{"id":38518,"date":"2019-07-16T18:32:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T22:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=38518"},"modified":"2019-07-16T18:39:13","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T22:39:13","slug":"apollo-11-at-50-years-those-who-made-landing-on-the-moon-a-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/apollo-11-at-50-years-those-who-made-landing-on-the-moon-a-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Apollo 11 at 50 years: Those who made landing on the moon a reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21728\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2-624x780.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve always said that the key to success is to surround yourself with amazing people.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been incredibly fortunate in this life to do that very thing&#8211;and certainly one of those amazing people is my friend, George Knudsen (W4GCK).<\/p>\n<p>You see, besides being a ham, devoted radio enthusiast, and all around good guy, fifty years ago George was an integral part of putting Apollo 11 on the moon. George&#8217;s team was responsible for Apollo 11&#8217;s second stage.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38519\" style=\"width: 635px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38519\" class=\"size-large wp-image-38519\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage-788x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"812\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage-788x1024.jpg 788w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage-231x300.jpg 231w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage-768x997.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage-624x810.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Apollo-11-second-stage.jpg 924w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-38519\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The S-II second stage is moved into position for mating with the S-IC first stage. (Source: NASA)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Our local ABC affiliate, <a href=\"https:\/\/wlos.com\/news\/local\/50-years-ago-hendersonville-man-was-on-apollo-11-launch-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WLOS, featured George today<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/sinclairstoryline.com\/resources\/embeds\/jw8-embed.html?client=googima&amp;file=https:\/\/content.uplynk.com\/ba24990910604c9a84e2467c74b42fb5.m3u8&amp;autostart=false\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/wlos.com\/news\/local\/50-years-ago-hendersonville-man-was-on-apollo-11-launch-team\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to view the video on WLOS<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Every time I&#8217;m around George, I pick his brain about the Apollo 11 days&#8211;his inside stories fascinate me. One thing that always sticks in my mind is the <em>Esprit De Corps<\/em> his team and everyone&#8211;<em>literally everyone from the astronauts to the maintenance crew<\/em>&#8211;on the mission experienced.<\/p>\n<p>They had an outrageous goal and an outrageous timeline, yet they still managed to make it happen.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;d like to learn more about George, I&#8217;d highly recommend listening to his in-depth interview on the excellent<span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">\u00a0<\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1rem;\" href=\"http:\/\/omegataupodcast.net\/218-a-life-in-apollo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">omega tau podcast<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 1rem;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a description:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>George Knudsen started working in 1958 on the Redstone missile, and moved on to working on the Atlas ICBM. Later he worked on the Saturn 5 launch vehicle, where he was responsible for the fuel tanks. He was on the launch team at Cape Canaveral for various Apollo missions. In this episode [we]\u00a0talk with George about his work in this fascinating period of science and engineering history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-38518-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/omegataupodcast\/omegatau-218-georgeslifeInApollo.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/omegataupodcast\/omegatau-218-georgeslifeInApollo.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/omegataupodcast\/omegatau-218-georgeslifeInApollo.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/omegataupodcast.net\/218-a-life-in-apollo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to listen via the omega tau site.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/omegataupodcast.net\/218-a-life-in-apollo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">omega tau<\/a>, hosted by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/omegataupodcast.net\/ueber-omega-tau\/team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Markus V\u00f6lter<\/a>,\u00a0covers\u00a0a wide variety of topics from engineering and science. It\u2019s one of my favorite podcasts, so I would encourage you to not only listen to this episode,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/podcast-en-omega-tau-science\/id350159142?mt=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">but subscribe to the podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h1>Please comment with your Apollo 11 stories!<\/h1>\n<p>Apollo 11 and all of the missions leading up to and following it involved thousands upon thousands of skilled workers and stakeholders. Please comment if you or someone in your life played a role in any of these missions.<\/p>\n<p>Do you remember Apollo 11? What was it like for you that amazing day?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/apollo-11-at-50-years-those-who-made-landing-on-the-moon-possible\/#respond\"><em><strong>Please comment!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong><em>Do you enjoy the SWLing Post?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em>Please consider supporting us via\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=7466002&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fswling.com%2Fblog%2F&amp;utm_medium=widget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u%3D7466002%26redirect_uri%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fswling.com%252Fblog%252F%26utm_medium%3Dwidget&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1534765144986000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEe7C7aRTKqwuFkU5YIo8XEqPqthw\"><span class=\"il\">Patreon<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&amp;hosted_button_id=TGGFP2XVZDPP2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd%3D_s-xclick%26hosted_button_id%3DTGGFP2XVZDPP2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1534765144986000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH45maBgVLGpqLmQQvviVKBNMEGUw\"><span class=\"il\">Coffee<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"il\">Fund<\/span><\/a>! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Your support makes articles like this one possible. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=7466002&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fswling.com%2Fblog%2F&amp;utm_medium=widget\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-33932 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"434\" height=\"102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x.png 434w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/become_a_patreon-patron_button@2x-300x71.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve always said that the key to success is to surround yourself with amazing people. I&#8217;ve been incredibly fortunate in this life to do that very thing&#8211;and certainly one of those amazing people is my friend, George Knudsen (W4GCK). You see, besides being a ham, devoted radio enthusiast, and all around good guy, fifty years [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[4225,5528],"class_list":["post-38518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-apollo-11","tag-george-knudsen-w4gck"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-a1g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21727,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/10\/george-knudsen-w4gck-a-life-in-apollo\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":0},"title":"George Knudsen (W4GCK): A Life in Apollo","author":"Thomas","date":"October 8, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm very proud to note that my good friend, George Knudsen (W4GCK), has been featured on the excellent omega tau podcast. The\u00a0interview is absolutely fascinating--here's a description: George Knudsen started working in 1958 on the Redstone missile, and moved on to working on the Atlas ICBM. Later he worked on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"800px-apollo_11_launch2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/800px-Apollo_11_Launch2.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48687,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/04\/a-shortwave-audio-archive-tribute-to-apollo-11-astronaut-michael-collins\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":1},"title":"A shortwave audio archive tribute to Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins","author":"Thomas","date":"April 28, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we learned that Michael Collins, the American astronaut who flew the Apollo 11 command module Columbia around the moon, has passed away at the age of 90. For those of us who've always looked to the sky and dreamed of exploring our amazing universe, Michael Collins was a hero.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/E0E7h6bXIAQ-Vas-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/E0E7h6bXIAQ-Vas-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/E0E7h6bXIAQ-Vas-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/E0E7h6bXIAQ-Vas-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38581,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/from-the-shortwave-radio-audio-archive-voa-on-the-10th-anniversary-of-moon-landing\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":2},"title":"From the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive: VOA and BBC on the anniversary of moon landing","author":"Thomas","date":"July 20, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There are a hundreds of fascinating off-air radio recordings in our Shortwave Radio Audio Archive. One of our frequent contributors, Tom Laskowski, has digitally converted numerous magnetic tape recordings from his personal collection to share with the archive. Tom made the following recording of the Voice of America on July\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800px-Apollo_11_Lunar_Module_Eagle_in_landing_configuration_in_lunar_orbit_from_the_Command_and_Service_Module_Columbia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800px-Apollo_11_Lunar_Module_Eagle_in_landing_configuration_in_lunar_orbit_from_the_Command_and_Service_Module_Columbia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800px-Apollo_11_Lunar_Module_Eagle_in_landing_configuration_in_lunar_orbit_from_the_Command_and_Service_Module_Columbia.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/800px-Apollo_11_Lunar_Module_Eagle_in_landing_configuration_in_lunar_orbit_from_the_Command_and_Service_Module_Columbia.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14836,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/shortwave-radio-recordings-voa-on-the-10th-anniversary-of-apollo-11-moon-landing\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":3},"title":"Shortwave Radio Recordings: VOA on the 10th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing","author":"Thomas","date":"September 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post and SRAA contributor, Tom\u00a0Laskowski,\u00a0who shares this recording of the Voice of America; recorded on July 20, 1979 at 0500 UTC on the 31 meter band. Tom notes: \"The first 4:30 is from a VOA newscast that aired before the main part of the program. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apollo_11_lunar_module-001","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Apollo_11_lunar_module-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Apollo_11_lunar_module-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Apollo_11_lunar_module-001.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14101,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/sstv-from-the-international-space-station-this-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":4},"title":"SSTV from the International Space Station this weekend","author":"Thomas","date":"July 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a VHF news item, not shortwave, but many SWLing Post readers have wideband SDRs, HT's and scanners that cover this portion of the VHF band. Unique opportunity: (Source: AMSAT bb) 40 years ago this week, the historic joint Apollo-Soyuz mission was conducted. Apollo-Soyuz (or Soyuz-Apollo in Russia) represented\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Digital Modes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Digital Modes","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/digital-modes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ISS","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ISS.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ISS.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ISS.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49855,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/07\/relighting-an-authentic-apollo-dsky-screen\/","url_meta":{"origin":38518,"position":5},"title":"Relighting an authentic Apollo DSKY screen","author":"Thomas","date":"July 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dave (N9EWO), who writes: A current YouTube Video I accidentally came across. Ever wonder about those digital displays used in the Apollo space missions ? What were they ? Actually it\u2019s quite a story how these Raytheon displays were developed. One has to remember\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/800px-Dsky.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/800px-Dsky.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/800px-Dsky.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/800px-Dsky.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38518\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}