UPI Wire Copy for A11 landing

[OM]

...Someone forwarded this to me this morning. Source not cited, but
interesting reading, as well as a look back on the end of the Golden
Days of Radio:

(Damn thing's in all caps, so it'll look like a Min rant :-( )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPI Broadcast Wire, 1969
CONTROL: "YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD AT EIGHT MINUTES."
-0-
SPEED 129 FEET PER SECOND.
-0-
P GROUND TELLS THEM: "EAGLE YOURE LOOKING GREAT."
ALTITUDE RIVE-THOUSAND-200 FEET.
-0-
GROUND SAYS: "YOU'RE GO FOR LANDING."
-0-
EAGLE SAYS WE'RE GO.!!
TWO-THOUSAND FEET!!
-0-
14-HUNDRED!!...
-0-
--540.....
400--FEET..
300-FEET..
220--FEET..
COMING DOWN NICELY.....
120--...
100--...
75..--
30 FEET PICKING UP SOME DUST..
ENGINE STOPPED...

FLASH!!!
THEY'VE LANDED!!!
UPI SPACE FLIGHT
RU317P 7/29CDT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BULLETIN
(SPACE CENTER)--THE APOLLO--11 IS ON THE MOON.
ASTRONAUTS NEIL ARMSTRONG AND EDWIN ALDRIN HAVE SOFT-LANDED
THE EAGLE ON THE LUNAR SURFACE.
RU318P 7/29CDT

GROUND SAYS: "YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD."
-0-
THE TOUCHDOWN WAS 4:18 P-M
-0-
EAGLE REPORTS WE ARE VENTING.
-0-
COMMUNICATIONS GOOD WITH SOME LIGHT STATIC.
-0-
GROUND ADVISES COLUMBIA: "HE HAS LANDED AT TRANQUILITY BAY."
COLLINS SAID: "YEH. I HEARD THE WHOLE THING. FANTASTIC."
-0-
THERE SOON WILL BE A DECISION ON STAY-NO STAY.

(SUB APOLLO)
(SPACE CENTER)---THEY'VE LANDED ON THE MOON.
TWO MEN OF PLANET EARTH...IN A GANGLY-LOOKING
SPACECRAFT CALLED "EAGLE"...HAVE CONQUERED ONE OF THE TREASURES
OF SPACE.
APOLLO-11 ASTRONAUTS NEIL ARMSTRONG AND EDWIN ALDRIN
IN THEIR 17-TON LUNAR LANDER SUCCESSFULLY SOFT-LANDED ON THE
MOON'S SEA OF TRANQUILITY AT 4:18 P-M EDT.
"THE EAGLE HAS LANDED," ARMSTRONG SAID.
RU322P 7/20CDT..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

174UPR
FIFTEENTH WORLD IN BRIEF
-0-
THE FIRST MEN ON THE MOON...THE CONTINUING SAGA OF MAN'S GREATEST
ADVENTURE FROM THE WIRES OF U-P-I...

(INSERT HERE THE LATEST SUB APOLLO)
-0-
ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD...THESE OTHER ITEMS IN THE NEWS...

(EDGARTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS)---WHILE SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY RESTS
UNDER A DOCTOR'S CARE, POLICE PREPARE TO FILE CHARGES OF LEAVING
THE SCENE OF A FATAL ACCIDENT AGAINST HIM. AN ACCIDENT, IN WHICH
KENNEDY'S CAR WENT INTO A POND NEAR EDGARTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS AND
KILLED A WOMAN COMPANION, WAS NOT REPORTED BY KENNEDY UNTIL NINE
HOURS AFTER IT HAPPENED.
-0-
IN THE MIDEAST, THESE DEVELOPMENTS...

