,626
even your friends' parents
who had these convenient
742
00:37:23,709 --> 00:37:26,334
"You can paddle my kid
and I can paddle yours" agreements.
743
00:37:27,293 --> 00:37:30,501
But nobody was more scary
than our principal,
744
00:37:30,584 --> 00:37:32,251
the Grim Reaper himself,
745
00:37:32,751 --> 00:37:33,668
Mr. Cowan.
746
00:37:36,168 --> 00:37:39,001
Are you boys out here
for disciplinary reasons?
747
00:37:42,418 --> 00:37:43,751
[exhales]
748
00:37:43,834 --> 00:37:44,918
Again.
749
00:37:46,751 --> 00:37:47,626
Follow me.
750
00:37:52,334 --> 00:37:53,459
-[blow lands]
-[both wince]
751
00:37:55,043 --> 00:37:55,959
[blow lands]
752
00:37:57,209 --> 00:37:59,918
-No. No, no, no, no.
-[Mr. Cowan] All right. Get back to class.
753
00:38:10,751 --> 00:38:12,709
Tony, Stan,
754
00:38:13,418 --> 00:38:14,668
get in here.
755
00:38:14,751 --> 00:38:16,376
[Stan] I guess it fit the times.
756
00:38:16,459 --> 00:38:17,709
Life was cheaper.
757
00:38:17,793 --> 00:38:19,459
We were all more expendable,
758
00:38:19,543 --> 00:38:22,043
and no one thought too deeply
about safety.
759
00:38:22,751 --> 00:38:24,751
["Soul Finger" by Bar-Kays]
760
00:38:26,376 --> 00:38:31,084
For instance, there we are, drivin' down
the Gulf Freeway at 70 miles an hour,
761
00:38:31,584 --> 00:38:34,209
with a truck bed full of kids
on the way to the beach.
762
00:38:34,709 --> 00:38:36,209
It never crossed anyone's mind
763
00:38:36,293 --> 00:38:40,418
that we were all just one slight collision
or rollover away from being roadkill.
764
00:38:43,584 --> 00:38:47,376
Just all of us gettin' Popsicles
at the pool could turn into a disaster.
765
00:38:47,459 --> 00:38:49,334
-[splashing]
-Aah… Aah! Aah!
766
00:38:49,418 --> 00:38:52,751
Something about the way they were frozen
had turned them into dry ice,
767
00:38:52,834 --> 00:38:54,834
-and they stuck to all of our tongues.
-[all yelling]
768
00:38:55,626 --> 00:38:58,876
Also, our neighborhood swimming pool
was routinely over chlorinated,
769
00:38:58,959 --> 00:39:01,334
absolutely roasting everyone's eyes.
770
00:39:02,626 --> 00:39:05,709
They just hadn't perfected
the chemical thing yet,
771
00:39:05,793 --> 00:39:09,334
and it hadn't entered our minds that
anything they were doing could be harmful.
772
00:39:09,418 --> 00:39:12,293
And we were definitely the last
of maybe two generations of kids
773
00:39:12,376 --> 00:39:13,668
who thought it was great fun
774
00:39:13,751 --> 00:39:16,751
to chase after
those DDT-spewing mosquito trucks.
775
00:39:17,251 --> 00:39:19,459
And it wasn't at all uncommon
to return home
776
00:39:19,543 --> 00:39:22,459
to find they'd nerve-gassed
the entire house with poison
777
00:39:22,543 --> 00:39:25,126
to kill that occasional roach
that had been spotted.
778
00:39:26,751 --> 00:39:30,501
And check out my Little League coach's
unique motivational technique.
779
00:39:30,584 --> 00:39:33,668
For every error you committed
in the previous game,
780
00:39:33,751 --> 00:39:35,959
you had to stand
before three of your teammates,
781
00:39:36,043 --> 00:39:39,334
firing squad style,
trying to peg you with the ball.
782
00:39:40,459 --> 00:39:41,709
[laughing]
783
00:39:41,793 --> 00:39:45,584
My strategy was to try and catch
the one from the most accurate thrower,
784
00:39:45,668 --> 00:39:48,793
dodge one,
and just hope the other guy missed.
785
00:39:48,876 --> 00:39:50,918
You might just get out alive.
786
00:39:51,001 --> 00:39:52,751
Yep. Amongst all the fun,
787
00:39:52,834 --> 00:39:57,084
it always seemed like punishment,
pain, or injury were never too far away.
788
00:39:57,626 --> 00:39:59,793
Like this game we used to play
called Red Rover.
789
00:39:59,876 --> 00:40:04,501
[all chant] Red rover, red rover
Let Stan come over
790
00:40:07,959 --> 00:40:13,251
Red rover, red rover
Let Ronnie come over
791
00:40:13,751 --> 00:40:16,751
We'd keep playin' certain games
until somethin' like this happened.
792
00:40:17,501 --> 00:40:18,876
[screams]
793
00:40:19,501 --> 00:40:22,334
That simply meant
we'd now matured to a new level,
794
00:40:22,418 --> 00:40:25,793
and it was time to quit playin' that game
and pick up a new one.
795
00:40:26,376 --> 00:40:28,793
If it wasn't baseball,
football, or basketball,
796
00:40:28,876 --> 00:40:30,918
it was goin' off on a big bike adventure.
797
00:40:31,001 --> 00:40:34,043
["So You Want To Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star"
by The Byrds]
798
00:40:35,751 --> 00:40:38,001
We all got good at bike repair,
799
00:40:38,084 --> 00:40:40,168
especially fixing flat tires.
800
00:40:41,501 --> 00:40:43,834
And it seemed like
every longer car ride anywhere
801
00:40:43,918 --> 00:40:46,459
included an obligatory changing of a flat.
802
00:40:47,418 --> 00:40:50,418
It might have been that we were
in the pre-steel-belted radial era,
803
00:40:50,501 --> 00:40:52,501
and they just
weren't very good at tires yet,
804
00:40:53,084 --> 00:40:55,709
or the fact that Dad had
a penchant for buying used tires.
805
00:40:55,793 --> 00:40:59,001
-Come on.
-Ever thought about gettin' a new tire?
806
00:40:59,501 --> 00:41:03,084
Then it wouldn't match the other three,
and it would look funny, Steven.
807
00:41:04,543 --> 00:41:07,876
We had all kinds of neighborhood games,
depending on who was playing.
808
00:41:08,376 --> 00:41:11,959
If there were a lot of girls around,
all the guys' sisters, usually,
809
00:41:12,043 --> 00:41:14,543
there was this game we played
called Statue Maker…
810
00:41:14,626 --> 00:41:16,043
Watch out.
811
00:41:16,126 --> 00:41:18,709
…where you'd have to say
what you were a statue of.
812
00:41:20,168 --> 00:41:21,126
Pancake.
813
00:41:21,209 --> 00:41:22,126
A phoenix.
814
00:41:22,209 --> 00:41:23,251
A wave.
815
00:41:23,334 --> 00:41:24,543
Astronaut.
816
00:41:25,376 --> 00:41:27,834
At night, the games moved indoors
817
00:41:28,418 --> 00:41:29,709
or on the back porch.
818
00:41:30,334 --> 00:41:32,418
So many classic board games.
819
00:41:32,543 --> 00:41:34,376
-[Dad] Five…
-Five, six, seven…
820
00:41:34,459 --> 00:41:36,459
Sometimes when my folks
would be entertaining
821
00:41:36,543 --> 00:41:38,501
and other families would be visiting,
822
00:41:38,584 --> 00:41:41,834
we'd get all elaborate and set up
other games like bobbing for apples.
823
00:41:41,918 --> 00:41:43,376
Watch and learn.
824
00:41:43,459 --> 00:41:46,043
New world record right now.
825
00:41:46,126 --> 00:41:47,501
Three, two, one, go.
826
00:41:47,584 --> 00:41:51,209
At some point, Greg came up with
a foolproof way to win every time.
827
00:41:52,168 --> 00:41:56,376
He was so dominant and adamant about it,
we all just sort of quit playing.
828
00:41:56,459 --> 00:41:57,709
That's how you do it!
829
00:42:01,459 --> 00:42:04,084
While my three sisters were,
for the most part, the opposition,
830
00:42:04,751 --> 00:42:06,876
they weren't without some advantages.
831
00:42:07,376 --> 00:42:09,793
Vicky had gotten a job at Baskin-Robbins…
832
00:42:09,876 --> 00:42:11,626
-All right.
-…the revolutionary ice-cream shop
833
00:42:11,709 --> 00:42:14,876
that offered a mind-blowing
31 different flavors,
834
00:42:14,959 --> 00:42:17,043
and she got two free scoops a shift.
835
00:42:17,126 --> 00:42:19,626
I think I'll have the banana nut fudge.
836
00:42:20,459 --> 00:42:21,293
Good choice.
837
00:42:21,376 --> 00:42:25,126
For the first two or three months
she worked there, she ate them herself.
838
00:42:25,626 --> 00:42:28,834
But eventually, she got sick of ice cream
and started givin' 'em away,
839
00:42:28,918 --> 00:42:31,709
so you wanted to be there
when she was gettin' off work.
840
00:42:32,376 --> 00:42:33,209
Thank you.
841
00:42:34,834 --> 00:42:38,084
Need I guess what flavor I must serve up
to earn my ride home?
842
00:42:39,376 --> 00:42:40,209
Just…
843
00:42:41,001 --> 00:42:42,334
You can say it.
844
00:42:42,418 --> 00:42:43,251
Vanilla, please.
845
00:42:43,334 --> 00:42:44,584
-Vanilla?
- Yeah, vanilla.
846
00:42:44,668 --> 00:42:46,001
-You want vanilla?
-Yes.
847
00:42:46,084 --> 00:42:48,126
-Of all these flavors, you want--
-Yes.
848
00:42:48,209 --> 00:42:49,043
Just scoop it.
849
00:42:49,126 --> 00:42:50,334
Okay.
850
00:42:50,418 --> 00:42:51,251
Yeah.
851
00:42:51,751 --> 00:42:55,626
I don't remember my brother Steve
ever getting a flavor besides vanilla.
852
00:42:55,709 --> 00:42:58,918
A waste of all those exotic flavors,
obviously,
853
00:42:59,001 --> 00:43:02,251
but I guess I admired
his contentment and consistency.
854
00:43:02,334 --> 00:43:03,543
["Sugar Sugar" by The Archies]
855
00:43:04,126 --> 00:43:07,168
My sisters also seemed to set the tone
musically in the house,
856
00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:10,084
and between them,
they covered a lot of ground.
857
00:43:10,168 --> 00:43:13,209
The youngest, Stephanie,
liked whatever was popular.
858
00:43:13,293 --> 00:43:16,834
I remember her listening to her 45
of The Archies' "Sugar Sugar"
859
00:43:16,918 --> 00:43:19,376
over and over again.
860
00:43:19,459 --> 00:43:21,709
The Archies were characters
out of a comic book,
861
00:43:21,793 --> 00:43:24,751
but that didn't keep 'em
from havin' the biggest hit of 1969.
862
00:43:31,501 --> 00:43:32,709
♪ Sugar ♪
863
00:43:32,793 --> 00:43:33,626
All right.
864
00:43:34,126 --> 00:43:36,334
-Last time, all right?
-♪ Oh, honey, honey ♪
865
00:43:36,418 --> 00:43:38,251
-Fine.
-I've had enough of this.
866
00:43:38,334 --> 00:43:39,668
♪ Another pleasant… ♪
867
00:43:39,751 --> 00:43:44,001
My middle sister, Jana, loved The Monkees
and, come to think of it,
868
00:43:44,084 --> 00:43:46,459
pretty much any group
that had cute guys in it.
869
00:43:49,001 --> 00:43:51,334
My tastes were, let's say, maturing.
870
00:43:51,418 --> 00:43:53,376
To Herb Alpert, for instance.
871
00:43:53,459 --> 00:43:56,668
Or at least
one particular album cover of his.
872
00:43:57,168 --> 00:43:59,084
["Hurdy Gurdy Man" by Donovan]
873
00:43:59,168 --> 00:44:01,709
Vicky had
the coolest taste in music, of course,
874
00:44:01,793 --> 00:44:05,334
and would happily lecture us
on the deeper meanings of songs.
875
00:44:09,001 --> 00:44:11,084
It's like the true meanings
are snuck in there,
876
00:44:11,168 --> 00:44:15,876
and we have to decipher them,
like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
877
00:44:17,501 --> 00:44:18,543
LSD.
878
00:44:20,501 --> 00:44:23,084
It's right there for those who are
tuned in, but the straights…
879
00:44:23,668 --> 00:44:24,876
they don't get it.
880
00:44:24,959 --> 00:44:26,793
-[whirring]
-[screaming]
881
00:44:27,376 --> 00:44:29,626
[Vicky] Oh God! Turn it off,
turn it off, turn it off!
882
00:44:29,709 --> 00:44:31,001
[Jana shudders]
883
00:44:31,709 --> 00:44:33,168
-Oh no!
-[Vicky] Breathe. Okay.
884
00:44:33,876 --> 00:44:35,209
Oh, Jana!
885
00:44:35,293 --> 00:44:37,626
-Jana was always having mishaps.
-Stop, stop. I'm pulling it.
886
00:44:37,709 --> 00:44:41,376
She was the first to have to get stitches,
the first to break a bone.
