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Sneak Peek At Texas Standard's 'Highway To The Moon: How Texas Paved The Way For Apollo'

NASA (19 June 1969)
Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Apollo 11 commander, participates in simulation training in preparation for the scheduled lunar landing mission. He is in the Apollo Lunar Module Mission Simulator in the Kennedy Space Center Flight Crew Training Building.

This month marks 50 years since the U.S. put man on the Moon and “Texas Standard” has been working on a show looking back at how Texas helped lead the race. The one-hour special airs Friday, July 19, at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on KUT 90.5.

The team is still editing interviews and polishing copy but here’s a sneak preview of some of the voices and stories you’ll hear:

  • Excerpts from and commentary on President Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice University, which launched the mythology of an outer space manifest destiny.
  • The voice of a Mission Control, Charlie Duke, whose first words to the Apollo 11 crew on the surface of the Moon – after a landing that nearly expended all of the Lunar Module Eagle’s fuel – were “Roger, Twank...Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!”
  • Why many historians see LBJ as our most important president when it comes to space.
  • Two of the women NASA engineers who were instrumental to the Apollo 11 mission.
  • How Texas has become a hub for space exploration, including private space exploration with Blue Origins and SpaceX.
  • And much more!

Tune in Friday, July 19, at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on KUT 90.5.

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