NASA wants your memories of the Apollo 11 Moon landing
Were you fortunate enough to watch the Apollo 11 Moon landing as it happened, or know someone who did? NASA wants to hear from you. It recently launched a story program that asks the public to submit audio recordings of their Apollo 11 memories in a bid to create an oral history of the event in sync with its 50th anniversary. All you have to do is record a story or interview (shorter ones are preferred, email it and details to a special address (apollostories@mail.nasa.gov) and check your inbox in case NASA wants a follow-up. There are suggested questions if you’re not sure what to ask.
You have until the end of 2019 to submit recordings, although you’ll have your “best chance” of making it into the official audio series if you send your file before June 14th. Longer clips may be reserved for the web or social networks.
There’s a certain amount of publicity in this for NASA, especially now that it’s aiming to return people to the Moon by 2024. Nonetheless, the crowdsourced history project shows just how far technology has come in nearly 50 years. When Apollo 11 touched down, viewers usually had to be content sharing their experiences with whoever was in earshot. Now, anyone with a smartphone (which is exponentially more powerful than the Apollo 11’s computers) can potentially share their anecdotes with the entire planet.
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