887
00:44:41,459 --> 00:44:42,918
-Oh!
-Stuff just happened to her.
888
00:44:43,001 --> 00:44:45,834
And it seemed like a lot of extra work
bein' a girl.
889
00:44:46,334 --> 00:44:49,334
Straight hair was the look
everyone was goin' for at the time,
890
00:44:49,418 --> 00:44:52,168
but it was so difficult
in the humidity of Houston.
891
00:44:52,668 --> 00:44:55,418
And this was before
all the hair products and blow dryers.
892
00:44:56,501 --> 00:45:00,293
The curlers were so small back then,
they took to usin' orange juice cans.
893
00:45:00,376 --> 00:45:04,126
My sisters were not only more resourceful
but much more dramatic.
894
00:45:04,793 --> 00:45:06,209
Ouija, are you with us?
895
00:45:13,293 --> 00:45:14,668
-[whispers] Yes!
-Oh my gosh!
896
00:45:14,751 --> 00:45:15,793
Shh.
897
00:45:17,043 --> 00:45:18,168
That's good.
898
00:45:18,751 --> 00:45:20,501
Does Robert have a crush on me?
899
00:45:25,459 --> 00:45:27,793
-[gasps] Yes!
-[squeals]
900
00:45:27,876 --> 00:45:30,626
[Stan] In our bedroom, Steve, Greg,
and I were in agreement
901
00:45:30,709 --> 00:45:32,959
that the ultimate woman was Raquel Welch,
902
00:45:33,043 --> 00:45:36,209
as seen in such movies as
One Million Years BC,
903
00:45:36,293 --> 00:45:38,959
Fantastic Voyage, and Bandolero!
904
00:45:39,043 --> 00:45:42,084
Steve had a stash of Playboys
hidden under the desk.
905
00:45:59,209 --> 00:46:00,418
[sighs]
906
00:46:02,626 --> 00:46:05,376
We never found out
which sister ratted us out.
907
00:46:05,876 --> 00:46:08,126
-[static]
-The radio was always on,
908
00:46:08,209 --> 00:46:10,126
-playing the hits.
-["In the Year 2525"]
909
00:46:10,209 --> 00:46:15,793
One of my favorites was "In The Year 2525"
with its ominous dystopian future.
910
00:46:15,876 --> 00:46:19,043
♪ If man is still alive ♪
911
00:46:19,126 --> 00:46:22,251
I noticed a lot of girls I knew
had songs with their names in them.
912
00:46:22,334 --> 00:46:25,543
♪ Just walk away, Renee ♪
913
00:46:25,626 --> 00:46:31,084
♪ My Valleri ♪
914
00:46:31,168 --> 00:46:34,584
♪ And along comes Mary ♪
915
00:46:34,668 --> 00:46:37,751
♪ Windy has stormy eyes ♪
916
00:46:38,334 --> 00:46:43,209
♪ Jean, Jean, you're young ♪
917
00:46:43,293 --> 00:46:45,834
[Stan] There was one notable song
with a guy's name in it,
918
00:46:45,918 --> 00:46:47,126
but his name was Sue.
919
00:46:47,209 --> 00:46:49,043
♪ And my blood ran cold, and I said ♪
920
00:46:49,126 --> 00:46:50,876
♪ "My name is Sue" ♪
921
00:46:50,959 --> 00:46:52,418
♪ "How do you do?" ♪
922
00:46:53,084 --> 00:46:54,918
♪ "Now you gonna die…" ♪
923
00:46:55,709 --> 00:46:59,001
[Stan] We loved the ending
where they had to bleep out a curse word.
924
00:46:59,084 --> 00:47:01,584
♪ For the gravel in ya guts
And the spit in ya eye ♪
925
00:47:01,668 --> 00:47:04,918
♪ 'Cause I'm the bleep
That named you Sue ♪
926
00:47:05,459 --> 00:47:06,293
♪ Yeah ♪
927
00:47:06,376 --> 00:47:10,126
[Stan] It has to be said that this was
the height of the prank call era,
928
00:47:10,209 --> 00:47:12,126
more than a decade before caller ID.
929
00:47:12,209 --> 00:47:14,209
We ranged from the basics, like…
930
00:47:14,293 --> 00:47:15,876
Do you have Prince Albert in the can?
931
00:47:17,001 --> 00:47:18,876
Well, you'd better let him out.
932
00:47:18,959 --> 00:47:21,084
[all laughing]
933
00:47:21,168 --> 00:47:22,543
To the much more elaborate…
934
00:47:22,626 --> 00:47:26,834
[mimicking] Hello. It's Tommy O at KRB
and Name That Tune.
935
00:47:26,918 --> 00:47:28,626
Who am I speaking with?
936
00:47:28,709 --> 00:47:30,251
Um, my name is Martha.
937
00:47:30,334 --> 00:47:32,751
Martha? It's your lucky day, Martha!
938
00:47:32,834 --> 00:47:35,709
Our jackpot's up to $285,
939
00:47:35,793 --> 00:47:37,751
and it's all yours
if you can name this tune
940
00:47:37,834 --> 00:47:40,418
after hearing five seconds of the song.
941
00:47:40,501 --> 00:47:41,584
Are you ready?
942
00:47:41,668 --> 00:47:43,043
Um, I guess so.
943
00:47:43,543 --> 00:47:45,168
Name this tune.
944
00:47:48,626 --> 00:47:50,626
["Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell]
945
00:47:56,376 --> 00:47:58,918
Martha, can you name that tune?
946
00:47:59,001 --> 00:48:00,668
Is that "Wichita Lineman?"
947
00:48:00,751 --> 00:48:03,168
Yes! "Wichita Lineman"!
You've won the jackpot!
948
00:48:03,251 --> 00:48:04,918
[cheering]
949
00:48:05,001 --> 00:48:06,001
[telephone rings]
950
00:48:06,084 --> 00:48:08,251
Jana, go get that. Tell 'em we're eating.
951
00:48:09,626 --> 00:48:10,459
-Who is that?
952
00:48:10,543 --> 00:48:11,626
-So rude.
-I know.
953
00:48:11,709 --> 00:48:13,543
-Conversely, Dad had the answer…
-Hello?
954
00:48:13,626 --> 00:48:17,376
…when our household was the continual
target of one prank caller.
955
00:48:17,459 --> 00:48:18,376
It's him again.
956
00:48:18,959 --> 00:48:21,251
I got something for that little shit.
957
00:48:25,959 --> 00:48:26,793
Hello?
958
00:48:26,876 --> 00:48:27,876
[garbled voice]
959
00:48:27,959 --> 00:48:30,626
Oh, that's, uh… that's very interesting.
960
00:48:31,293 --> 00:48:33,959
Well, you listen carefully to this.
961
00:48:34,584 --> 00:48:36,459
-[whistle blasting]
-[all groan]
962
00:48:37,918 --> 00:48:39,584
-[sighs]
-[Vicky] Dad!
963
00:48:40,334 --> 00:48:42,543
That should split his eardrum.
964
00:48:42,626 --> 00:48:45,793
[Stan] I remember actually feeling
a little sorry for the prankster.
965
00:48:45,876 --> 00:48:47,834
Not sure the punishment fit the crime.
966
00:48:49,626 --> 00:48:52,084
When we weren't playing
in the Little League ourselves,
967
00:48:52,168 --> 00:48:54,668
we'd hang out at the fields
to watch our friends play
968
00:48:54,751 --> 00:48:57,501
and pretty much just fart around
and chase foul balls.
969
00:48:59,001 --> 00:49:01,959
[announcer] Bring that foul ball back
for a free snow cone!
970
00:49:02,043 --> 00:49:03,668
["Theme from Peter Gunn"
by Duane Eddy]
971
00:49:04,793 --> 00:49:07,418
-Okay.
-I'll have strawberry.
972
00:49:07,501 --> 00:49:10,918
-That's one foul ball.
-And a Chick-O-Stick.
973
00:49:13,209 --> 00:49:14,251
There's yours.
974
00:49:15,918 --> 00:49:16,751
And yours.
975
00:49:16,834 --> 00:49:18,376
Thank you, sir.
976
00:49:19,376 --> 00:49:22,959
[Stan] You could also get a free snow cone
by pickin' up a bag of trash.
977
00:49:33,751 --> 00:49:35,376
[announcer] I trust in God.
978
00:49:35,459 --> 00:49:36,751
I love my country
979
00:49:36,834 --> 00:49:38,501
-and will respect its laws.
-[repeating]
980
00:49:38,584 --> 00:49:41,043
I will play fair and strive to win.
981
00:49:41,126 --> 00:49:44,293
But win or lose, I will always do my best.
982
00:49:44,376 --> 00:49:50,126
Now look to the flag in center field
as we play our national anthem.
983
00:49:50,209 --> 00:49:52,209
["The Star-Spangled Banner" plays]
984
00:49:53,959 --> 00:49:56,584
[Stan] I felt so moved
by the Little League pledge
985
00:49:56,668 --> 00:49:59,334
and the national anthem
that I felt it wasn't important
986
00:49:59,418 --> 00:50:00,376
if we won or lost.
987
00:50:01,543 --> 00:50:05,251
That sentiment usually lasted
until about the first pitch of the game.
988
00:50:05,334 --> 00:50:07,334
[crowd yelling]
989
00:50:08,001 --> 00:50:10,043
[yelling and cheering]
990
00:50:18,168 --> 00:50:22,334
But there was no better babysitter
than a triple feature at the Majestic,
991
00:50:23,209 --> 00:50:25,668
which, despite its name,
was a pretty seedy theater.
992
00:50:26,376 --> 00:50:30,043
I remember one line-up that featured
a sci-fi movie called Countdown
993
00:50:30,126 --> 00:50:32,209
where the moon race ends
with us gettin' there,
994
00:50:32,293 --> 00:50:34,793
only to find
the Russians had made it there, too,
995
00:50:35,293 --> 00:50:38,168
but had, of course, died
in a crash landing of some kind.
996
00:50:39,126 --> 00:50:41,959
As a gesture,
the American astronaut puts out the flags
997
00:50:42,043 --> 00:50:44,793
of both the United States
and the Soviet Union.
998
00:50:45,668 --> 00:50:46,959
[man] Now a mad world!
999
00:50:47,543 --> 00:50:49,709
[Stan] And then
there were two scary movies.
1000
00:50:49,793 --> 00:50:51,376
-The Frozen Dead…
-[man] I must!
1001
00:50:51,459 --> 00:50:55,834
…where a mad Nazi scientist plans
to revive a number of frozen Nazi leaders.
1002
00:50:57,001 --> 00:50:58,293
[gunshot]
1003
00:50:58,918 --> 00:51:00,126
And It,
1004
00:51:00,626 --> 00:51:04,209
in which a crazed museum assistant,
played by Roddy McDowall,
1005
00:51:04,293 --> 00:51:08,709
brings a 16th-century golem to life
by putting a little scroll in its mouth.
1006
00:51:09,418 --> 00:51:11,751
It's indestructible,
according to the prophecy,
1007
00:51:11,834 --> 00:51:14,751
and becomes his accomplice
in murder and lots of mayhem.
1008
00:51:14,834 --> 00:51:15,668
Kill him!
1009
00:51:16,251 --> 00:51:17,334
[screams]
1010
00:51:22,959 --> 00:51:24,584
[roaring]
1011
00:51:25,168 --> 00:51:28,126
[Stan] The movie ends
with the golem walking into the sea.
1012
00:51:28,626 --> 00:51:30,543
There weren't really sequels back then,
1013
00:51:30,626 --> 00:51:33,501
so as far as I know,
the golem never came walking back out.
1014
00:51:33,584 --> 00:51:35,918
["A Taste of Honey"
by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass]
1015
00:51:38,043 --> 00:51:40,751
I'll never forget
the New Year's Eve party my parents had
1016
00:51:40,834 --> 00:51:44,376
as it was becoming
that fateful year of 1969.
1017
00:51:44,876 --> 00:51:46,709
While the adults partied inside,
1018
00:51:47,293 --> 00:51:51,418
most of us were in the backyard
where the Roman candle wars were raging.
1019
00:51:56,751 --> 00:51:58,334
And Byron's pyromania
1020
00:51:58,418 --> 00:52:02,293
had reached a new height
with a large chunk of drainage pipe,
1021
00:52:02,376 --> 00:52:03,876
a small explosion,
1022
00:52:03,959 --> 00:52:06,334
and a flaming softball across the sky.
1023
00:52:09,876 --> 00:52:11,959
[Dad] Are you guys ready
for the countdown?
1024
00:52:12,043 --> 00:52:13,709
Okay. Here we go.
1025
00:52:14,376 --> 00:52:16,459
[all] Ten, nine,
1026
00:52:16,543 --> 00:52:18,501
eight, seven,
1027
00:52:18,584 --> 00:52:19,876
six,
1028
00:52:19,959 --> 00:52:21,793
five, four,
1029
00:52:21,876 --> 00:52:24,501
three, two, one.
1030
00:52:24,584 --> 00:52:26,376
-Happy New Year!
-[party horns blare]
1031
00:52:26,459 --> 00:52:27,959
[all cheering]
1032
00:52:33,001 --> 00:52:34,668
["A Taste of Honey"]
1033
00:52:41,543 --> 00:52:45,209
[Stan] I guess this is as good a place
as any to return to where we left off.
