Three-quarters of a million people had come into the area to view the launch , so it was quite a thrilling time , '' says King , now 78 . `` When I 'd cross the bridge over the Banana River heading to the Space Center , I 'd pull off onto the side of the road , get out of the car , and there was the Saturn V , bathed in the floodlights , just glowing . '' Hear the voice of King , watch as Apollo took off for moon '' `` It was a just a very impressive , majestic rocket . '' Launch manager Paul Donnelly recalls , `` We launched at 9:32 that morning . '' He reported for work the night before to oversee the hazardous and delicate operation of fueling the three-stage rocket . `` Everything on Apollo 11 went just beautiful , no real problems . '' He says he always told the astronauts , `` The launch crew wishes you good luck and Godspeed . '' As the hatch closed that day , he says he was thinking , `` Go ! Go ! Go ! Let 's do it
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER , Florida -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Just after midnight on July 16 , 1969 , Jack King kissed his wife goodbye at their Cocoa Beach , Florida home , jumped in his car , and drove to Dunkin' Donuts for a doughnut and a cup of coffee . Jack King became the voice of the Apollo 11 launch . `` It was quite a thrilling time , '' he says . It was the start of a big day : the launch of a Saturn V rocket , lifting man from the face of the Earth to the face of the moon . King , the chief of public information at Kennedy Space Center , would become known that day as the voice of Apollo 11 . In the wee hours of the morning , he followed his launch-day routine . But as he headed across the causeway to the space center , King lost sight of the lagoon he normally passed -- the view obstructed by RVs and trailers that had secured their spots for a view of the moon launch . `` The town was very much alive ; the vibrancy was entirely different .