EGYPT CLAIMS TO HAVE SHOT DOWN 17 ISRAELI PLANES TODAY IN THE
HEAVIEST FIGHTING SINCE THE SIX-DAY 1967 MIDEAST WAR. ISRAEL ADMITTED
LOSING TWO PLANES AND SAID IT SHOT DOWN FIVE EGYPTIAN JETS IN
CLASHES ALONG THE SUEZ CANAL FRONT.
-0-
(SAIGON)---GENERAL EARLE WHEELER RULES OUT A COMPLETE U-S
WITHDRAWAL FROM VIETNAM BY THE END OF 1970. WHEELER, CHAIRMAN OF
THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF HAS BEEN TOURING VIETNAM. HE ALSO
DISCOUNTED THE MONTH-LONG LULL IN FIGHTING AS A COMMUNIST POLITICAL
GESTURE.
-0-
(PARIS)---THE PARIS PEACE TALKS ARE STALEMATED AGAIN...A FREEZE
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL PRESIDENT NIXON RETURNS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
FROM HIS ASIAN TOUR.
-0-
(HAVANA)---EIGHT SOVIET WARSHIPS ARRIVED IN HAVANA TODAY ON AN
OFFICIAL VISIT TO CELEBRATE TWO NATIONAL HOLIDAYS...JULY 26,
THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, AND THE FOLLOWING DAY,
RUSSIA'S NAVY DAY.
-0-
A CEASE-FIRE IS GENERALLY BEING OBSERVED IN CENTRAL AMERICA
WITH TEAMS FROM THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES POLICING THE
STOP IN THE SHOOTING BETWEEN EL SALVADOR AND HONDURAS.
-0-
(WASHINGTON)---FEDERAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ARE SIGNING AND
STOCKPILING RESIGNATIONS BECAUSE THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
RECENTLY THREATENED TO DISCIPLINE THEM FOR A SICK-CALL BOYCOTT LAST
MONTH.
-0-
(JODRELL BANK, ENGLAND)---RUSSIA'S LUNA-15 SATELLITE IS PASSING
OVER THE APOLLO-11 LANDING SITE AT AN ALTITUDE OF A LITTLE LESS
THAN 10 MILES...BUT THERE IS STILL NO CLUE AS TO ITS MISSION.
-0-
(FARRAGUT STATE PARK, IDAHO)---THOUSANDS OF SCOUTS ATTENDING
THEIR NATIONAL JAMBOREE AT FARRAGUT STATE PARK IN IDAHO CHEERED
LUSTILY WHEN THEY LEARNED FELLOW SCOUTS NEIL ARMSTRONG AND EDWIN
ALDRIN HAD LANDED ON THE MOON.
-0-
(WASHINGT0N)---WATCHING TELEVISION DURING THE MOON LANDING
PRESIDENT NIXON TERMED THE ACHIEVEMENT "THE GREATEST MOMENT OF
OUR TIME."
FK920P7/20CDT

U R G E N T

(SPACE CENTER)---THEY HAVE STARTED DE-PRESSURIZING THE EAGLE.

-0-

MORE DEPRESSURIZING URGENT X X X EAGLE.

THEY NOW HAVE ON THEIR PORTABLE LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS.

AS HE BEGAN DEPRESSURIZATION, ARMSTRONG SAID---"NOW

COMES THE GYMNASTICS."

FK931P7/20CDT

ALDRIN SAID "IT TAKES A LONG WAY TO GET ALL THE WAY DOWN

DOESN'T IT"---APPARENTLY REFERRING TO THE DE-PRESSURIZATION.

-0-

HATCH WILL BE OPENED WHEN PRESSURE GOES TO ZERO.

-0-

EAGLE REPORTS "NOW WE'LL SEE IF IT WILL OPEN UP."

-0-

ALDRIN REPORTED GETTING SOME STATIC.

-0-

ARMSTRONG SAID, "EVERYTHING IS GO WE'RE JUST WAITING FOR THE

PRESSURE TO GO LOW ENOUGH TO OPEN THE HATCH."

-0-

GROUND CONTROL SAID THEY SHOWED A RATHER STATIC PRESSURE IN THE

CABIN OF HATCH OPENING

-0-

B U L L E T I N

(SPACE CENTER)---THE HATCH IS OPEN ON THE LUNAR LANDER AND

NEIL ARMSTRONG IS READY TO CLIMB DOWN TO THE LUNAR SURFACE.

FK941PCD

GROUND CONTROL FED SOME DATA TO COLUMBIA.

