Operation Moonglow

by Teasel Muir-Harmony

  When US officials approached the Hungarian government, they were turned down. Hungarian deputy minister Beli Szilagyi was “obviously ill at ease” while reading from a prepared text, recounted US ambassador Alfred Puhan. Szilagyi explained that “the planned world tour has propaganda character and creates unwanted pretenses to which we do not want to contribute… we cannot contribute to the strengthening of such pretenses.” Puhan suggested that the reason Szilagyi read the response was to “dissociate himself from the wording,” and he “turned beet red” as he spoke. Szilagyi joked that the astronauts should visit East Berlin and then used the comment as a way to explain how such a visit would upset West Germany in the same way that a visit to Budapest would upset Hungary’s “friends.”18 The State Department speculated that the Hungarian government likely coordinated its decision with the Soviet leadership.

  Nixon understood the reason why the Hungarian government declined, but he found “the language employed by the Hungarians invidious and uncalled for.” Kissinger explained to Secretary of State Rogers that after Hungary’s announcement the president wanted to review “the substance of possible additional bilateral arrangements with the Hungarians” before any additional negotiations were made, which suggests that Nixon was considerably offended by the statement.19

  “It is inevitable that the course of US-Hungarian relations will be affected,” explained Under Secretary of State Elliot Richardson to the US Embassy in Budapest. “You should take steps to effect an appropriate cooling down.” Not only was the White House concerned by the rejection of the proffered visit by the astronauts, but the tone and words were viewed as “a source of concern to the White House.” Although the White House and the State Department had no plans to make the rejection public, the “cooling down” of bilateral relations “should be brought clearly home to Hungarians that they relate to the cancellation of [the] astronauts.”20

  Although Nixon pressed for a visit to Poland as an alternative to Hungary, the Department of State worried that this gesture would make it “look as if we were shopping for an East European stop” and that if Soviet leadership prevented Hungary from receiving the astronauts, it was unlikely that permission would be given to Poland. The popularity of Apollo 11 in Hungary and neighboring Warsaw Pact countries “quite clearly did not please Soviets,” observed Puhan. The State Department eventually reached an agreement with President Marshal Tito of Yugoslavia, making it the only Eastern European stop on the tour.21

  The White House announced the final itinerary on September 19, 1969. The astronauts would visit twenty-nine cities in twenty-two countries, beginning with Mexico City on September 29 and ending with Tokyo on November 4. They would return to the United States in time for the Apollo 12 launch. If something went wrong on the next lunar voyage, the astronauts should not be abroad, planners concluded. After it was assured that the Apollo 12 mission went smoothly, the crew would fly to Canada for two additional stops in early December.22

  A day before the tour was scheduled to start, Nixon was still concerned that it might not serve his foreign relations interests. He called Armstrong on the phone with instructions. Drawing on a set of talking points that Borman had prepared for him, the president counseled Armstrong to make it clear to the leaders of all the countries he was about to visit that the tour symbolized “the interest of the United States in maintaining space exploration as a project of peaceful benefits for all nations of the world.” Nixon added that Armstrong should consider repeating the message from the Moonglow tour that “the success of the Apollo 11 mission belongs to all the people of the earth and not just the people of the United States.”23

  On Monday, September 29, the Apollo 11 crew, their wives, and a large support staff boarded SAM 970, one of two modified Boeing 707s that became Air Force One when the president was onboard. It was outfitted with rows of typical airline seats, a curved green table for meetings or card games, cream-colored curtains, and couches where travelers would often nap between stops. Rest was hard to come by, given the grueling schedule. A gray haze of cigarette smoke frequently hung throughout the cabin, and glasses were usually full of something strong: scotch, bourbon, or gin.24