1034
00:52:47,668 --> 00:52:49,876
Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want.
1035
00:52:49,959 --> 00:52:51,626
[rattling]
1036
00:52:51,709 --> 00:52:53,168
But here's what they told me…
1037
00:52:54,084 --> 00:52:56,668
Good job, Stan. You didn't pass out.
1038
00:52:56,751 --> 00:52:58,501
-[engines power down]
-[panting]
1039
00:52:58,584 --> 00:52:59,918
Don't worry about the vomit.
1040
00:53:00,001 --> 00:53:03,459
Every astronaut, from John Glenn
to Neil Armstrong, they all upchuck.
1041
00:53:03,543 --> 00:53:04,668
At least the first time.
1042
00:53:04,751 --> 00:53:06,001
["Dizzy" by Tommy Roe]
1043
00:53:06,084 --> 00:53:08,751
So while my childhood
had been fairly normal,
1044
00:53:08,834 --> 00:53:11,126
my time at NASA sure as hell wasn't.
1045
00:53:11,209 --> 00:53:14,126
I found myself in some intense training.
1046
00:53:14,209 --> 00:53:16,834
This one was actually called
the Vomit Comet.
1047
00:53:19,209 --> 00:53:20,668
♪ Dizzy ♪
1048
00:53:22,543 --> 00:53:24,126
♪ I'm so dizzy… ♪
1049
00:53:24,209 --> 00:53:26,334
I kind of loved 1/6th gravity,
1050
00:53:26,418 --> 00:53:29,459
but it was like learning to move around
with a whole new body.
1051
00:53:29,543 --> 00:53:33,918
And there was lots of classwork.
Not very exciting but necessary, I guess.
1052
00:53:34,959 --> 00:53:37,418
Underwater training
had been invented by Buzz Aldrin
1053
00:53:37,501 --> 00:53:39,543
after the failed Gemini space walk.
1054
00:53:40,043 --> 00:53:41,251
It was pretty scary.
1055
00:53:45,918 --> 00:53:47,584
♪ …make you mine… ♪
1056
00:53:49,626 --> 00:53:52,709
And they had all kinds
of survival scenarios to think about,
1057
00:53:52,793 --> 00:53:55,376
train in, and plan for just in case,
1058
00:53:55,959 --> 00:53:58,959
from gettin' stranded in a jungle
to havin' to tromp through a desert.
1059
00:54:00,209 --> 00:54:04,084
You had to be able to make clothes
and protective cover from your parachute.
1060
00:54:04,168 --> 00:54:06,084
♪ …playin' hard to get
I'm goin' around in… ♪
1061
00:54:06,168 --> 00:54:08,501
I remember thinkin'
that if this ended up my fate,
1062
00:54:09,001 --> 00:54:13,543
it would be the least of my problems,
like one of those Twilight Zone episodes.
1063
00:54:13,626 --> 00:54:16,584
♪ I'm so dizzy
My head is spinnin'… ♪
1064
00:54:16,668 --> 00:54:19,501
After I finished training,
they put me through a crash course…
1065
00:54:20,084 --> 00:54:22,376
Probably not the best term for it,
I guess.
1066
00:54:22,876 --> 00:54:25,793
…on how to fly all aspects
of what was now secretly being called
1067
00:54:25,876 --> 00:54:27,751
Apollo 10 1/2.
1068
00:54:28,251 --> 00:54:31,709
First, I had to learn every control,
even while blindfolded.
1069
00:54:31,793 --> 00:54:34,459
-♪ You're makin' me dizzy… ♪
-Altitude?
1070
00:54:36,001 --> 00:54:38,168
-Check.
-Event timer?
1071
00:54:38,251 --> 00:54:40,001
-[Stan] Check.
- Temp in?
1072
00:54:41,334 --> 00:54:42,168
Check.
1073
00:54:43,209 --> 00:54:44,751
[Stan] Simulation was one thing,
1074
00:54:44,834 --> 00:54:49,043
but to see what it felt like
to actually land a craft in 1/6th gravity,
1075
00:54:49,126 --> 00:54:50,543
they created this monster.
1076
00:54:50,626 --> 00:54:53,418
The Lunar Landing Training Vehicle,
1077
00:54:53,501 --> 00:54:55,084
or LLTV.
1078
00:54:55,168 --> 00:54:56,209
[engine roaring[
1079
00:54:56,918 --> 00:54:58,709
[short blasts of air]
1080
00:55:06,043 --> 00:55:09,001
Neil Armstrong had almost died
tryin' to land this thing.
1081
00:55:09,084 --> 00:55:12,293
He bailed out just seconds
before it crashed and exploded,
1082
00:55:12,376 --> 00:55:14,959
and he went to lunch
like nothing had happened.
1083
00:55:15,043 --> 00:55:18,793
[chuckles] That was Neil.
Always cool as a cucumber.
1084
00:55:19,626 --> 00:55:21,876
After you learned
everything about the ship,
1085
00:55:21,959 --> 00:55:23,876
it was time for integrated simulation.
1086
00:55:26,126 --> 00:55:29,209
Kranz, Bostick, and everybody
was at the mission control,
1087
00:55:29,293 --> 00:55:30,876
I was in the simulator,
1088
00:55:31,418 --> 00:55:34,459
and we were all being tested
by the simulation supervisors.
1089
00:55:35,334 --> 00:55:37,459
These ominous voices
behind a two-way mirror.
1090
00:55:37,543 --> 00:55:39,376
Leak started in CSM propulsion.
1091
00:55:39,459 --> 00:55:43,126
S-IVB engine shut down
during abort mode, overlap.
1092
00:55:43,209 --> 00:55:45,293
[Stan] They were known
as "sim sups" for short.
1093
00:55:45,376 --> 00:55:48,001
They'd sit behind their dark window
at mission control
1094
00:55:48,084 --> 00:55:51,334
and come up with the most diabolical
scenarios you could imagine,
1095
00:55:52,459 --> 00:55:55,584
so that no matter what happened
out there in space, you'd be ready.
1096
00:55:56,168 --> 00:55:59,751
I heard, during the Gemini program,
they had a controller fake a heart attack
1097
00:55:59,834 --> 00:56:01,709
to see how everyone would respond.
1098
00:56:02,584 --> 00:56:04,418
Everyone pretty much hated him.
1099
00:56:04,501 --> 00:56:05,834
Okay, last simulation.
1100
00:56:05,918 --> 00:56:09,209
Let's knock this out,
land safely, and call it a day,
1101
00:56:09,293 --> 00:56:11,918
hopefully in time for some beers
at the Singing Wheel.
1102
00:56:12,001 --> 00:56:13,418
Well, Coke for you, Stan.
1103
00:56:14,001 --> 00:56:15,459
Tang's good for me, Flight.
1104
00:56:16,043 --> 00:56:18,584
All right. You are a go for power descent.
1105
00:56:18,668 --> 00:56:21,126
Okay. Engine start. 10% thrust.
1106
00:56:21,834 --> 00:56:22,709
Lookin' good.
1107
00:56:23,293 --> 00:56:24,918
You are go for full throttle.
1108
00:56:25,001 --> 00:56:26,376
Full throttle.
1109
00:56:26,459 --> 00:56:27,751
Thousand feet.
1110
00:56:29,043 --> 00:56:30,709
[alarm wails]
1111
00:56:31,626 --> 00:56:35,001
Getting a 1201 program alarm.
1112
00:56:36,084 --> 00:56:38,876
-1201? Bales, what the hell is that?
-Hold on.
1113
00:56:39,626 --> 00:56:40,834
[Stan] 750 feet.
1114
00:56:40,918 --> 00:56:43,168
"Computer overload.
Can't complete all tasks."
1115
00:56:43,251 --> 00:56:45,001
All systems seem in order.
1116
00:56:45,584 --> 00:56:46,876
Jack, what's goin' on here?
1117
00:56:47,626 --> 00:56:50,209
It's a bailout alarm. The computer's
overloaded for some reason.
1118
00:56:51,751 --> 00:56:54,043
500 feet. Looks fine on my end.
1119
00:56:54,626 --> 00:56:55,709
400 feet.
1120
00:56:55,793 --> 00:56:56,626
Wait!
1121
00:56:56,709 --> 00:56:58,584
1202 alarm!
1122
00:56:58,668 --> 00:57:00,043
1202?
1123
00:57:00,126 --> 00:57:02,751
I-- I can't see a thing wrong,
but this isn't good.
1124
00:57:02,834 --> 00:57:04,209
I-- I think it's time to abort.
1125
00:57:05,459 --> 00:57:07,918
Flight guidance, something's wrong
with the computer. Abort.
1126
00:57:08,834 --> 00:57:10,209
Are we gonna abort flight?
1127
00:57:11,668 --> 00:57:13,751
-Flight abort.
-Darn it! Abort!
1128
00:57:16,126 --> 00:57:17,376
[alarm stops]
1129
00:57:17,459 --> 00:57:18,959
This was not an abort!
1130
00:57:19,043 --> 00:57:21,334
-[all sigh]
-If you'd read the manual thoroughly,
1131
00:57:21,418 --> 00:57:23,584
you would have known
to continue on the landing.
1132
00:57:23,668 --> 00:57:25,459
Instead, we now have astronauts
1133
00:57:25,543 --> 00:57:28,084
comin' back to Earth
with their tail between their legs,
1134
00:57:28,168 --> 00:57:30,251
a billion tax dollars wasted,
1135
00:57:30,334 --> 00:57:32,543
and front-row seats watching the Russians
1136
00:57:32,626 --> 00:57:35,001
plant their flags up there in August!
1137
00:57:35,084 --> 00:57:36,084
[sighs]
1138
00:57:37,709 --> 00:57:38,543
You happy?
1139
00:57:43,334 --> 00:57:45,918
[Stan] By the time I was really up there,
ready for liftoff,
1140
00:57:46,001 --> 00:57:49,251
I was actually very calm,
because I felt I had already done it.
1141
00:57:49,751 --> 00:57:51,626
They had whipped me into fighting shape.
1142
00:57:52,126 --> 00:57:54,293
I remember
bein' more excited than nervous.
1143
00:57:54,793 --> 00:57:56,209
Maybe too calm, come to think of it.
1144
00:57:56,293 --> 00:57:57,376
Stan, are you ready?
1145
00:57:57,876 --> 00:57:58,876
Ready.
1146
00:58:00,251 --> 00:58:01,793
[engine roars]
1147
00:58:01,876 --> 00:58:03,543
[radio chatter]
1148
00:58:03,626 --> 00:58:05,626
So it was off to the moon and back.
1149
00:58:05,709 --> 00:58:09,501
We carried out Apollo 10 1/2's
secret mission without a hitch.
1150
00:58:10,001 --> 00:58:12,293
But then it was like it never happened.
1151
00:58:12,376 --> 00:58:14,709
No headlines.
No ticker-tape parade for me.
1152
00:58:15,293 --> 00:58:17,584
I couldn't tell anyone, even my family.
1153
00:58:18,626 --> 00:58:23,251
When Apollo 11 launched on July 16th
and landed on the moon four days later,
1154
00:58:23,334 --> 00:58:26,126
I was watching it on TV
like everyone else around the world.
1155
00:58:27,126 --> 00:58:29,543
But to me,
it felt like it was some kind of dream.
1156
00:58:30,043 --> 00:58:33,876
I was the only person on Earth who knew
exactly what they were experiencing.
1157
00:58:33,959 --> 00:58:35,668
It was like I was up there with them.
1158
00:58:36,918 --> 00:58:37,834
But I wasn't.
1159
00:58:39,084 --> 00:58:40,084
I was here.
1160
00:58:42,959 --> 00:58:44,751
[Dad] You see the Saturn V right there?
1161
00:58:44,834 --> 00:58:47,876
They put it on a barge in Huntsville,
Alabama, where they built it.
1162
00:58:47,959 --> 00:58:51,293
Then it goes up to Tennessee and Ohio,
then shoots on down the Mississippi.
1163
00:58:51,376 --> 00:58:54,501
Goes across the Gulf of Mexico,
rounding the tip of Florida,
1164
00:58:54,584 --> 00:58:56,459
then they drop it off at Cape Kennedy.
1165
00:58:56,543 --> 00:59:00,543
Now, of course, if it was to come here,
you'll wanna take a right at the Gulf,
1166
00:59:00,626 --> 00:59:03,751
then it's pretty much
Galveston Bay, then Clear Lake,
1167
00:59:03,834 --> 00:59:07,293
and then we could walk across
NASA Road 1 and pick it up from there.
1168
00:59:07,376 --> 00:59:09,668
[narrator] …check of all the systems
aboard the spacecraft…
1169
00:59:09,751 --> 00:59:12,001
-And you're in charge of all that?
-…ready to go…
1170
00:59:12,084 --> 00:59:14,709
If that's not shipping and receiving,
I don't know what is.
1171
00:59:14,793 --> 00:59:18,751
…Eastern time.
That huge, 36-story-high launch vehicle…
1172
00:59:18,834 --> 00:59:21,584
But, no, Kyle in Florida
takes care of most of the details.
1173
00:59:21,668 --> 00:59:26,251
T-minus 34 minutes and counting,
with everything going well.
1174
00:59:26,334 --> 00:59:28,959
Astronauts fit as a fiddle,
according to the report,
1175
00:59:29,043 --> 00:59:33,209
as they wait there
for the launch of Apollo 11.
