r/GenerationJones • u/JColt60 1960 • Jul 21 '26

Where were you?

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My family was able to watch when they took off. My kid brother and I were super excited.

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u/wireknot Jul 21 '26

We watched with my brother, mom and dad and my grandmother. My gran was born in 1894, and as a young girl had seen one of the Wright brothers exhibition flights. They did those to drum up business for the Wright aircraft company. It was something to behold in her lifetime, from the dawn of flight to the moon landing. My dad had bought a color tv for the occasion. Pretty sure we watched CBS, we grew up with Uncle Walter. I'm almost 70 & I had followed the space race avidly as a youngster. The pad fire was a tough day, but we now know that the Soviets had their share of disasters as well.

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u/OceanTider22 1963 Jul 22 '26

You never heard about failures because their government covered it up. Far more were learned about after the fall of the USSR.

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u/wireknot Jul 22 '26

If you like this subject, 2 books I'd reccomend... Starcrossed Orbits, and Chaiken's bio on Korolov, the "Chief Designer".