  Before the astronauts landed at each new destination, they received country briefings. NASA staff outlined US space agreements with each country, but it was USIA Science Advisor Simon Bourgin who told them about everything else: “Don’t drink the water, history of the people and country, what the city’s like, and how the moon landing did there.”25 Bourgin was tall and thin with a wry sense of humor, and was liked by the astronauts. In 1963 Bourgin’s friend Edward R. Murrow asked him to leave his journalism job in California to join the USIA in Washington. He excitedly took on the role of working with the Apollo crews. “After the narcissism of many of the denizens of Hollywood,” he reflected, “these men were true superstars.” Between reading the newspaper, watching movies, and “long talks relieving the boredom of flights between stops,” Bourgin told them what to expect at the next destination. He also wrote home to his wife, Mariada, applying his wit and journalism background to each letter.26 Their first stop: Mexico City.

  At 11:00 a.m. local time that day the Giantstep party touched down on the tarmac at Mexico City International Airport. Armstrong, speaking in Spanish, told the gathered crowd that “it is a great pleasure to join you on the first stop of a tour of the world to share our experiences in space.”27 Armstrong was remarkable when it came to engaging with audiences everywhere they traveled, Collins later said. By the time Armstrong “got to a particular capital, he had done his homework about the place, he knew some of the local problems, had a feeling for the local ambiance, and he would make a very short but impassioned effective speech.” He connected with his audiences and made them want to “crawl right on board and go on into space.”28

  Describing the motorcade into the city center in a letter to his wife, Bourgin recounted that “half the kids in town chased us through the police lines and in and out of the cars, with everyone wanting to touch, touch and to embrace.” The mayor gave the astronauts keys to the city during a ceremony at City Hall, which was decorated by large Mexican and US flags constructed from flowers. People dressed in colorful costumes cheered while a band played the Mexican National Anthem.29 President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz then hosted a dinner with two hundred social and political leaders.30 Billed as the “Conquistadors of the Moon,” the Apollo 11 crew enjoyed an overall enthusiastic reception in Mexico, reaching an audience of more than eighteen million television viewers.31 Robert McBride, the US ambassador to Mexico, commented that the visit was “highly successful” and that it was the “best USIS operation that I have seen in my many years in the Foreign Service.”32

  The Apollo 11 crew members visit Mexico, September 1969. (NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION)

  Early the next morning, the Giantstep party reboarded SAM 970. The plane took off at 9:00 a.m. for Bogotá, a stop that one public affairs officer called “a 23-hour wonder.”33 During the Apollo 11 mission, all of Colombia’s 230 radio stations broadcast coverage. The launch on July 16 became the first live satellite telecast in the country’s history. The government-owned nationwide television network picked up the feed from a ground station in Maracaibo, while newspapers and magazines throughout the country detailed the astronauts’ progress. So it likely came as no surprise to the crew when crowds surpassing the warm reception in Mexico embraced them physically and metaphorically during their brief visit.34 These events were picked up by Venezuela television via microwave link between the neighboring countries and were carried live via radio and television throughout Colombia. Newspapers adapted material from the 350 press kits the USIA had distributed ahead of the visit. “For a day—and this is a relief—everyone loved the United States once again,” a USIS report stated.35

  Next, the airplane touched down in Brasilia for a quick refueling stop before flying on to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro for a day each. One out of every two Argentines watched l
ive television coverage of the astronauts’ visit to Buenos Aires. The viewership outstripped all previous records for nonsport events in the country’s history, but not even the moonwalkers could outshine soccer in Argentina. Six hundred journalists overcrowded the ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, a grand historic hotel—which had previously hosted guests such as Charles de Gaulle, Teddy Roosevelt, and Luciano Pavarotti—to ask the astronauts questions.36

  Bourgin described the motorcade back to the airport as “sheer bedlam: fightingest competition to stay close to astronauts’ car… [with] horns tooting, confetti falling, and these handsome people waving and reaching from sidewalks.”37 The astronauts’ reception in Rio de Janeiro mirrored their previous stops: swelling crowds, eager journalists, and countless toasts and speeches. In a letter home, Bourgin described “an unofficial official lunch that was epic.” The “King of [a] publishing empire hosted instead of [the] Foreign Office, and host’s giant Dalmatian ate Mike Collins’s dessert.”38 After a day in each city they departed for the Canary Islands for a small break before starting the European leg of their tour.