1176
00:59:33,293 --> 00:59:34,626
The spacecraft systems
1177
00:59:34,709 --> 00:59:37,418
are checking out perfectly
in these final checkouts.
1178
00:59:37,501 --> 00:59:39,668
The weather is good,
1179
00:59:39,751 --> 00:59:42,459
and it seems
that man will get off this morning
1180
00:59:42,543 --> 00:59:46,251
in this great adventure
to land finally on the moon…
1181
00:59:46,334 --> 00:59:47,543
Are you nervous at all?
1182
00:59:47,626 --> 00:59:50,251
- No, not really.
- Why would Dad be nervous?
1183
00:59:50,334 --> 00:59:51,168
I'm not!
1184
00:59:51,251 --> 00:59:54,959
Well, hon, your dad is a part of this too.
1185
00:59:55,043 --> 00:59:56,793
So many people are.
1186
00:59:57,293 --> 01:00:01,959
…we really don't have a language
to… to describe this thing.
1187
01:00:02,043 --> 01:00:06,418
Uh, how do you say, uh…
"high as the sky" anymore?
1188
01:00:06,501 --> 01:00:08,459
"The sky's the limit."
What does that mean?
1189
01:00:08,543 --> 01:00:11,918
Does the moon
seem strange and far away to you?
1190
01:00:12,001 --> 01:00:14,793
No, not really.
There's things further out than the moon.
1191
01:00:14,876 --> 01:00:17,376
[reporter] And is it true
that the young people…
1192
01:00:17,459 --> 01:00:20,376
[Arthur C. Clarke] So now, of course,
I'm thinking about the next thing.
1193
01:00:20,459 --> 01:00:22,043
Mars and beyond.
1194
01:00:22,126 --> 01:00:26,168
You're thinking of Mars and beyond?
We haven't gotten to the moon yet, Arthur!
1195
01:00:26,251 --> 01:00:29,876
That's the nature
of you science-fiction writers, I suppose.
1196
01:00:29,959 --> 01:00:31,709
We'll find some surprises on the moon.
1197
01:00:31,793 --> 01:00:34,834
Not necessarily on this first flight,
but I'm sure eventually.
1198
01:00:35,293 --> 01:00:38,459
I don't know if they'll find a large
black monolith waiting for us on the moon.
1199
01:00:38,543 --> 01:00:41,376
[Walter Cronkite laughs]
A reference to 2001…
1200
01:00:41,459 --> 01:00:44,001
-Would you like to--
-Stan! Get in here! It's about to launch!
1201
01:00:50,918 --> 01:00:54,459
[reporter] Well, the, uh, engines
that generate that thrust
1202
01:00:54,543 --> 01:00:59,793
have a combined horsepower
equal to 543 jet fighter planes.
1203
01:00:59,876 --> 01:01:04,668
They burn 5,662,000 pounds of fuel,
1204
01:01:04,751 --> 01:01:07,543
the equivalent of 98 railroad tank cars,
1205
01:01:07,626 --> 01:01:11,209
the capacity of a small town's water tank.
1206
01:01:11,918 --> 01:01:17,668
Their launch vehicle there weighs
as much as the submarine Nautilus.
1207
01:01:18,334 --> 01:01:21,834
Liftoff, the noise reaches 120 decibels
and has been compared
1208
01:01:21,918 --> 01:01:25,084
to eight million hi-fi sets
playing at once.
1209
01:01:42,459 --> 01:01:44,751
Controllers,
we need a go-no-go for launch.
1210
01:01:44,834 --> 01:01:46,168
-[man] Go, flight controllers.
-Go.
1211
01:01:46,251 --> 01:01:47,376
-Okay. Retro.
-Go.
1212
01:01:47,459 --> 01:01:48,501
-FIDO. Guidance.
-Go.
1213
01:01:48,584 --> 01:01:49,501
-Go.
-Control.
1214
01:01:49,584 --> 01:01:50,668
-Go.
-Telcom.
1215
01:01:50,751 --> 01:01:52,001
-[sighs]
-GNC.
1216
01:01:52,084 --> 01:01:53,168
-Eecom. Surgeon.
-Go.
1217
01:01:53,251 --> 01:01:55,209
CapCom, we're go to continue.
1218
01:01:55,293 --> 01:01:57,084
T-minus 60 seconds and counting.
1219
01:01:59,418 --> 01:02:00,793
All right, 64-zero-five.
1220
01:02:00,876 --> 01:02:04,876
As tonight's report, it feels good.
T-minus 25 seconds.
1221
01:02:06,709 --> 01:02:09,334
-Move! Your head's in the way.
-20 seconds and counting.
1222
01:02:09,418 --> 01:02:10,626
Yeah, come on.
1223
01:02:11,126 --> 01:02:12,709
T-minus 15 seconds.
1224
01:02:12,793 --> 01:02:14,751
-Guidance is internal.
-A little lower.
1225
01:02:14,834 --> 01:02:16,418
Twelve. Eleven.
1226
01:02:16,501 --> 01:02:20,626
Ten. Nine. Ignition sequence start.
1227
01:02:20,709 --> 01:02:22,834
Six. Five.
1228
01:02:22,918 --> 01:02:24,626
Four. Three.
1229
01:02:24,709 --> 01:02:26,626
Two. One.
1230
01:02:26,709 --> 01:02:28,959
Zero. All engine running.
1231
01:02:29,459 --> 01:02:30,418
Liftoff.
1232
01:02:30,501 --> 01:02:31,959
We have a liftoff.
1233
01:02:53,334 --> 01:02:55,668
[man] The program, of which Apollo 11…
1234
01:02:55,751 --> 01:02:57,334
[reporter] Buildings shaking.
1235
01:02:57,834 --> 01:03:00,376
We're getting that buffeting
we've become used to.
1236
01:03:01,918 --> 01:03:05,418
What a moment. Man on the way to the moon.
1237
01:03:09,793 --> 01:03:11,709
It's looking good, Flight.
Right down the middle.
1238
01:03:11,793 --> 01:03:13,459
[man] Flight, they all look good.
1239
01:03:21,918 --> 01:03:24,418
[reporter] Looks like a good trajectory
so far, doesn't it, Wally?
1240
01:03:24,501 --> 01:03:25,959
[Cronkite] Very good. Very good.
1241
01:03:27,543 --> 01:03:29,168
[breathing shakily]
1242
01:03:29,251 --> 01:03:31,293
Downrange one mile.
1243
01:03:32,209 --> 01:03:35,168
-Three, four miles.
-[man] …it's confirmed…
1244
01:03:35,251 --> 01:03:37,543
2,195 feet per second.
1245
01:03:38,209 --> 01:03:39,834
[reporter] Everything fell into place.
1246
01:03:39,918 --> 01:03:42,001
-[Cronkite] Still see it?
-[reporter] Yes, indeed.
1247
01:03:44,668 --> 01:03:45,918
-Okay.
-[exhales]
1248
01:03:46,001 --> 01:03:47,293
First separation, get ready.
1249
01:03:47,376 --> 01:03:49,001
Bird, you're looking good.
1250
01:03:49,793 --> 01:03:51,126
[clattering]
1251
01:03:52,709 --> 01:03:54,709
[engine's roar fading]
1252
01:03:58,418 --> 01:04:02,043
[woman 1] But you know what? This terrific
bikini was made by a paper company.
1253
01:04:02,918 --> 01:04:04,543
[woman 2] Confil's fantastic!
1254
01:04:05,043 --> 01:04:09,334
It is like paper in one way.
So cheap, you can just throw it away.
1255
01:04:09,418 --> 01:04:10,626
-[chuckles]
-[man 1] Confil.
1256
01:04:10,709 --> 01:04:12,918
Well, on that note…
1257
01:04:13,001 --> 01:04:15,668
[groans] …I've got things to do.
1258
01:04:16,418 --> 01:04:18,709
[man 2] This is the coffee.
1259
01:04:20,626 --> 01:04:22,584
It doesn't care that it looks different.
1260
01:04:23,876 --> 01:04:25,376
It's the way coffee is--
1261
01:04:26,793 --> 01:04:30,001
This is Jethro Bodine calling space people
by mental telepathy.
1262
01:04:30,501 --> 01:04:32,501
You're probably lookin'
for a big Earth brain
1263
01:04:32,584 --> 01:04:34,751
to take back to Venus or Mars or wherever…
1264
01:04:35,334 --> 01:04:36,834
[speaking Italian]
1265
01:04:37,668 --> 01:04:39,209
They must be Martians!
1266
01:04:39,293 --> 01:04:40,626
-[laughter]
-Eh, cosi, cosa.
1267
01:04:41,418 --> 01:04:43,459
-[Elly May] What are they saying?
-Okay. Wait a sec.
1268
01:04:43,543 --> 01:04:45,876
What is this crap? Jethro!
1269
01:04:47,001 --> 01:04:48,459
Where is the coverage?
1270
01:04:48,543 --> 01:04:49,834
[changes channel]
1271
01:04:49,918 --> 01:04:53,418
-[reporter] This third stage…
-Come on. It's a historic day.
1272
01:04:53,501 --> 01:04:56,501
…five minutes and 47 seconds
to increase their speed…
1273
01:04:56,584 --> 01:04:58,334
Historically boring day.
1274
01:04:58,418 --> 01:05:01,084
-Pardon?
-…put them on the way to the moon.
1275
01:05:01,168 --> 01:05:02,001
Nothing.
1276
01:05:02,084 --> 01:05:03,959
26,000 feet per second.
1277
01:05:05,834 --> 01:05:08,168
-Burn is going well.
-[loud roaring]
1278
01:05:08,251 --> 01:05:11,626
Ignition came right at the moment
when it was expected to.
1279
01:05:13,209 --> 01:05:16,168
Apparently,
the full thrust has been monitored.
1280
01:05:16,251 --> 01:05:19,084
Telemetry and radar tracking both solid.
1281
01:05:19,709 --> 01:05:22,334
Velocity now exceeds
35,000 feet per second.
1282
01:05:22,418 --> 01:05:24,959
Altitude, one, seven, seven
nautical miles.
1283
01:05:26,084 --> 01:05:28,001
You are now out of orbit, Stan.
1284
01:05:34,834 --> 01:05:37,834
Seem to have trouble
raising the Apollo at the moment.
1285
01:05:40,001 --> 01:05:43,918
So an engine cutoff, they confirmed.
We haven't heard from the spacecraft.
1286
01:05:47,376 --> 01:05:49,001
[static crackling]
1287
01:05:50,293 --> 01:05:53,334
These minutes give us great concern.
1288
01:05:54,126 --> 01:05:56,626
-[bleep]
-Apollo 10 1/2, this is Houston.
1289
01:05:56,709 --> 01:05:57,668
Do you read?
1290
01:05:58,834 --> 01:06:02,668
["Journey to the Center of the Mind"
by Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes]
1291
01:06:02,751 --> 01:06:05,959
Roger, Houston. This is Apollo 10 1/2.
1292
01:06:06,043 --> 01:06:08,251
-That was a magnificent ride.
-[bleep]
1293
01:06:08,334 --> 01:06:10,793
[Kranz] Roger, Apollo 10 1/2.
We'll pass that on.
1294
01:06:10,876 --> 01:06:13,668
And it looks like
you are well on your way.
1295
01:06:13,751 --> 01:06:14,584
[bleep]
1296
01:06:16,126 --> 01:06:18,126
♪ Come along if you can ♪
1297
01:06:19,376 --> 01:06:21,001
♪ Come along if you can… ♪
1298
01:06:21,918 --> 01:06:24,751
[Stan] And that was
the beginning of my trip to the moon.
1299
01:06:25,251 --> 01:06:28,084
Even though I was movin'
at 7,500 miles per hour…
1300
01:06:28,168 --> 01:06:32,709
[chuckles] …it sure felt to me like
three and a half very long travel days.
1301
01:06:33,584 --> 01:06:39,626
♪ Would take the time to journey
To the center of the mind ♪
1302
01:06:40,334 --> 01:06:42,334
-♪ Would take the time to… ♪
- Three. Two…
1303
01:06:42,418 --> 01:06:44,959
[Stan] The coverage continued
on the TV, of course,
1304
01:06:45,043 --> 01:06:46,501
and the growing anticipation
1305
01:06:46,584 --> 01:06:49,209
of what was going to happen
in a few days was ever present.
1306
01:06:49,293 --> 01:06:50,168
Not this time!
1307
01:06:50,251 --> 01:06:53,084
But a few days flyin' to the moon
is a long time.
1308
01:06:53,668 --> 01:06:57,084
-And it was summer.
-Dark Shadows is starting without us!
1309
01:06:57,168 --> 01:06:58,668
All right! Bye, guys!
1310
01:06:58,751 --> 01:07:00,459
Bye. Tomorrow.
1311
01:07:01,043 --> 01:07:03,418
-[horns honk]
-That night we went to the drive-in.
1312
01:07:04,001 --> 01:07:06,918
-Hi.
-Deploying Dad's money-saving scheme.
1313
01:07:07,001 --> 01:07:08,876
Four adults. And then two of them…
1314
01:07:09,834 --> 01:07:11,918
are children that are under 12,
1315
01:07:12,001 --> 01:07:14,668
so if they're under 12,
that's, you know, free.
1316
01:07:15,251 --> 01:07:17,834
Okay. That's $6.