-0-

THE ASTRONAUTS HAVE BEEN ON THEIR PORTABLE SUPPORT SYSTEMS NOW

FOR 17 MINUTES.

-0-

THE PORTABLES ARE GOOD FOR FOUR HOURS.

-0-

THE ASTRONAUTS ALSO HAVE A 30 MINUTE EMERGENCY OXYGEN SUPPLY.

-0-

ALDRIN REPORTS "OKAY MY WINDOW IS CLEAR."

-0-

EAGLE REPORTS ALL WINDOWS CLEAR.

-0-

ARMSTRONG GIVING READINGS.

-0-

ARMSTRONG IS NOW HOOKING UP HIS LUNAR EQUIPMENT CONVEYOR WHICH

WILL BE USED TO MOVE EQUIPMENT OFF THE LANDER.

-0-

ARMSTRONG IS NOW MOVING ONTO THE PLATFORM.

-0-

ALDRIN IS GIVING HIM DIRECTIONS TO CRAWL THROUGH THE NARROW

HATCH IN THE BULKY SPACE SUIT.

-0-

ALDRIN SAYS "YOU'RE NOT QUITE CLEARED AWAY. MOVE TO THE RIGHT A

LITTLE." ARMSTRONG SAYS "BELIEVE THAT'S OKAY"

-0-

ARMSTRONG "HOW'M I DOING."

ALDRIN "YOU'RE DOING FINE."

-0-

ALDRIN SAID "OKAY YOU WANT THOSE BAGS?"

ARMSTRONG SAID YES.

-0-

ARMSTRONG IS OUT

-0-

ARMSTRONG SAID "OKAY HOUSTON, I'M ON THE PORCH."

-0-

HE WILL NOW DESCEND THE LADDER SLOWLY AND START THE T-V CAMERA

BY PULLING A RING.

-0-

25 MINUTES OF LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS EXPENDED

-0-

ARMSTRONG SAYS "I'M GOING TO PULL THE RING."

-0-

THIS WILL OPEN STORAGE AREA WHERE CAMERA IS STORED.

-0-

RING IS TO BE PULLED ON SECOND RUNG OF THE LADDER.

-0-

THE T-V PICTURE IS ON.

-0-

VIEWERS COULD SEE WHAT APPEARED TO BE THE LUNAR LANDER LEG

WHICH AT FIRST WAS SHOWN UPSIDE DOWN. PICTURE NOW REVERSED.

-0-

ARMSTRONG COULD BE SEEN COMING DOWN.

-0-

ARMSTRONG WENT BACK TO FIRST STEP JUST TO TEST HIS MOVEMENT.

-0-

ARMSTRONG SAID "I'M AT THE FOOT OF THE LADDER."

-0-

FLASH

ARMSTRONG SETS FOOT ON MOON

UPI/SPACE FLIGHT

FK957P7/20CD..


ARMSTRONG SAID "HERE'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN."

-0-

"SURFACE IS FINE AND POWDERY"

-0-

" "IT SEEMS TO BE IN FINE LAYERS LIKE POWDERED CHARCOAL."

-0-

"I CAN CLEARLY SEE THE FOOTPRINT OF MY SHOES IN THE FINE SANDY

PARTICLE."

-0-

ARMSTRONG HAS NOW LET LOOSE OF THE LADDER.

"THERE SEEMS TO BE NO DIFFICULTY MOVING AROUND AS WE EXPECTED."

-0-


B U L L E T I N

(SPACE CENTER)---AMERICAN ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG HAS STEPPED

ONTO THE MOON---THE FIRST MAN FROM EARTH TO SET HIS FEET ON ANOTHER

HEAVENLY BODY. THE SCHEDULE CALLS FOR ASTRONAUT EDWIN ALDRIN TO

FOLLOW HIM ONTO THE LUNAR SURFACE SHORTLY.

FK959P7/20CDT


HE SET FOOT ON THE MOON AT 10:56 :31 P-M EDT.