  “Is it possible we have been on road only a week?” Bourgin asked his wife in a letter as the party flew over the Atlantic Ocean. “Impossible. Seems like a month… are we really going to do this 23 more times? That’s impossible too.”39

  After their short rest on the Canary Islands, the crew flew to Madrid. Stopping in Spain had initially raised concerns within the White House and State Department. “We believe it would be a serious mistake from a political and public affairs standpoint,” warned Albert Hemsing, USIA area director for Europe. Francisco Franco’s dictatorship over Spain was criticized throughout Europe, and any sign of American support risked souring European political and public opinion of the United States.40 But the crew did visit Spain, an important ally for the US space program. NASA had established three tracking stations there during the mid-1960s. In Madrid the crew received what the Chicago Tribune claimed was the largest reception that foreigners had been given since President Eisenhower visited the country in 1959. As Bourgin described it, “crowd so swollen at [the] Airport upon arrival tonight they exploded the plate-glass windows at the door in a great surge.”41

  The astronauts laid wreaths at the Christopher Columbus monument in Columbus Square, acclaiming Columbus as their colleague in exploration. As with many stops on the tour, national and American flags decorated streets filled with cheering crowds. In advance of their visit, the weekly top-circulation picture magazine, La Actualidad Española, distributed two posters of the astronauts superimposed in Spanish scenes. The first was a parody of a bullfight cartel, and the other depicted the crew in the Spanish matador’s traje de luces (suit of lights).42 These gestures—both the adoption of the Apollo 11 crew into local costumes or traditions and the crew’s efforts to link their mission with local heroes or history—were fundamental parts of the process of creating cultural connections, national alliance, and a sense of global community. It reflected US government officials’ interest in making the lunar landing “for all humankind” and also reflected the interest abroad in participating in the event.

  “Warm autumn sun and clear blue skies” greeted the Giantstep party in Paris along with a celebration that rivaled Charles Lindbergh’s historic reception in 1927.43 After a motorcade following Lindbergh’s parade route, Armstrong spoke to thousands gathered at Paris City Hall: “As our flight extended the boundaries of man’s physical world, Paris has, for a thousand years, extended the boundaries of men’s minds.” The USIA post reported that “with the astronauts on view in the flesh, the exploit was instantly brought back to human terms. Armstrong’s boyish face, his unfailing good nature, his lack of pretense helped to reinforce the feeling that the moon landing was a human feat that, for various good reasons, was first accomplished by Americans.” Furthermore, the astronauts “succeeded in dispelling the notion that the moon landing was simply the result of the US winning a space race and they emphasized that the moon landing should serve the cause of peace by giving all humanity a new perspective on our planet and its problems.”44

  After Paris it was on to Amsterdam and then Brussels, all within the same day. Instead of a traditional motorcade in Amsterdam, the crew embarked on a “watercade” down the canals of the city. Thousands of Amsterdamers saw the astronauts in person, while another estimated three million watched the event on television in the Netherlands as well as in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia. According to a number of sources, the astronauts’ motorcade in Belgium evoked memories of the Allied Liberation.45

  On October 10 the Giantstep party flew north to Oslo. Before a rest day in the Norwegian mountains, the crew paraded through the city, attended a press conference for journalists from throughout Scandinavia, and then dined with the royal family. “People infinitely polite and clean,” Bourgin observed. USIA staff reported that “the Norwegian Government, from his Majesty on down, took great pride in the fact that the Astronauts were visiting Norway (and only Norway of the Nordic countries).”46