1317
01:07:18,626 --> 01:07:19,959
You better believe it is.
1318
01:07:26,376 --> 01:07:28,001
-[giggling]
-[Stephanie] Come on!
1319
01:07:29,709 --> 01:07:30,584
Quick!
1320
01:07:30,668 --> 01:07:31,959
[Vicky] Come up!
1321
01:07:33,043 --> 01:07:34,626
-Oh jeez!
-Sh, sh!
1322
01:07:35,251 --> 01:07:36,751
-[chuckling]
-[Stan] I'm in!
1323
01:07:38,751 --> 01:07:42,168
-[Greg] We wanna see Hellfighters!
-[Mom] No. No movie with the word "hell".
1324
01:07:42,251 --> 01:07:45,959
-It's filmed in Houston with John Wayne!
-[Jana] I want Swiss Family Robinson!
1325
01:07:46,043 --> 01:07:49,126
[Greg] You can stay here
and watch Swiss Family Robinson.
1326
01:07:49,626 --> 01:07:51,126
[Stan] We're going to see Hellfighters.
1327
01:07:51,209 --> 01:07:53,209
-Okay, fine.
-All right, fine.
1328
01:07:53,293 --> 01:07:56,793
The car will stay on the Shakiest Gun
in the West, Swiss Family Robinson side.
1329
01:07:56,876 --> 01:07:58,293
Just get back when it's over!
1330
01:07:58,376 --> 01:07:59,543
-[Stan] Yes, Dad!
-[Greg] Okay!
1331
01:07:59,626 --> 01:08:02,834
-What did he just say?
-[kids] Get back when it's over!
1332
01:08:02,918 --> 01:08:05,251
-♪ …as a man ♪
-Thank you.
1333
01:08:05,334 --> 01:08:08,668
-♪ He's the shakiest gun in the West ♪
- Hold on. Settle in.
1334
01:08:08,751 --> 01:08:12,084
-♪ Yeah, the shakiest gun in the West ♪
- Oh yeah. That's real nice.
1335
01:08:15,709 --> 01:08:18,209
[Stan] It was always fun
to just roam around.
1336
01:08:18,293 --> 01:08:20,709
We'd go lookin' for couples
makin' out in their cars.
1337
01:08:21,376 --> 01:08:24,376
The best giveaway was a car
that's brake light was goin' on and off.
1338
01:08:24,459 --> 01:08:26,834
[man] …section of drill pipe
you see sticking out of the hole
1339
01:08:26,918 --> 01:08:30,501
has to be cut off right at the well head
before they can move in with the nitro.
1340
01:08:30,584 --> 01:08:32,293
[man 2] It's spreading the flame…
1341
01:08:33,668 --> 01:08:36,168
[Stan] This was the last phase
of childhood where I experienced
1342
01:08:36,251 --> 01:08:39,168
that special comfort
of falling asleep in the car.
1343
01:08:40,543 --> 01:08:41,709
[crickets chirping]
1344
01:08:41,793 --> 01:08:44,751
You could drift off,
knowing everything was going to be fine.
1345
01:08:45,251 --> 01:08:47,709
And you'd wake up the next morning
in your bed.
1346
01:08:49,293 --> 01:08:51,543
In space, it was a little more lonely.
1347
01:08:53,543 --> 01:08:55,584
["Come on Down to My Boat"
by Every Mother's Son]
1348
01:08:57,293 --> 01:09:00,293
The next day, we all went to the beach
in our friend's pickup.
1349
01:09:00,376 --> 01:09:02,168
It was about a one-hour drive.
1350
01:09:07,126 --> 01:09:10,793
Galveston, oh, Galveston.
It was the only beach we knew.
1351
01:09:10,876 --> 01:09:14,918
♪ She sits on the dock
Fishin' in the water, uh-huh… ♪
1352
01:09:15,001 --> 01:09:19,001
But it was always so fun.
Cars and gritty hot dogs be damned!
1353
01:09:19,084 --> 01:09:22,668
♪ I don't know her name
She's the fisherman's daughter, uh-huh… ♪
1354
01:09:22,751 --> 01:09:26,626
And just by goin' in the water, we were,
to some degree, risking our lives
1355
01:09:27,293 --> 01:09:30,584
because there was an undertow
that would gladly pull you underwater
1356
01:09:30,668 --> 01:09:33,043
and kick you out somewhere in Louisiana.
1357
01:09:33,709 --> 01:09:34,793
If that didn't get you,
1358
01:09:34,876 --> 01:09:38,084
there were jellyfish floatin' around
everywhere, ready to sting you,
1359
01:09:38,168 --> 01:09:41,626
and barnacles on the random posts
sticking out of the water,
1360
01:09:41,709 --> 01:09:43,334
ready to rip you to shreds.
1361
01:09:44,209 --> 01:09:46,334
It seemed like
there was always an oil spill
1362
01:09:46,418 --> 01:09:50,668
somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico,
resulting in little tar balls everywhere.
1363
01:09:51,168 --> 01:09:52,251
At the end of the day,
1364
01:09:52,334 --> 01:09:55,376
we'd scrub our tar-blackened feet clean
with gasoline.
1365
01:09:55,459 --> 01:09:58,293
And during these days,
because of the moon mission,
1366
01:09:58,376 --> 01:10:01,584
-the TV was full of classic sci-fi movies.
-[air-raid siren wailing]
1367
01:10:01,668 --> 01:10:02,584
The most memorable
1368
01:10:02,668 --> 01:10:07,126
was maybe the 1950 version
of Robert Heinlein's Destination Moon
1369
01:10:07,209 --> 01:10:09,251
which predicted nearly 20 years in advance
1370
01:10:09,334 --> 01:10:12,251
so much of what would actually happen
in 1969.
1371
01:10:13,334 --> 01:10:15,709
It's amazing everything it got right.
1372
01:10:15,793 --> 01:10:17,459
The initial failed launch.
1373
01:10:18,251 --> 01:10:20,376
A Texan demanding it all be built here.
1374
01:10:20,459 --> 01:10:23,376
Well, all I gotta say is
we'd better build it in Texas.
1375
01:10:23,459 --> 01:10:24,668
[Stan] G-forces.
1376
01:10:24,751 --> 01:10:25,876
Weightlessness.
1377
01:10:26,793 --> 01:10:27,918
Looking back at Earth.
1378
01:10:28,501 --> 01:10:29,918
-[chuckles]
-[man on film shouts]
1379
01:10:30,001 --> 01:10:32,584
-Whoa, whoa, whoa. What--
-What are you doing?
1380
01:10:32,668 --> 01:10:34,709
-Janis Joplin's on Dick Cavett.
-[man] …was all over…
1381
01:10:34,793 --> 01:10:37,376
-[Joplin] No, uh…
-Yeah, the movie's not even over yet.
1382
01:10:37,459 --> 01:10:39,959
The boys have dominated the TV all night.
It's our turn.
1383
01:10:40,043 --> 01:10:41,959
May I light your fire, my child?
1384
01:10:42,043 --> 01:10:43,459
[laughter]
1385
01:10:44,251 --> 01:10:47,001
That's my favorite singer. How'd you know?
1386
01:10:48,251 --> 01:10:49,834
-I guess not.
-Apparently not, no.
1387
01:10:50,918 --> 01:10:52,876
Well, I would have bet against it myself…
1388
01:10:52,959 --> 01:10:54,334
Oof! Stan!
1389
01:10:54,418 --> 01:10:55,668
-Get off!
-[Stan] No!
1390
01:10:55,751 --> 01:10:58,293
-To get down and really get into music…
-[Vicky] No, no. Stop it!
1391
01:10:58,376 --> 01:10:59,876
-…get on the bottom floor of music…
-No!
1392
01:10:59,959 --> 01:11:02,626
…instead of fiddling on the top
like most chick singers do.
1393
01:11:02,709 --> 01:11:05,876
I think they…
[vocalizes] …on the top of the melody
1394
01:11:05,959 --> 01:11:08,376
instead of getting into the feeling
of the music, I don't know.
1395
01:11:09,209 --> 01:11:11,501
-[laughs]
-That's a good enough answer for me.
1396
01:11:11,584 --> 01:11:13,293
[Stan] We spent a good part
of the next day,
1397
01:11:13,376 --> 01:11:15,543
like so many other hot summer days,
1398
01:11:15,626 --> 01:11:16,834
just hangin' out at the pool.
1399
01:11:17,459 --> 01:11:19,459
We all had our diving board specialties.
1400
01:11:19,543 --> 01:11:21,668
I had perfected the jackknife,
1401
01:11:21,751 --> 01:11:24,918
the cannonball,
and the lesser-known preacher's seat.
1402
01:11:26,709 --> 01:11:29,334
Greg was good at creating
some dives of his own.
1403
01:11:29,918 --> 01:11:30,834
[kids groan]
1404
01:11:31,668 --> 01:11:35,168
But the highlight was probably
gettin' to have a Frito pie for lunch,
1405
01:11:35,751 --> 01:11:38,501
which was just a bag of Fritos
with the side split open
1406
01:11:38,584 --> 01:11:40,126
and a bunch of chili mixed in.
1407
01:11:42,043 --> 01:11:43,209
[splashing]
1408
01:11:58,209 --> 01:12:00,293
[dial clicking]
1409
01:12:00,876 --> 01:12:02,376
[flipping switches]
1410
01:12:04,626 --> 01:12:06,251
By the time I entered lunar orbit,
1411
01:12:06,334 --> 01:12:09,668
I was traveling at 2,287 miles per hour
1412
01:12:10,334 --> 01:12:13,293
and around a celestial body
that's never had an Earthling on it.
1413
01:12:14,918 --> 01:12:18,334
I looked down as I was passing over
the Sea of Tranquility.
1414
01:12:18,918 --> 01:12:21,209
It didn't look too tranquil to me.
1415
01:12:21,293 --> 01:12:23,709
Where in the world was I gonna land?
1416
01:12:24,751 --> 01:12:26,126
Hello. I'm Johnny Cash.
1417
01:12:26,209 --> 01:12:27,209
[cheering]
1418
01:12:27,293 --> 01:12:29,334
[Stan] When we got home
from the pool that night,
1419
01:12:29,418 --> 01:12:31,501
we all watched The Johnny Cash Show.
1420
01:12:31,584 --> 01:12:33,543
Ladies and gentlemen, the Monkees!
1421
01:12:33,626 --> 01:12:34,668
[Jana and Stephanie squeal]
1422
01:12:34,751 --> 01:12:36,334
-It's them, it's really them!
-Oh my gosh!
1423
01:12:36,418 --> 01:12:37,668
Davy is so cute!
1424
01:12:37,751 --> 01:12:39,834
[Stan] We'd rushed home
because Stephanie and Jana said
1425
01:12:39,918 --> 01:12:42,501
-the Monkees were gonna be on.
-♪ …see you again ♪
1426
01:12:42,584 --> 01:12:44,126
♪ We'll have one more night… ♪
1427
01:12:44,209 --> 01:12:47,251
There was Micky, Davy, and Mike,
but where was Peter?
1428
01:12:47,334 --> 01:12:49,293
♪ …my train and I must go ♪
1429
01:12:49,876 --> 01:12:51,293
♪ Oh, no, no, no ♪
1430
01:12:51,376 --> 01:12:53,751
[Stan] And then later,
there was Joni Mitchell
1431
01:12:53,834 --> 01:12:55,459
singin' a duet with Johnny.
1432
01:12:55,543 --> 01:12:57,668
♪ She comes to my grave ♪
1433
01:12:57,751 --> 01:13:02,251
♪ And she moans over my bones ♪
1434
01:13:02,334 --> 01:13:05,751
-She has the most interesting voice.
-♪ She walks these hills in a long… ♪
1435
01:13:05,834 --> 01:13:08,543
She's such a versatile artist.
She's a painter too.
1436
01:13:09,793 --> 01:13:12,668
♪ She visits my grave ♪
1437
01:13:12,751 --> 01:13:19,709
♪ When the night winds wail ♪
1438
01:13:20,584 --> 01:13:24,668
[Stan] Then the big day came.
July 20th, 1969.
1439
01:13:25,751 --> 01:13:28,501
They were going to land on the moon
some time in the afternoon
1440
01:13:28,584 --> 01:13:30,668
and walk on it in the evening.
1441
01:13:30,751 --> 01:13:33,126
But Dad had a surprise option for us.
1442
01:13:33,209 --> 01:13:34,584
Okay. We've been given
1443
01:13:34,668 --> 01:13:36,626
-some discounted tickets to AstroWorld.
-[gasps]
1444
01:13:36,709 --> 01:13:38,334
-But they're only good for today.
-[sighs]
1445
01:13:38,418 --> 01:13:40,334
So you can go, obviously,
1446
01:13:40,418 --> 01:13:44,793
or you can stay here with us and watch
the news coverage of the moon landing.
1447
01:13:44,876 --> 01:13:46,251
[both] AstroWorld!
1448
01:13:47,001 --> 01:13:49,043
But won't we miss the landing?
1449
01:13:49,126 --> 01:13:52,418
No, they're not scheduled to walk
until later today, so you'll be home.
1450
01:13:52,501 --> 01:13:55,168
-[Greg] Yes!
-I'll tell you what. Let's vote.
1451
01:13:55,251 --> 01:13:57,918
-Vicky, what's your day lookin' like?