OM

[Rusty B]

Post by OM
...Someone forwarded this to me this morning. Source not cited, but
interesting reading, as well as a look back on the end of the Golden
(Damn thing's in all caps, so it'll look like a Min rant :-( )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPI Broadcast Wire, 1969
CONTROL: "YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD AT EIGHT MINUTES."
-0-
SPEED 129 FEET PER SECOND.
-0-
P GROUND TELLS THEM: "EAGLE YOURE LOOKING GREAT."
ALTITUDE RIVE-THOUSAND-200 FEET.
-0-
GROUND SAYS: "YOU'RE GO FOR LANDING."
-0-
EAGLE SAYS WE'RE GO.!!
TWO-THOUSAND FEET!!
-0-
14-HUNDRED!!...
-0-
--540.....
400--FEET..
300-FEET..
220--FEET..
COMING DOWN NICELY.....
120--...
100--...
75..--
30 FEET PICKING UP SOME DUST..
ENGINE STOPPED...
FLASH!!!
THEY'VE LANDED!!!
UPI SPACE FLIGHT
RU317P 7/29CDT

Man just landed on the moon! Of course they had to shout the entire story!
Besides, lower case hadn't been invented yet. ;-)


- Rusty Barton

[David Higgins]

Post by Rusty B
Man just landed on the moon! Of course they had to shout the entire story!
Besides, lower case hadn't been invented yet. ;-)

Certainly not in Baudot, being printed by an decades old
TTY model 15 -- the only teletype that could make the
1960's era weather service model 28 ttys look modern.

[OM]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 00:36:02 GMT, David Higgins

Post by David Higgins

Post by Rusty B
Man just landed on the moon! Of course they had to shout the entire story!
Besides, lower case hadn't been invented yet. ;-)

Certainly not in Baudot, being printed by an decades old
TTY model 15 -- the only teletype that could make the
1960's era weather service model 28 ttys look modern.

...Say what you will, but the Model 28's may have been antiquated when
they were new, but the damn things were built as if they were IBM 029
card punches. The one we had in the WX center had been in use at the
See-BS affiliate I worked at almost as long as I've been on the
planet, and the damn thing's still there and running!

OM

[David Higgins]

Post by OM
...Say what you will, but the Model 28's may have been antiquated when
they were new [...]

Oh, they were state-of-the-art when they were first
introduced, and built like brick shithouses, happily
typing away for years on end... ...and apparently
still in use somewhere, as the weather service is
still issuing reports in ALL CAPS.

[Bruce Palmer]

Post by OM
...Someone forwarded this to me this morning. Source not cited, but
interesting reading, as well as a look back on the end of the Golden
(Damn thing's in all caps, so it'll look like a Min rant :-( )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPI Broadcast Wire, 1969
CONTROL: "YOU'RE LOOKING GOOD AT EIGHT MINUTES."
-0-
SPEED 129 FEET PER SECOND.
-0-
P GROUND TELLS THEM: "EAGLE YOURE LOOKING GREAT."
ALTITUDE RIVE-THOUSAND-200 FEET.
-0-
GROUND SAYS: "YOU'RE GO FOR LANDING."

<snip>

Post by OM
(WASHINGT0N)---WATCHING TELEVISION DURING THE MOON LANDING
PRESIDENT NIXON TERMED THE ACHIEVEMENT "THE GREATEST MOMENT OF
OUR TIME."
FK920P7/20CDT

<snip rest>

Nixon was right. Thanks for posting that. I've been lurking at best
here for what seems like weeks now, and with my ISP's short retention
time on usenet articles I could have missed this very easily. Glad I
saw it.

Imagine standing next to a news ticker in 1969 and watching those
minutes tick off. Today it's a shouting log of hackneyed news reporting
technology. Back then it was history in the making.

[OM]

Post by Bruce Palmer
Nixon was right. Thanks for posting that. I've been lurking at best
here for what seems like weeks now, and with my ISP's short retention
time on usenet articles I could have missed this very easily. Glad I
saw it.

...I'm surprised how few people have commented on this one, tho. I
fully expected lots of commentary, especially on the "meanwhile, in
the rest of the world..." section.

Post by Bruce Palmer
Imagine standing next to a news ticker in 1969 and watching those
minutes tick off. Today it's a shouting log of hackneyed news reporting
technology. Back then it was history in the making.

