Memories of moon landing remain vivid

Picton-born author Paul Corrigan was in the lower sixth form at Tararua College, Pahiatua, when his teacher brought in a radio.

‘‘The sound was scratchy. Neil Armstrong’s famous ‘That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind’ was indistinct. I didn’t know he’d said that until I read it in The Dominion newspaper the next morning,’’ he said.

‘‘We were conscious, though, that we were listening to history being made . . . It seemed to be a time of optimism for the human race. First the Moon, then the stars.’’

Sir William ‘‘Bill’’ Pickering, who grew up in Havelock, between Blenheim and Nelson, was considered ‘‘instrumental’’ in the success of the Apollo 11 mission.

He was born in Wellington in 1910, and moved to Havelock when he was 4 after his mother died, to be raised by his paternal grandparents, William and Kate Pickering.

Pickering later studied electrical engineering at Canterbury University before transferring to the California Institute of Technology, where he completed three degrees in physics and electrical engineering.

He was a director of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 22 years, overseeing the United States’ first satellite missions, the Ranger missions that took closeup pictures of the moon, and the Mariner, Pioneer and Voyager 1 and 2 planetary fly-by missions.

He received many honours including a National Medal of Science (US), an honorary knighthood from the Queen, and an Order of Merit (New Zealand). He made the cover of Time twice.

He died in 2004, aged 93. A memorial in Havelock is dedicated to him and fellow scientist Ernest Rutherford.