-I'm working till five.
1452
01:13:58,918 --> 01:14:00,959
-Steve?
-I have a couple of yards.
1453
01:14:01,043 --> 01:14:02,043
Of course.
1454
01:14:02,959 --> 01:14:04,251
And you four?
1455
01:14:04,751 --> 01:14:07,793
-Who's up for some AstroWorld?
-Yeah!
1456
01:14:08,626 --> 01:14:11,251
[Stan] No one could pass up a trip
to AstroWorld.
1457
01:14:11,334 --> 01:14:12,751
It was the greatest place of all.
1458
01:14:13,584 --> 01:14:17,543
It was a huge amusement park right across
the freeway from the Astrodome,
1459
01:14:18,043 --> 01:14:19,959
and Houston's version of Disneyland.
1460
01:14:20,459 --> 01:14:23,209
A place of non-stop adventure
and excitement.
1461
01:14:23,876 --> 01:14:26,793
Seemed like everything was "Astro."
The Astro Wheel.
1462
01:14:26,876 --> 01:14:28,668
["Psychotic Reaction" by Count Five]
1463
01:14:28,751 --> 01:14:29,918
The Astro Needle.
1464
01:14:30,751 --> 01:14:31,793
Astro Way.
1465
01:14:32,709 --> 01:14:34,251
Then there was the Black Dragon.
1466
01:14:35,543 --> 01:14:36,709
The Bamboo Chute.
1467
01:14:37,376 --> 01:14:39,084
And the Spin Out car ride.
1468
01:14:40,043 --> 01:14:43,126
The Lost World jungle boat ride
featured alligators
1469
01:14:43,209 --> 01:14:45,376
and restless natives firing arrows at you.
1470
01:14:46,501 --> 01:14:50,459
Our usual strategy was to get there early,
right when the gates opened,
1471
01:14:50,959 --> 01:14:54,459
and then sprint to the Alpine sleigh ride
near the back of the park.
1472
01:14:55,376 --> 01:14:57,501
It was by far the most popular ride.
1473
01:14:59,543 --> 01:15:01,543
Maybe you could ride it a
few times real quick
1474
01:15:01,626 --> 01:15:05,626
before the line started gettin' too long
and there'd be a 45-minute wait.
1475
01:15:07,334 --> 01:15:09,209
The ride was exhilarating.
1476
01:15:11,418 --> 01:15:12,918
There was a big waterfall.
1477
01:15:13,418 --> 01:15:14,709
[laughing]
1478
01:15:14,793 --> 01:15:16,126
[wind whistling]
1479
01:15:16,709 --> 01:15:17,876
An avalanche room.
1480
01:15:21,001 --> 01:15:22,126
An echo tunnel
1481
01:15:22,209 --> 01:15:25,626
where what you yelled out in one place,
you'd hear again in the next cave.
1482
01:15:25,709 --> 01:15:28,418
-Hello to the future!
-Davy Jones forever!
1483
01:15:28,501 --> 01:15:29,834
Miss you!
1484
01:15:29,918 --> 01:15:31,668
[all laughing]
1485
01:15:33,293 --> 01:15:34,584
[Greg] Hello to the future!
1486
01:15:34,668 --> 01:15:36,084
[Jana] Davy Jones forever!
1487
01:15:36,168 --> 01:15:37,668
[Stanley] Miss you!
1488
01:15:38,751 --> 01:15:40,626
[rattling]
1489
01:15:40,709 --> 01:15:43,251
[Stan] And it all led up
to this crazy finale.
1490
01:15:43,334 --> 01:15:45,584
You'd be goin' along all pleasant-like,
1491
01:15:46,084 --> 01:15:49,293
then you'd come around a corner,
the car would slow down,
1492
01:15:49,376 --> 01:15:50,918
and you'd realize you were headin'
1493
01:15:51,001 --> 01:15:55,209
into a dark, foreboding mine shaft-lookin'
opening in the side of the mountain.
1494
01:15:56,168 --> 01:15:58,168
[screaming]
1495
01:16:07,001 --> 01:16:09,709
And just when you thought
things had returned to normal…
1496
01:16:09,793 --> 01:16:10,709
[roaring]
1497
01:16:10,793 --> 01:16:11,959
[screaming]
1498
01:16:17,834 --> 01:16:21,126
The Abominable Snowman
was probably some college drama student.
1499
01:16:21,626 --> 01:16:24,376
One time,
we even caught him takin' a smoke break.
1500
01:16:24,459 --> 01:16:25,668
[chuckles]
1501
01:16:26,459 --> 01:16:27,293
Faker!
1502
01:16:27,376 --> 01:16:29,084
-Grr!
-[all laugh]
1503
01:16:41,084 --> 01:16:44,793
[man at NASA] We'll be going off air
shortly, and we'll pick you up for sure.
1504
01:16:44,876 --> 01:16:45,793
[bleep]
1505
01:16:48,043 --> 01:16:52,209
[reporter] It's 40 minutes
before the landing on the moon,
1506
01:16:52,293 --> 01:16:56,126
and it is now nine minutes
before we should begin to hear
1507
01:16:56,209 --> 01:16:59,668
from the command module
coming around on this pass,
1508
01:16:59,751 --> 01:17:02,709
the 14th revolution of the moon.
1509
01:17:02,793 --> 01:17:06,876
This landing
is not just as simple as… as it sounds.
1510
01:17:06,959 --> 01:17:09,376
They've got to come in
over some rather high features
1511
01:17:09,459 --> 01:17:14,043
before they make that set down
on a fairly flat point in the moon.
1512
01:17:14,126 --> 01:17:18,043
The hard part is to get that close
and then have to commit to leaving,
1513
01:17:18,126 --> 01:17:19,126
after all this work.
1514
01:17:19,209 --> 01:17:20,626
I think that pressure is probably
1515
01:17:20,709 --> 01:17:23,334
the greatest amount of pressure
any crew will ever have.
1516
01:17:23,418 --> 01:17:26,001
-[static crackling]
-They roll now to the windows up position.
1517
01:17:26,084 --> 01:17:28,084
[man on radio] Our position downrange…
1518
01:17:28,168 --> 01:17:30,459
["San Francisco Girls (Return
of the Native)" by Fever Tree]
1519
01:17:36,751 --> 01:17:38,626
We gotta be a go
before we start this burn.
1520
01:17:38,709 --> 01:17:40,959
-Go/no go for a lower descent. Retro.
-Go!
1521
01:17:41,043 --> 01:17:42,084
-FIDO. Guidance.
-Go.
1522
01:17:42,168 --> 01:17:43,001
-Control.
-Go.
1523
01:17:43,084 --> 01:17:44,084
-Telcom.
-Go.
1524
01:17:44,168 --> 01:17:45,001
-GNC.
-Go.
1525
01:17:45,084 --> 01:17:46,126
-Eecom.
- Go.
1526
01:17:46,876 --> 01:17:50,251
-You are a go to continue power descent.
-It looks good.
1527
01:17:50,334 --> 01:17:51,959
-Yeah it's still on.
-Roger.
1528
01:17:52,043 --> 01:17:54,876
Pitch 212, yaw 537…
1529
01:17:55,543 --> 01:17:57,626
[reporter] It's another major milestone.
1530
01:17:57,709 --> 01:18:00,001
-[man at NASA] Altitude, 40,000.
-[alarm wailing]
1531
01:18:00,084 --> 01:18:03,668
Getting a program alarm. 1202 alarm.
1532
01:18:03,751 --> 01:18:05,543
-Flight--
-We're go on that alarm?
1533
01:18:08,084 --> 01:18:11,626
Roger. 1202. We copy it.
We are go on that alarm.
1534
01:18:11,709 --> 01:18:14,459
-Converging on Delta-H.
-Flight control, we have velocity.
1535
01:18:14,543 --> 01:18:16,001
[Cronkite] What's this alarm?
1536
01:18:16,084 --> 01:18:18,376
[reporter] It's a go case
that's just apparently some…
1537
01:18:18,459 --> 01:18:20,668
[NASA] …Eagle, we'll monitor to Delta 8…
1538
01:18:20,751 --> 01:18:21,584
[reporter] …function.
1539
01:18:21,668 --> 01:18:24,626
-It's coming up on the computer…
-[NASA] Delta 8, look good now.
1540
01:18:24,709 --> 01:18:27,626
Well, at least this is more fun
than the simulator.
1541
01:18:27,709 --> 01:18:29,126
-[chuckling]
-I think that's given.
1542
01:18:29,209 --> 01:18:30,751
Okay. Roger.
1543
01:18:31,834 --> 01:18:34,334
[Cronkite] They could abort the landing
at that point.
1544
01:18:35,209 --> 01:18:37,209
We're down to just minutes.
1545
01:18:37,293 --> 01:18:39,751
-[bleep]
-Now reading 760 feet per second.
1546
01:18:40,293 --> 01:18:42,251
Okay, we've still got
landing radar guidance.
1547
01:18:42,334 --> 01:18:43,501
-So far.
-Okay.
1548
01:18:44,293 --> 01:18:46,418
-Velocity 9,100 feet per second…
-[Cronkite] Going fast.
1549
01:18:46,501 --> 01:18:48,376
[NASA] Switchover time, please, Houston.
1550
01:18:48,459 --> 01:18:51,668
[Cronkite] 760 feet per second.
On their way down. [chuckles]
1551
01:18:51,751 --> 01:18:53,418
-[bleep]
-Altitude, 4,200.
1552
01:18:53,501 --> 01:18:55,334
-Radar test.
-You are a go for landing, Eagle.
1553
01:18:55,418 --> 01:18:57,126
-[bleep]
-[Stan] Roger.
1554
01:18:57,209 --> 01:18:58,584
-Confirmed.
-3,000 feet.
1555
01:18:58,668 --> 01:19:01,709
We're go. 2,000 feet, 47 degrees.
1556
01:19:01,793 --> 01:19:04,293
-Roger.
-Roger, Eagle. Lookin' good. You are a go.
1557
01:19:04,376 --> 01:19:06,001
[NASA] How's America lookin', Bob?
1558
01:19:06,084 --> 01:19:07,001
-[sighs]
-It's okay.
1559
01:19:07,084 --> 01:19:08,418
-Okay.
-We're on a high.
1560
01:19:08,501 --> 01:19:10,043
[Bostick] Altitude, 1,600.
1561
01:19:11,959 --> 01:19:13,376
-[NASA] Up to the-- Let's go.
-1,400.
1562
01:19:13,959 --> 01:19:15,043
You're lookin' good.
1563
01:19:15,126 --> 01:19:17,126
[Cronkite] They've got a good look
at their site now.
1564
01:19:17,209 --> 01:19:19,334
-This is the critical time. They'll hover.
-1,400 feet.
1565
01:19:19,418 --> 01:19:20,918
They're gonna make the decision.
1566
01:19:21,001 --> 01:19:22,709
750 feet.
1567
01:19:24,501 --> 01:19:25,459
We look good here.
1568
01:19:26,293 --> 01:19:27,543
540 feet.
1569
01:19:27,626 --> 01:19:29,459
[reporter] The data's
coming in beautifully.
1570
01:19:29,543 --> 01:19:31,126
100 feet. Down at 19.
1571
01:19:31,709 --> 01:19:33,459
Big crater. Very rocky.
1572
01:19:35,126 --> 01:19:36,459
Phew. Well…
1573
01:19:37,959 --> 01:19:41,584
looks like you're gonna have to take over
the controls and land her yourself.
1574
01:19:46,584 --> 01:19:48,168
-[static crackling]
-Good.
1575
01:19:48,751 --> 01:19:49,959
That's 20 feet.
1576
01:19:52,293 --> 01:19:54,668
-[NASA] Sixty. Sixty seconds.
-Sixty seconds.
1577
01:19:54,751 --> 01:19:55,751
Lights on.
1578
01:19:55,834 --> 01:19:58,084
Down two and a half. Forward.
1579
01:19:58,168 --> 01:19:59,376
Forward.
1580
01:20:00,459 --> 01:20:01,293
Forty feet.
1581
01:20:01,918 --> 01:20:03,209
Pickin' up some dust.
1582
01:20:04,209 --> 01:20:05,043
Thirty feet.
1583
01:20:06,043 --> 01:20:07,251
Big shadow.
1584
01:20:07,334 --> 01:20:10,043
["Who Do You Love (Part 1)"
by Quicksilver Messenger Service]
1585
01:20:10,126 --> 01:20:11,959
Guys, lookin' good. Down a half.
1586
01:20:12,709 --> 01:20:13,543
Pitch forward.
1587
01:20:15,126 --> 01:20:16,668
-No level?
-No level.
1588
01:20:16,751 --> 01:20:18,376
Less than 20 seconds of fuel left.
1589
01:20:20,834 --> 01:20:23,043
Forward. Drifting right.
1590
01:20:24,001 --> 01:20:25,209
-[thud]
-Contact light.
1591
01:20:25,293 --> 01:20:26,418
[loud thump]
1592
01:20:27,793 --> 01:20:28,918
Engine stopped.
1593
01:20:29,501 --> 01:20:31,043
Engine arm off.
1594
01:20:36,834 --> 01:20:38,668
-[NASA] Engine arm off.
-[reporter] We're home.
1595
01:20:38,751 --> 01:20:40,751
-4-13 is in.