  The Apollo 11 crew’s “watercade” in Amsterdam, October 1969. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  In Norway, as in many countries the astronauts visited, USIA staff reported that it was seen as a great honor to be part of the Giantstep tour and was taken as a mark of the country’s significance in geopolitics and US foreign relations and friendship. Norwegian television journalist Erik Tandberg ran the press conference where the astronauts were asked questions about their mission, its impact on their view of the Earth, and the impression that the crew was humorless. Collins suggested that if the audience thought astronauts were humorless, they “should get to know the Apollo 12 crew.” Next came a question about how they planned to spend their time in the Norwegian mountains. “We hope there is some fishing,” Collins responded, “because I am a very good fisherman and [Armstrong] is terrible and I would like to have a chance to show off that fact.”47

  After stopping in Berlin, the party visited London, where Collins told Queen Elizabeth and others gathered at Buckingham Palace that he would like to “take all the world’s political leaders up about 100,000 miles, tell them to look back and see how there are no borders and how small the differences between nations really are.” He continued, “The earth seems like a jewel in the sky… it is a shame how people are fouling up the place.”48

  After twenty-four hours in London the party continued to Rome and then Belgrade, the only city visited in Eastern Europe.49 The State Department viewed Yugoslavia as the most liberal state in Eastern Europe and believed that it might be moving toward becoming a free-market open society. Josip Tito, the Yugoslav president, was “avidly interested and well informed on space matters,” according to the US Embassy. Police estimated a crowd of half a million on the motorcade route, often twenty people deep, with many waving small American flags, which was a record-breaking welcome, according to one Yugoslav official.50

  During a dinner with President Tito, “As the small talk got smaller and smaller,” Michael Collins recounted, “I could see Madame Broz [First Lady of Yugoslavia] totally frozen… so things were not well at this formal dinner and about that time I saw Neil get up out of his chair.”51

  The Apollo 11 crew members visit Belgrade, Yugoslavia, October 1969. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

  Armstrong deviated from the prepared text and instead reflected on his personal connection to the country, explaining that this visit was a particular pleasure for him. “My first scientific experiment… in school… I produced a replica of the invention of Nikola Tesla. We enjoyed great fun and mystery by holding up a light bulb and illuminating it without any wires.”

  Jovanka Broz was particularly pleased: “All of a sudden she brightened up. Big smile.” Tesla was her relative. Collins explained that “Marshal Tito noticed and that changed the entire complexion. From then on, we were all big buddies.”52

  Bourgin called the stop in Belgrade the “high point of [the] trip so far
,” noting that dinner with Tito and Jovanka at the White Palace was “unforgettable in its way.” The USIA post in Belgrade reported that “the Apollo-11 Astronaut visit served our foreign policy interests by further demonstrating to both the government and people of Yugoslavia our friendly interest in the country and providing them with an opportunity to show in an apolitical context the admiration they feel for US achievements.” Politika, a Belgrade paper, featured a front-page story of the Giantstep tour, and the visit was covered in all local papers, many with multipage features on the astronauts. The newspaper Borba noted that on the astronauts’ hunting trip with President Tito, Armstrong proved himself to be “a good astronaut but poor hunter (he bagged only five ducks).”53

  After their stop in Belgrade, the Giantstep party enjoyed a brief visit to Ankara, where, according to a Turkish newspaper, “By the time the motorcade reached Ataturk Boulevard, the people on either side of the road were three deep, undisciplined and excited, straggling deeper and deeper into the road in spite of the police motorcyclists who patrolled to keep them at bay.” The newspaper contrasted this reception with the previous year, when “anti-American feeling led to the burning of the US ambassador’s car and American sailors being tossed into the sea,” whereas the Giantstep tour “produced only smiles and welcome, from the curious and the lunch-break crowd.”54 According to the US ambassador, the tour was a “uniquely successful Presidential Mission” and “an outstanding success from the point of view of our relations with Turkey.” He suggested that the visit was an important factor in improving the image of the United States in Turkey and in emphasizing friendship between the two countries.55