1982 Williams Joust

After a lengthy repair job, I have finally fixed Joust. The game is in excellent original condition and plays great! The game had sat unused for many years and required quite a number of repairs including adding a NVRAM module, which not only saves high scores but also allowed for the removal of the batteries from the main PCB. A full manual set was found in the bottom of the game. Now on to defeat the "unbeatable” pterodactyl!

Splashdown!

The Command Module Columbia containing all three astronauts from Apollo 11 splashed down at 12:50 P.M. on July 24, 1969 thus successfully completing man's first trip to the Moon. The mission also fulfilled President Kennedy's promise made eight years earlier when he said before Congress that the United States "should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."

We Did It!

News of the moon landing was carried by thousands of newspapers around the world on July 21, 1969. Most headlines were some variation of "Man Lands on Moon" or "Man Walks on Moon." The Macomb Daily, the local paper for Macomb County, Michigan features the unique headline of "We did it! We did it!" The words "moon" or "landing" are not mentioned. It wasn't until I watched the Google Doodle celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing did the true meaning become readily apparent. Command Module pilot Micheal Collins stated that after the astronauts returned to Earth they went on a world tour. All the people they met, from all over the world, told them "We did it!" We most certainly did!

An original July 21, 1969 edition of The Macomb Daily proudly hangs in the Tranquility Base Arcade.

That's one small step for man.....

.....one giant leap for mankind.

"We came in peace for all mankind."

Tranquility Base Arcade calls.....

.....Tranquility Base!

The men of Apollo 11 first landed on the moon at 4:17 PM on July 20, 1969. 50 years later at exactly 4:17 PM I decided to use the NASA Phone located in the lounge at Tranquility Base Arcade to make a call. This is what I heard.

Tranquility Base here....

......the Eagle has landed.

Blast Off!

Fifty years ago today, July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 left for the moon. It is believed that one million spectators watched the launch in person from the various highways and beaches near the launch site. The launch was televised live in 33 countries with over 25 million viewers watching it in the United States alone. Four days later the Lunar Module “Eagle” carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, Jr. landed on the moon.

Apollo 10

Soon the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 will be in the news. Apollo 11 would not have been possible without all the previous Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 10. Walter Cronkite said the following about Apollo 10: "Every time there is another Apollo mission, we say it is the most demanding yet. Because every time there is another Apollo mission, that happens to be true. Each mission is planned as another step in the ultimate goal of landing a man on the moon. Apollo 10 … marks the first time the complete Apollo spacecraft will operate around the moon.”