-[reporter sighs]
1596
01:20:40,834 --> 01:20:41,876
[Cronkite] Man on the moon!
1597
01:20:41,959 --> 01:20:43,293
[both sigh]
1598
01:20:44,209 --> 01:20:45,709
Eagle, we copy. You down?
1599
01:20:46,876 --> 01:20:48,959
Houston, Tranquility Base here.
1600
01:20:49,751 --> 01:20:51,293
The Eagle has landed.
1601
01:20:52,418 --> 01:20:54,084
[all laughing]
1602
01:20:54,168 --> 01:20:55,668
-[applause]
-Roger, Tranquility.
1603
01:20:55,751 --> 01:20:57,043
We copy you on the ground.
1604
01:20:57,126 --> 01:20:59,043
You got a bunch of boys
about to turn blue.
1605
01:20:59,126 --> 01:21:01,418
-We're breathin' again. Thanks a lot.
-[bleep]
1606
01:21:04,209 --> 01:21:05,334
[Cronkite] Oh boy!
1607
01:21:05,418 --> 01:21:06,418
Hmm.
1608
01:21:07,293 --> 01:21:09,918
-Phew! Boy!
- [NASA] We're gonna be busy for a minute.
1609
01:21:10,626 --> 01:21:12,626
-[Dad] That's real good.
-Wally, I'm speechless.
1610
01:21:12,709 --> 01:21:14,709
-[Dad] Whoo!
-I'm just trying to hold onto my grub.
1611
01:21:14,793 --> 01:21:16,418
[Dad] Boy, oh boy, oh boy.
1612
01:21:16,501 --> 01:21:18,751
["Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masekela]
1613
01:21:25,959 --> 01:21:29,668
[Stan] We were way up in the air
on the Astro Way when we got the news.
1614
01:21:29,751 --> 01:21:32,251
-They landed!
-They're on the moon!
1615
01:21:32,751 --> 01:21:34,709
Cool, man! They did it!
1616
01:21:34,793 --> 01:21:35,876
[laughs]
1617
01:21:35,959 --> 01:21:37,418
Yes, they did!
1618
01:21:39,334 --> 01:21:40,251
[Stan] They did it!
1619
01:21:40,334 --> 01:21:42,709
-They landed on the moon!
-Yeah, they made it!
1620
01:21:42,793 --> 01:21:43,918
[all] Yay!
1621
01:21:45,418 --> 01:21:48,876
[Stan] They were on the moon,
but nobody was sure when they would walk,
1622
01:21:48,959 --> 01:21:51,709
so we just stayed close by,
glued to the screen.
1623
01:21:51,793 --> 01:21:54,043
The Times yesterday ran an editorial
1624
01:21:54,126 --> 01:21:56,126
saying Mr. Nixon was trying
to use this politically…
1625
01:21:56,209 --> 01:21:59,459
It's lost to history, but at the time,
a lot of folks had a big problem
1626
01:21:59,543 --> 01:22:01,626
with how much it was costing
to go to the moon.
1627
01:22:01,709 --> 01:22:05,418
What else we could be doing
with the money and what it represented.
1628
01:22:05,501 --> 01:22:09,209
…more like 15th-century Spain.
We're discovering a new world.
1629
01:22:09,293 --> 01:22:14,876
But, uh, I wonder if we don't have
our own Inquisition going in Vietnam,
1630
01:22:14,959 --> 01:22:17,501
in the name of that great religion
of anti-communism…
1631
01:22:17,584 --> 01:22:21,418
What the hell is she doin' on TV,
on today of all days?
1632
01:22:21,501 --> 01:22:23,918
-Who put her on? [laughs angrily]
-I wonder…
1633
01:22:24,001 --> 01:22:26,501
I'll bet the phones
are ringin' off the hook at CBS.
1634
01:22:26,584 --> 01:22:28,001
I think she looks cool.
1635
01:22:28,084 --> 01:22:29,043
I love her hair.
1636
01:22:29,126 --> 01:22:33,376
When you look at Cape Kennedy, you find it
surrounded by a good deal of poverty.
1637
01:22:33,459 --> 01:22:35,168
When you look at the Houston Center,
1638
01:22:35,251 --> 01:22:38,543
less than 4%
of the employees there are Black…
1639
01:22:38,626 --> 01:22:40,293
Is that true, Dad?
1640
01:22:40,376 --> 01:22:43,959
How many Black kids are in your class,
Greg? One? Of course it's true.
1641
01:22:44,043 --> 01:22:45,209
…is somewhat disturbing.
1642
01:22:45,293 --> 01:22:47,918
[sighs] When are they gonna
walk on the moon?
1643
01:22:48,001 --> 01:22:50,543
-Yeah. What are they waiting for?
-I feel it's a great achievement
1644
01:22:50,626 --> 01:22:52,459
as far as science is concerned.
1645
01:22:52,543 --> 01:22:55,709
But cash they wasted, as far
as I'm concerned, in gettin' to the moon
1646
01:22:55,793 --> 01:22:58,084
could've been used
to feed poor Black people
1647
01:22:58,168 --> 01:23:01,459
in Harlem and all over the place,
all over this country.
1648
01:23:01,543 --> 01:23:04,793
So never mind the moon.
Let's get some of that cash in Harlem.
1649
01:23:05,584 --> 01:23:06,418
Right on.
1650
01:23:06,501 --> 01:23:09,459
As Dr. Paine said earlier
on the earlier Apollo flight,
1651
01:23:09,543 --> 01:23:11,584
this was a triumph for the squares.
1652
01:23:11,668 --> 01:23:15,209
I suppose that's one reason
people find this a little distasteful…
1653
01:23:15,293 --> 01:23:16,876
[Stan] After the day at AstroWorld,
1654
01:23:16,959 --> 01:23:20,418
it was hard to keep your eyes open
as the coverage droned on and on.
1655
01:23:20,501 --> 01:23:22,626
-This was done…
-[Stan] There was so much waiting
1656
01:23:22,709 --> 01:23:24,959
as the astronauts
struggled to get suited up
1657
01:23:25,459 --> 01:23:27,668
-and the cabin depressurized.
-…haven't had an estimate…
1658
01:23:27,751 --> 01:23:29,876
-[Stan] I felt their pain.
-…as to how far they are…
1659
01:23:29,959 --> 01:23:33,543
[Stan] But I also couldn't help but think
of all the years of dreams and effort
1660
01:23:33,626 --> 01:23:36,126
that were just now minutes away
from becoming a reality.
1661
01:23:36,209 --> 01:23:38,584
-…an estimate of that.
-Hey. They're about to step out.
1662
01:23:38,668 --> 01:23:39,793
That's okay. That's good.
1663
01:23:40,543 --> 01:23:43,376
[Cronkite] He can't see where he's going.
He's backing out of the hatch.
1664
01:23:43,459 --> 01:23:46,001
-[NASA] So close… You're doin' fine.
-[Cronkite] He didn't wanna
1665
01:23:46,084 --> 01:23:48,126
catch on the side of that opening.
1666
01:23:49,168 --> 01:23:51,084
Delicate suit and backpack.
1667
01:23:51,876 --> 01:23:54,168
[Neil Armstrong] Okay, Houston,
I'm on the porch.
1668
01:23:55,376 --> 01:23:56,376
[NASA] Roger, Neil.
1669
01:23:57,126 --> 01:24:01,293
We're gettin' a picture on the TV.
Three more steps, then a long one.
1670
01:24:01,793 --> 01:24:03,376
-[Armstrong] Okay.
-[NASA] There's a foot…
1671
01:24:03,459 --> 01:24:06,334
[Cronkite] There he is.
There's a foot coming down the steps.
1672
01:24:07,168 --> 01:24:09,334
[NASA] Neil, we can see you
coming down the ladder now.
1673
01:24:09,959 --> 01:24:11,084
We can see you coming.
1674
01:24:12,918 --> 01:24:15,376
[Armstrong] I'm at the foot of the ladder.
1675
01:24:15,459 --> 01:24:18,626
The LEM footpads are only, uh, depressed
1676
01:24:19,501 --> 01:24:21,209
one or two inches,
1677
01:24:21,293 --> 01:24:25,834
although the surface
appears to be very, very fine-grained
1678
01:24:25,918 --> 01:24:28,626
as you get close to it,
it's almost like a powder.
1679
01:24:28,709 --> 01:24:30,418
[Cronkite] Look at those pictures.
1680
01:24:31,126 --> 01:24:33,084
[Armstrong] I'll step off the LEM now.
1681
01:24:38,043 --> 01:24:39,584
[air hissing]
1682
01:24:41,709 --> 01:24:44,251
-[Cronkite] Armstrong is on the moon.
-I'll step off the LEM now.
1683
01:24:44,334 --> 01:24:45,168
There he is.
1684
01:24:45,793 --> 01:24:49,334
[Cronkite] 38-year-old American
standing on the surface of the moon.
1685
01:24:49,418 --> 01:24:51,584
[Dad] Yes. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
1686
01:24:51,668 --> 01:24:53,918
[Armstrong] It's one small step for man,
1687
01:24:54,834 --> 01:24:57,751
one giant leap for mankind.
1688
01:24:57,834 --> 01:24:59,834
["Astronomy Domine" by Pink Floyd]
1689
01:25:17,293 --> 01:25:19,876
The surface is fine and powdery.
1690
01:25:19,959 --> 01:25:24,084
I can…
I can pick it up loosely with my toe.
1691
01:25:25,126 --> 01:25:29,376
It does adhere in fine layers, uh…
1692
01:25:29,459 --> 01:25:32,376
like powdered charcoal to the…
1693
01:25:33,126 --> 01:25:36,209
to the sole and sides of my boots.
1694
01:25:36,709 --> 01:25:41,501
The footprints of my boots and the treads
1695
01:25:42,126 --> 01:25:46,084
in the fine, sandy particles.
1696
01:25:46,668 --> 01:25:49,001
[Cronkite whistles]
Hey, look at the bounding step.
1697
01:25:49,584 --> 01:25:51,001
[Buzz Aldrin] Oh, look at that. Yes.
1698
01:25:51,084 --> 01:25:52,668
Okay, ready for me to come out?
1699
01:25:52,751 --> 01:25:54,876
[reporter] Talk about being super casual.
1700
01:25:55,376 --> 01:25:56,459
[Cronkite] Yeah!
1701
01:25:57,418 --> 01:26:00,751
-Boy, looks like fun, doesn't it?
-[NASA] All right. That's got it.
1702
01:26:01,918 --> 01:26:02,751
Are you ready?
1703
01:26:15,543 --> 01:26:17,834
-[Aldrin] Beautiful view.
-[Armstrong] Isn't that somethin'?
1704
01:26:18,834 --> 01:26:20,668
Magnificent sight out here.
1705
01:26:22,668 --> 01:26:24,459
[Aldrin] Magnificent desolation.
1706
01:26:28,959 --> 01:26:31,043
[Cronkite] We can kind of see
the footprints
1707
01:26:31,126 --> 01:26:33,459
of man leaving footprints on the moon.
1708
01:26:33,543 --> 01:26:37,293
Without any atmosphere there,
no wind, no rain to wear them away,
1709
01:26:37,376 --> 01:26:40,209
they might stay there
for quite a long time.
1710
01:26:43,584 --> 01:26:45,876
[Armstrong] Houston,
Columbia on the high gain. Over.
1711
01:26:45,959 --> 01:26:48,334
[NASA] Roger.
The EVA is progressing beautifully.
1712
01:26:48,418 --> 01:26:50,334
They're setting up the flag now.
1713
01:26:50,418 --> 01:26:51,418
[laughing]
1714
01:26:51,501 --> 01:26:52,668
They've got the flag up now,
1715
01:26:52,751 --> 01:26:54,876
-You can see the Stars and Stripes.
- Yeah.
1716
01:26:54,959 --> 01:26:57,793
You can see the Stars and Stripes
on the lunar surface.
1717
01:26:57,876 --> 01:26:59,709
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
1718
01:27:00,209 --> 01:27:02,293
[Aldrin] So-called kangaroo hop.
1719
01:27:03,793 --> 01:27:06,084
[Cronkite] They're beginning
to get pretty frisky up there.
1720
01:27:06,876 --> 01:27:08,584
Tranquility Base, this is Houston.
1721
01:27:08,668 --> 01:27:11,293
Can we get both of you
on the camera, please?
1722
01:27:12,001 --> 01:27:13,793
The President of the United States
1723
01:27:13,876 --> 01:27:16,334
would like to say
a few words to you, over.
1724
01:27:17,334 --> 01:27:19,043
[Armstrong] That would be an honor.
1725
01:27:19,126 --> 01:27:23,418
I'm talking to you by telephone
from the Oval room at the White House,
1726
01:27:23,501 --> 01:27:24,876
and this certainly has to be
1727
01:27:24,959 --> 01:27:27,918
the most historic telephone call
ever made.
1728
01:27:28,001 --> 01:27:31,876
I just can't tell you how proud we all are
of what you have done.
1729
01:27:31,959 --> 01:27:34,668
This has to be
the proudest day of our lives.
1730
01:27:34,751 --> 01:27:37,418
Because of what you have done,
1731
01:27:37,501 --> 01:27:41,334
the heavens have become
a part of man's world.