...I've worked in radio on the overnight shift, so I know how that
feels. Especially when the Burroughs "Grey Clunking Monstrosity"
starts churning away and the alert bell is ringing off the wall. One
of the oddest ones was when, during the middle of one of those airline
hijacking standoffs, because someone local was one of the hostages,
we'd been told to break in with any major updates even if no newsgeek
was on hand. About 3am, the bell goes apeshit, paper starts flowing,
and I rush out of the booth over to the newsroom(*), which was
separated by a glass wall. I pull the copy, expecting to see "Special
forces raid jet, kill hijackers, x number of hostages killed in
process."

Instead, what they considered "Presidential Assasination-Level Alert"
material was, in fact, the report that the Singing Nun and her lesbian
lover had committed mutual suicide, followed by a long-assed bio.

...Needless to say, some junior bureau chief at AP got fired over that
one, as I later found out.

(*) The bell triggered a flashing light on the console that you could
not miss unless your eyes were closed, natch.

OM

[David Lesher]

Post by OM

Post by Bruce Palmer
Imagine standing next to a news ticker in 1969 and watching those
minutes tick off. Today it's a shouting log of hackneyed news reporting
technology. Back then it was history in the making.

...I've worked in radio on the overnight shift, so I know how that
feels. Especially when the Burroughs "Grey Clunking Monstrosity"
starts churning away and the alert bell is ringing off the wall. One
of the oddest ones was when, during the middle of one of those airline
hijacking standoffs, because someone local was one of the hostages,
we'd been told to break in with any major updates even if no newsgeek
was on hand. About 3am, the bell goes apeshit, paper starts flowing,
and I rush out of the booth over to the newsroom(*), which was
separated by a glass wall. I pull the copy, expecting to see "Special
forces raid jet, kill hijackers, x number of hostages killed in
process."
Instead, what they considered "Presidential Assasination-Level Alert"
material was, in fact, the report that the Singing Nun and her lesbian
lover had committed mutual suicide, followed by a long-assed bio.

....

Two Wirefeed stories:

February 20, 1971. At WCRB in Boston, they had noon & 6pm newscasts,
consisting of 'rip and read' whereby the announcer would go to the
back closet of the station, where the gawdawful noisy Model 15 was,
rip off the paper and select an item or two of choice. In theory,
you had to compose the news, not just read it, but...

So that day, the staff announcer was even more behind than usual,
went back with 5 minutes to go.... and found a MOUNTAIN of paper
on the floor. It was only then they she realized that we were, and
had been, at war [or so it said...] and should have been off the
air hours ago. Then reading farther, we were not at war, ooops,
invalid cancellation message, we were, no we were not.... I have
not idea what she said on the air....


Far Earlier; in a major metropolitan newspaper. There were multiple
wire machines: The A wire, the state one, local, sports, finance,
etc etc. One day, they all stopped, dead. Now it helps to know that
if you 'lose the loop' the machine does NOT stop, it 'runs open'
making CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER noise but printing nothing.

These had stopped. AP was no sending any news. Word spread across
the office, and floors of the building, but nothing. It may have
seemed like hours, but I doubt it was more than a few minutes...

Then every machine started up, all in sync..... with a stream
of bells. Now 2-3 bells was something important, 5 urgent,
but this was more. Lots more. Then silence again...

Finally all the machines starting printing the same text;
Germany had surrendered.

[OM]

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 01:00:15 +0000 (UTC), David Lesher

Post by David Lesher
Then every machine started up, all in sync..... with a stream
of bells. Now 2-3 bells was something important, 5 urgent,
but this was more. Lots more. Then silence again...
Finally all the machines starting printing the same text;
Germany had surrendered.

...There's differing reports on this, but the main difference is the
number of bells. The wire feed operator couldn't say how many he used,
but counts are in excess of 20 or more.

OM

[Bruce Palmer]

Post by David Lesher
...

When news was news and entertainment was entertainment and never the
twain did meet.

Post by David Lesher
Finally all the machines starting printing the same text;
Germany had surrendered.

That must have been an awesome moment.

