We have a full moon over Butler this weekend, which only seems appropriate since this is the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing mission, the first time people landed on the moon. It’s so hard to believe it was that long ago.

I was 13 years old, but it seems like it was yesterday. It was the culmination and fulfillment of the challenge made by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 after Alan Shepard completed the first American manned mission into space. JFK challenged NASA to send Americans to land on the moon and safely return by 1970. This was a highly ambitious goal, considering the U.S. space program hadn’t even put a man in orbit around the Earth when he pitched his challenge. John Glenn wouldn’t do that for almost another year.

The goal of getting men to the moon in the ’60s was scientific exploration, but a significant part of the motivation was political and military. We had to make sure an American flag was planted on the moon instead of the red hammer and sickle of the communist Soviet Union. After all, they embarrassed the USA by getting the first satellite, Sputnik, into space in 1957. Then they rubbed it in when they got the first man into space and orbit around the Earth in 1961. America needed to catch up and exceed the Soviets in space.

The successful race to the moon probably wouldn’t have happened without German scientists leftover from the Hitler-World War II era. They were at the leading edge of rocket development, and both the Soviet Union and the U.S. had them in the fold. The Germans developed the V2 rockets and were constantly hitting Great Britain and other European ally targets during WWll. The V2 was developed by Dr. Wernher von Braun, who eventually ended up on the American side with NASA. Von Braun designed the Saturn V rockets that launched Apollo astronauts to the moon. Developing rockets for human space flight, though, was secondary for the U.S. and U.S.S.R. The primary mission was to create missiles to transport nuclear weapons halfway across the world.

Even though lunar landing missions were born more out of politics than science, at least in my opinion, it was indeed an exciting time. In less than 75 years, we went from flying the first airplanes to landing on the moon. As a kid, I was really, really caught up in the manned spacecraft program in the 1960s. Don Fallen, my next-door neighbor and one of my best buddies, helped me build a space capsule of plywood in my backyard. We even went on pretend missions into space.

I remember the night before the Apollo 11 mission took off. I was so excited that I stayed up all night, eagerly anticipating the launch. I almost missed it because I fell asleep. Just in the nick of time though, I woke up 15 minutes before the launch and caught Walter Cronkite’s call on CBS TV. The thrill of that moment is something I'll never forget.

As Apollo 11 raced to the moon in its three-day journey, I journeyed to summer camp near McGregor, Minn., for 10 days. I almost canceled the trip because I feared I’d miss the TV coverage. I had my Dad call the camp to ensure all campers would experience this history. They promised that they would. The rules of the camp prohibited transistor radios. Still, I smuggled one in anyway, and the first night I was there, I crouched very uncomfortably, deep into my sleeping bag, and listened to any news I could about Apollo 11 with one of those old-fashioned earphones stuck in my ear. It worked! I never got busted!

Then Sunday, July 20, 1969, arrived, the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin climbed into the lunar module lander and left Mike Collins in the command module to continue orbiting the moon, awaiting the moon landers' safe return. I remember the head camp counselor, Louie Grams, announcing over the camp loudspeakers that we were invited to the main lodge to watch the moon landing coverage.

I was surprised that only about half my fellow campers came. We were glued to that little black and white TV as Walter Cronkite proclaimed about 3:20 in the afternoon ... “Man on the Moon!” Shortly after that happened, we were shooed away from TV. I just wasn’t going to settle for that. I knocked on the door of the councilor's lodge, and short of pounding fists on the walls, I insisted that I get to see more of the coverage. They didn’t want a scene, so I spent a little time watching.

I wasn’t through, though, because that night, Neil Armstrong was to set foot on the moon around midnight local time. Lights were out for the campers at 10:30 p.m. I was prepared to listen to the coverage on my transistor radio in my sleeping bag, but by 11, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I snuck out of the tent and once again pounded on the door of the councilor’s lounge, where they were crowded around that same black and white TV. Once again, I got my way and watched that historic moment when Neil Armstrong proclaimed, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Those ghostly images of Neil Armstrong hopping around on the moon with Buzz Aldrin are burned in my memory forever.

I’m not sure it’s all that beneficial for men and women to walk around the moon again someday. Robotic spacecraft can do an excellent job exploring the moon, which is much cheaper than sending people there.

Also, it’s hazardous for humans to be out deep in space away from the protective magnetic fields of Earth for extended periods because they are so vulnerable to cosmic rays and solar storm radiation. Back in 1972, the Apollo 17 astronauts just missed being hit by lethal solar radiation.

There isn’t a way to protect humans from this, but hopefully, there will be someday. Until then, I don’t think it will be worth the risk.

This makes me even more impressed with the courage of the Apollo 11 astronauts and all the other moon missions that boldly went to and walked in a place where no human had ever been. Keep that in mind the next time you gaze upon the moon.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of "Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations," published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.