1732
01:27:42,251 --> 01:27:46,084
And as you talk to us
from the Sea of Tranquility,
1733
01:27:47,084 --> 01:27:53,084
it inspires us to redouble our efforts
to bring peace and tranquility to Earth.
1734
01:27:53,168 --> 01:27:54,959
For one priceless moment
1735
01:27:56,043 --> 01:27:57,793
in the whole history of man,
1736
01:27:58,293 --> 01:28:01,501
all the people on this Earth
are truly one.
1737
01:28:02,334 --> 01:28:04,751
One in their pride in what you have done,
1738
01:28:05,251 --> 01:28:10,084
and one in our prayers
that you will return safely to Earth.
1739
01:28:10,168 --> 01:28:11,959
Okay. Good night.
1740
01:28:12,043 --> 01:28:13,043
Good night, hon.
1741
01:28:13,126 --> 01:28:15,418
-[Armstrong] Thank you, Mr. President…
-Good night, ladies.
1742
01:28:15,501 --> 01:28:18,209
-It's a great honor and privilege…
-Good night, sweet peas.
1743
01:28:19,001 --> 01:28:21,459
-[kissing]
-[Mom] Good night. See you in the morning.
1744
01:28:21,543 --> 01:28:23,418
…glad there are no chimpanzees
standing there…
1745
01:28:23,501 --> 01:28:25,834
-I think I'm gonna go to bed too.
-Okay.
1746
01:28:27,084 --> 01:28:27,959
-Steven?
-[Mom] Hey.
1747
01:28:28,043 --> 01:28:30,168
-[Cronkite] What a day we've seen…
-Let him go to sleep.
1748
01:28:30,251 --> 01:28:34,001
-I'm tired. Good night.
-…day such as man has never seen before.
1749
01:28:34,084 --> 01:28:37,043
A day that has been played out
before our very eyes
1750
01:28:37,126 --> 01:28:39,876
by this miracle that happily came along
1751
01:28:39,959 --> 01:28:43,793
at the same time as man's exploration
of space - television.
1752
01:28:43,876 --> 01:28:47,543
We have seen the men
exploring the moon in…
1753
01:28:47,626 --> 01:28:49,709
oh, they're magnificent pictures,
1754
01:28:49,793 --> 01:28:53,459
considering that they come from
a quarter of a million miles out
1755
01:28:53,543 --> 01:28:55,001
and on the surface of the moon,
1756
01:28:55,084 --> 01:28:59,043
man has landed there,
and man has taken his first steps there.
1757
01:28:59,126 --> 01:29:01,709
I wonder, Eric Sevareid,
1758
01:29:01,793 --> 01:29:03,793
just what there is to add to that.
1759
01:29:04,418 --> 01:29:07,168
[Sevareid] Uh, somehow,
they found a strange beauty there
1760
01:29:07,251 --> 01:29:11,001
that I suppose they could
never really, uh, describe to us.
1761
01:29:13,418 --> 01:29:17,584
[Cronkite] It may not be a beauty that can
pass on to future beholders either.
1762
01:29:21,501 --> 01:29:26,251
Well, for thousands of years now,
it's been man's dream to walk on the moon.
1763
01:29:26,834 --> 01:29:30,709
Right now, after seeing it happen,
knowing that it happened,
1764
01:29:30,793 --> 01:29:32,668
it still seems like a dream.
1765
01:29:32,751 --> 01:29:35,293
And it is, I guess, a dream come true.
1766
01:29:35,376 --> 01:29:37,376
["Season of the Witch" by Vanilla Fudge]
1767
01:29:50,709 --> 01:29:52,043
-Greg.
- What?
1768
01:29:52,126 --> 01:29:52,959
Go to bed.
1769
01:29:56,876 --> 01:29:57,709
Night.
1770
01:29:58,209 --> 01:29:59,209
Good night.
1771
01:30:01,334 --> 01:30:03,334
[Dad sighs heavily]
1772
01:30:05,084 --> 01:30:06,043
Wow.
1773
01:30:06,709 --> 01:30:08,543
Congratulations. You did it.
1774
01:30:08,626 --> 01:30:09,834
Well, we all did it.
1775
01:30:09,918 --> 01:30:12,168
Oh, that's nice of you to say.
1776
01:30:18,793 --> 01:30:21,084
Was Stan awake
when he took the first steps?
1777
01:30:21,168 --> 01:30:24,543
I don't know. They were tired.
AstroWorld took it out of them.
1778
01:30:24,626 --> 01:30:26,834
I just want him
to be able to tell his grandkids
1779
01:30:26,918 --> 01:30:28,918
he saw the first steps on the moon.
1780
01:30:32,459 --> 01:30:34,501
[Mom] Well, you know how memory works.
1781
01:30:35,084 --> 01:30:37,668
Even if he was asleep,
he'll someday think he saw it all.
1782
01:30:42,376 --> 01:30:44,001
[Dad sighs]
1783
01:30:45,876 --> 01:30:47,626
[crickets chirping]
1784
01:30:52,876 --> 01:30:55,751
["Shape of Things to Come"
by Max Frost and The Troopers]
1785
01:31:06,543 --> 01:31:08,168
♪ There's a new sun ♪
1786
01:31:09,459 --> 01:31:12,376
♪ Risin' up angry in the sky ♪
1787
01:31:13,084 --> 01:31:14,584
♪ And there's a new voice ♪
1788
01:31:15,501 --> 01:31:18,501
♪ Cryin', "We're not afraid to die" ♪
1789
01:31:18,584 --> 01:31:22,084
-♪ Let the old world make believe ♪
-[rumbling]
1790
01:31:22,168 --> 01:31:24,543
♪ It's blind and deaf and dumb ♪
1791
01:31:25,334 --> 01:31:30,668
♪ But nothin' can change
The shape of things to come ♪
1792
01:31:31,209 --> 01:31:32,793
♪ There are changes ♪
1793
01:31:33,876 --> 01:31:36,751
♪ Lyin' ahead in every road ♪
1794
01:31:37,376 --> 01:31:38,918
♪ And there are new thoughts ♪
1795
01:31:40,001 --> 01:31:43,084
♪ Ready and waitin' to explode ♪
1796
01:31:43,168 --> 01:31:46,626
♪ When tomorrow is today ♪
1797
01:31:46,709 --> 01:31:49,001
♪ The bells may toll for some ♪
1798
01:31:49,668 --> 01:31:52,834
♪ But nothin' can change
The shape of things ♪
1799
01:31:52,918 --> 01:31:54,001
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1800
01:31:54,084 --> 01:31:55,834
♪ The shape of things ♪
1801
01:31:55,918 --> 01:31:57,043
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1802
01:31:57,126 --> 01:31:58,834
♪ The shape of things ♪
1803
01:31:58,918 --> 01:32:00,084
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1804
01:32:00,168 --> 01:32:04,376
♪ The shape of things to come ♪
1805
01:32:04,918 --> 01:32:08,251
♪ The future's comin' in, now ♪
1806
01:32:08,334 --> 01:32:10,751
♪ Sweet and strong ♪
1807
01:32:11,459 --> 01:32:15,751
♪ Ain't no one gonna
Hold it back for long ♪
1808
01:32:16,751 --> 01:32:19,501
♪ And there are new dreams ♪
1809
01:32:19,584 --> 01:32:22,459
♪ Crowdin' out old realities ♪
1810
01:32:22,543 --> 01:32:24,834
♪ There's revolution ♪
1811
01:32:25,584 --> 01:32:28,584
♪ Sweepin' in like a fresh new breeze ♪
1812
01:32:28,668 --> 01:32:32,043
♪ Let the old world make believe ♪
1813
01:32:32,126 --> 01:32:34,501
♪ It's blind and deaf and dumb ♪
1814
01:32:35,043 --> 01:32:38,334
♪ But nothin' can change
The shape of things ♪
1815
01:32:38,418 --> 01:32:39,501
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1816
01:32:39,584 --> 01:32:41,293
♪ The shape of things ♪
1817
01:32:41,376 --> 01:32:42,751
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1818
01:32:42,834 --> 01:32:44,209
♪ The shape of things ♪
1819
01:32:44,293 --> 01:32:45,251
♪ Nothin' can change ♪
1820
01:32:45,334 --> 01:32:50,251
♪ The shape of things to come ♪
1821
01:32:55,501 --> 01:32:57,501
["Rocket Ship" by Kathy McCarty]
1822
01:32:59,334 --> 01:33:03,834
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1823
01:33:07,168 --> 01:33:11,876
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1824
01:33:15,459 --> 01:33:17,584
♪ I'm going on a trip ♪
1825
01:33:18,334 --> 01:33:19,918
♪ Far away ♪
1826
01:33:20,001 --> 01:33:23,459
♪ I am leaving today ♪
1827
01:33:23,959 --> 01:33:28,001
♪ I am leaving today ♪
1828
01:33:29,126 --> 01:33:33,501
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1829
01:33:34,501 --> 01:33:39,751
♪ My bags are packed, I'm ready to go ♪
1830
01:33:43,293 --> 01:33:44,751
♪ My bags are packed ♪
1831
01:33:44,834 --> 01:33:51,126
♪ I'm ready to go ♪
1832
01:33:52,584 --> 01:33:55,793
T-minus ten… nine…
1833
01:33:55,876 --> 01:33:57,668
eight… [static crackles]
1834
01:33:57,751 --> 01:34:00,501
…seven… six… right up into it…
1835
01:34:00,584 --> 01:34:03,001
five… four… [static crackles]
1836
01:34:03,501 --> 01:34:05,501
…three… two…
1837
01:34:06,376 --> 01:34:07,293
one…
1838
01:34:07,376 --> 01:34:08,793
We have liftoff!
1839
01:34:11,334 --> 01:34:13,376
♪ The stars are blurring ♪
1840
01:34:13,459 --> 01:34:15,209
♪ We're going fast ♪
1841
01:34:18,751 --> 01:34:20,751
♪ Rocket ship! ♪
1842
01:34:21,418 --> 01:34:23,334
♪ There is a boy there ♪
1843
01:34:25,251 --> 01:34:27,251
♪ His name is X ♪
1844
01:34:27,876 --> 01:34:30,959
♪ He says you don't know me ♪
1845
01:34:31,043 --> 01:34:33,668
♪ But I don't know you either ♪
1846
01:34:34,584 --> 01:34:38,834
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1847
01:34:40,084 --> 01:34:45,126
♪ Our bags are packed, we're ready to go ♪
1848
01:34:48,834 --> 01:34:50,418
♪ Our bags are packed ♪
1849
01:34:50,501 --> 01:34:57,001
♪ We're ready to go ♪
1850
01:34:58,501 --> 01:35:00,793
T-minus ten… nine…
1851
01:35:00,876 --> 01:35:02,626
more fuel… eight…
1852
01:35:03,418 --> 01:35:05,876
seven… I'm steppin' on… six…
1853
01:35:06,584 --> 01:35:08,001
five… [static crackles]
1854
01:35:08,501 --> 01:35:10,334
…four… three…
1855
01:35:10,418 --> 01:35:11,959
[static crackles] …two…
1856
01:35:12,626 --> 01:35:13,793
one…
1857
01:35:15,001 --> 01:35:16,459
We have liftoff!
1858
01:35:19,001 --> 01:35:21,084
♪ The stars are blurring ♪
1859
01:35:21,168 --> 01:35:22,959
♪ We're going fast ♪
1860
01:35:26,126 --> 01:35:28,126
♪ Rocket ship! ♪
1861
01:35:29,043 --> 01:35:30,959
♪ There is a boy there ♪
1862
01:35:32,793 --> 01:35:34,876
♪ His name is X ♪
1863
01:35:35,501 --> 01:35:38,418
♪ He says you don't know me ♪
1864
01:35:38,501 --> 01:35:41,293
♪ But I don't know you either ♪
1865
01:35:42,209 --> 01:35:46,459
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1866
01:35:47,709 --> 01:35:52,751
♪ Our bags are packed, we're ready to go ♪
1867
01:35:56,459 --> 01:35:58,043
♪ Our bags are packed ♪
1868
01:35:58,126 --> 01:36:04,626
♪ We're ready to go ♪
1869
01:36:06,126 --> 01:36:08,418
T-minus ten… nine…
1870
01:36:08,501 --> 01:36:10,251
more fuel… eight…
1871
01:36:11,043 --> 01:36:13,501
seven… I'm steppin' on… six…
1872
01:36:14,209 --> 01:36:15,626
five… [static crackles]
1873
01:36:16,126 --> 01:36:17,959
…four… three…
1874
01:36:18,043 --> 01:36:19,584
[static crackles] …two…
1875
01:36:20,251 --> 01:36:21,418
one…
1876
01:36:22,626 --> 01:36:24,084
We have liftoff!
1877
01:36:25,543 --> 01:36:27,751
♪ The stars are blurring ♪
1878
01:36:27,834 --> 01:36:29,834
♪ We're going fast ♪
1879
01:36:36,376 --> 01:36:38,501
♪ We're going on a trip ♪
1880
01:36:39,293 --> 01:36:40,834
♪ Far away ♪
1881
01:36:40,918 --> 01:36:44,668
♪ We are leaving today ♪
1882
01:36:44,751 --> 01:36:48,584
♪ Our home is our rocket ship ♪
1883
01:36:49,959 --> 01:36:54,251
♪ Rocket ship ♪
1884
01:36:57,626 --> 01:37:02,043
♪ Rocket ship ♪