April 1972.
The time had finally come to travel to Cape Kennedy – Cape Canaveral for the launch of Apollo 16 and then, the Moon landing
We arrived a few days before the launch, and thanks to Charlie Duke, we were hosted by the Moore family, who lived in Cocoa Beach. Mr. Moore was a NASA engineer who worked on the Apollo mission.
Arriving in Cocoa Beach was another thrill. At that age, I believed I might run into Major Nelson and Major Healey from I Dream of Jeannie—so naturally, I kept looking around, hoping to spot them somewhere on the street.
We spent a few wonderful days there, playing and rowing in the canal with Bobby, one of the Moore children, who was about our age.
Visiting NASA
The day before the launch, we went to a special NASA tour for launch guests.
Among the many spacecraft we had already seen the previous year, we watched a presentation about the Apollo 16 mission and its objectives. But what stayed with me most was seeing the Saturn V rocket already standing on the launch platform, ready for the next day.
It was immense.
Impossibly tall.
We stood there in awe, knowing that soon it would be heading toward the moon—with my father’s friend onboard.
