Raucous celebrations on Earth were fading into the early morning hours of July 21, 1969, as Jim Odom stepped outside his Decatur home and cast his eyes toward Earth\u2019s closest neighbor \u2013 the moon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Like millions of other Americans, Odom had watched with rapt attention as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of the Apollo 11 mission made \u201cone small step for man, one giant leap for mankind\u201d on the lunar surface earlier in the evening. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Now, in the silence of the muggy Decatur evening, Odom had a moment to reflect on the achievement. As chief of the engineering and test operations branch for the second stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle, Odom had spent the majority of his career to that point with the singular objective of putting man on the moon.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cLooking at the moon and knowing that had happened was probably one of the most humbling<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
experiences that I can ever recall,\u201d Odom said. \u201cIt was not only a sense of personal satisfaction, but also a sense of national pride.\u201d<\/p>\r\n