Posts with the Apollo 13 tag

Barris Beat

Week of space shots

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment

I think after the assassination of JFK, it’s the most significant “Where were you when…?” event in our lifetimes. It was the time – as baby-boom teenagers and their parents – we stayed glued to our TV sets all night on July 20, 1969, to watch U.S. astronauts land their Apollo 11 module on the moon and then watched former test pilot Neil Armstrong take those famous steps and speak to the world.

“That’s one small step for a man,” he said. “One giant leap for mankind.”

Yuri Gagarin remarked in space " God"
Yuri Gagarin remarked in space, "I don't see any God up here."

In truth, however, the race for space began 50 years ago this week when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to be catapulted into Earth orbit aboard Vostok 1, a space capsule about as big as the Russian-built Lada.

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Barris Beat

A “Where were you when…” moment

Written by Ted Barris on . Leave a comment
Reporter J. Frank Willis interviews mine with the rescue team at the Moose River mine cave-in, April 1936. He is speaking to more than 100 million people on radio stations across Canada, the U.S. and Britain.
Reporter J. Frank Willis interviews miner with the rescue team at the Moose River mine cave-in, in Nova Scotia, in April 1936. His non-stop broadcasts on the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission are being heard by more than 100 million people on radio stations across Canada, the U.S. and Britain.

You’ve probably never heard of Luis Iribarren. Or Claudio Lagos. And you’ll likely never run across Dario Rojo in your lifetime. But, in fact, you do know them, all of them. They are three of the 33 men trapped in the Chilean mine since Aug. 5. For the record, you probably remember the very first words that Iribarren spoke to the world on Aug. 22.

“We are well,” he said through a communication line, “and we are hoping that you will rescue us.”

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