"Fly Me to the Moon, and Let me Sing Among those Stars"

I don't recall whether that classic Frank Sinatra song was playing in the background 40 years ago when Neil Armstrong made that "giant leap for mankind" by stepping on the moon. I remember exactly where I was when that moment was televised. Do you? I was in Ft. Lewis, Washington, completing my second ROTC summer camp. We had completed all the mandatory training so we were allowed to make use of the base's extensive facilities. I had found a rather cozy library in the Officer's club maybe 6 x 12 feet. Three walls were lined with books and the forth looked out to the campus. There was also a small black and white TV set. I watched alone as the historic moment was braodcast. And I thought of the son.

I know that I missed the actual landing date by a week or so but I didn't wnt to miss it entirely.

n honor of this 40th anniversary Google has launched

Moon in Google Earth, an interactive 3D atlas of the Moon. You can now explore a virtual Moonscape, follow guided tours from astronauts Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) and Jack Schmitt (Apollo 17), see the latest rover concepts by teams competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, view high-resolution "Street View"-style panoramic photos, watch previously unreleased video footage captured from the lunar surface and much more.

For those of us who have become jaded about seeing Google street level views of earth addresses, seeing the same resolution of the moonscape is exciting. To access this Moonscape, make sure you have level 5.0 of Google Earth 5.0 or go to http://earth.google.com/moon to get it. The moon is available on the main menu, under the location icon.