Science & Tech · Space · 23 hrs ago
Preston astronomer recalls watching Apollo 17 launch with Neil Armstrong
Dermot Gethings, now 70, grew up in Preston, Lancashire, and became interested in space as a child.
At 16, he was selected by NASA for a 19-day US trip to see Apollo 17 launch from Florida on 7 December 1972.
Apollo 17 was the final crewed mission to land on the moon.
Gethings was among 80 students from around the world invited on NASA’s first and only International Youth Science Tour.
During the trip, he met Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon.
Gethings says the launch’s force and noise left a lasting impression, and he went on to pursue a lifelong interest in astronomy.
A documentary about his experience is due to be screened.
Preston astronomer Dermot Gethings recalled watching the Apollo 17 launch with Neil Armstrong.
Gethings was 16 when he travelled to the United States after being selected by the US embassy and Nasa.
Apollo 17 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 7 December 1972.
He was one of 80 students from around the world invited on Nasa’s International Youth Science Tour.
A documentary about his experience is due to be screened.
- Who
- Preston astronomer Dermot Gethings, then a 16-year-old schoolboy from Lancashire.
- What
- He watched the Apollo 17 launch and met astronaut Neil Armstrong.
- When
- 7 December 1972.
- Where
- Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Gethings also recalled meeting Armstrong at a motel before the launch.
- Why
- He was selected by the US embassy and Nasa to witness the launch.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
As it launched there was this incredible adrenaline and a shockwave that rattled every bone in your body
It is the stuff that you dream about.
I looked up and the man smiling down at me was Neil Armstrong!
Gethings said seeing the Milky Way sparked his lifelong interest in astronomy.
After his astronomy exhibitions were photographed by the Lancashire Evening Post, Gethings received a letter from the US embassy inviting him to interview for a trip.
Gethings travelled to the United States on a 19-day tour and met Neil Armstrong at a motel.
Gethings watched Apollo 17 launch from Kennedy Space Center.
- Age at launch
- 16
- Launch date
- 7 December 1972
- Launch site
- Kennedy Space Center, Florida
- Students invited to interview
- 16 from the UK
- International Youth Science Tour
- 80 students from around the world
Sources
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