Hello, everybody, on the 40th anniversary today of what was one of the proudest achievements in all mankind: Man on the moon.

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong made a footprint into history while saying, "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind." A few days earlier, the rocket carrying Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins lifted off from Kennedy Space Center with the entire world stopping to watch and listen their every move, from military bases in Vietnam to even Disneyland in California.

The Apollo 11 mission also had some historic significance here as it would introduce Alaskans to live network television for the first time...well, at least in Anchorage. For some reason or another, it would be seen in the afternoon; but a very privileged few did manage to take up on a group rate to fly to Anchorage for $40 to see the moon landing live. Thanks to Alaskan broadcasting pioneer Augie Hiebert and with a little help from Washington, a ground station was set up in Anchorage to receive the live pictures.

Fairbanks would get their first ever live network broadcast with Super Bowl V in 1971. Network newscasts and big events like the Academy Awards would later follow on same-day satellite delay in the early '80s; a few years later, the networks and stations would all transition to satellite delivery, ending the "bad old days" of watching our favorite shows on a one- to two-week delay.

Anyway...President Obama at the White House on Monday met with the three Apollo 11 astronauts, and with the moon already been targeted...could Mars be next?

That's what they're pushing the government to do, as Buzz Aldrin wants man to set foot on that planet by 2035. In 1961, at the height of the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union, President Kennedy wanted a man on the moon by the end of the '60s. He of course didn't live long enough to see his wish granted.

But over the last decade of so, NASA have sent a series of rovers to Mars, bringing us back to Earth astonishing images and samples. The senior members of my family back in North Carolina (especially my deceased grandmother Mildred) do remember sitting glued to their TVs watching the moonwalk 40 years ago; who knows if the current generation will be tuning in for the Marswalk?

Now, Apollo 11 was one of the many events of the 20th Century covered by Walter Cronkite, and as you already know by now, Cronkite passed away Friday night at the age of 92 after a long illness.

Over the weekend, we've been sharing our memories of the legendary newsman, whether in person or watching him on TV over the decades. But Cronkite has a place in pop culture as well.

When Walter signed off for the final time as "CBS Evening News" anchor in 1981, Johnny Carson in an hilarious skit paid sort of a tribute to him in his own way. And "The Simpsons" at one time poked fun of Cronkite's reporting of the Kennedy assassination with the "Mr. Plow" episode. Cronkite even paid a visit to Fairbanks in 1982.

But the love of his life till her end in 2005 was wife Betsy, though in his last remaining years, Walter's companion was Joanna Simon, an opera singer and the older sister of pop legend Carly Simon. A public memorial service will be at New York's Lincoln Center sometime next month, and just like the one for Michael Jackson, I'm sure all of journalism's biggest names as well as many of Uncle Walter's celebrity friends will be on hand for the final goodbye.

Of course, the epitath on his grave next to his wife's when he is buried in his home state in Missouri will read, "And that's the way it is." So long and stay strong.