[OM]

Post by Bruce Palmer

Post by David Lesher
Finally all the machines starting printing the same text;
Germany had surrendered.

That must have been an awesome moment.

...Recently I've been reviewing some of the few surviving recordings
of how NBC's Red and Blue(*) news department handled D-Day, as the
invasion happened not long after most stations had signed off for the
evening. All the news agencies had been hearing rumblings for weeks
that "something" was up, and starting June 1st these rumblings had
gotten a bit quieter in some areas, and fairly loud in the denials in
others. This was the first real tip that "something" was actually some
*thing* and not just jitters and rumors. Three or four times during
the evening hours on June 5th, all the news services were called on a
common info line the War Department had set up, and simply polled as
to their status. No info was given until the last status check, in
which all networks were informed that at a specific time they were to
have their announcer simply state "and we now go to the War Department
for a special announcement". No advance notice was to be made over the
air.

...However, before that disclaimer was made, all the networks were
commenting about the rumors, and pretty much anyone who was listening
to the news instead of Charlie McCarthy or Amos & Andy or whoever was
shooting for laughs was aware that "something" was about to happen.
So, when NBC decided to stay on the air, they made it clear that there
was a reason, it involved some news from Europe, and that they would
stay on the air overnight to make sure whatever it was got reported.
Local affiliates that used either Red or Blue's programming that
weren't NBC O&O'd were asked to stay on the air and use filler
programming if necessary. Then, at the specified time, each announcer
gave the cue, and waited. After about a minute, someone from the War
Department came over a second phone line, and simply stated that the
invasion of Normandy was underway. Needless to say, all hell broke
loose in the news departments, but that's another story.

(*) The FCC somehow concluded that NBC owning two distinct networks
was some sort of rules violation, and forced them to divest either the
Red or the Blue networks. The stations making up the Blue network were
lower-rated ones, so they got divested into what became known as ABC.
This historically is why ABC was a distant third in everything except
NCAA football for the first three decades of their existence. In fact,
until "Batman" came along, ABC rarely ever broke the top 20, much less
the top 30, more than one week in a row.

OM

[Andrew Gray]

On 2004-08-27, OM

Post by OM
(JODRELL BANK, ENGLAND)---RUSSIA'S LUNA-15 SATELLITE IS PASSING
OVER THE APOLLO-11 LANDING SITE AT AN ALTITUDE OF A LITTLE LESS
THAN 10 MILES...BUT THERE IS STILL NO CLUE AS TO ITS MISSION.

This so sounds like the lead-in to a film, doesn't it?

Post by OM
ARMSTRONG SAID "HERE'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN."

I rather like that, given the fuss people make about these words, they
only quoted half the like...

[OM]

Post by Andrew Gray
On 2004-08-27, OM

Post by OM
(JODRELL BANK, ENGLAND)---RUSSIA'S LUNA-15 SATELLITE IS PASSING
OVER THE APOLLO-11 LANDING SITE AT AN ALTITUDE OF A LITTLE LESS
THAN 10 MILES...BUT THERE IS STILL NO CLUE AS TO ITS MISSION.

This so sounds like the lead-in to a film, doesn't it?

...Yeah, but hadn't Luna 15 crashed by then?

Post by Andrew Gray

Post by OM
ARMSTRONG SAID "HERE'S ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN."

I rather like that, given the fuss people make about these words, they
only quoted half the like...

...This wasn't unusual in time-pressed situations. The typical
procedure in those days was for the reporter to call the bureau, where
he either spoke directly to a wire transcriber, or spoke to whoever
picked up the phone and wrote down what he was saying to pass on to
the wire transcriber. Either way, there's a lot of room for
transcription error, usually because either the reporter is talking
too fast and/or the phone line isn't good. More than likely what
happened in this particular case is that the UPI reporter was talking
directly to the transcriber over the phone, probably from the JSC
press room, and seeing as how he's not the only reporter in that room
there's a lot of background babble as every other reporter is making
the same reports. It's quite probable that, over the din, he misheard
what Neil said, and the transcriber misheard the reporter and clipped
what he didn't fully catch.

OM