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Hi Dog Star & All,
Well for me and I suspect a lot of amateurs around my age (let's say mid 40s to early 50s) it was the Apollo programme.
I was almost eight years old when I watched Armstrong and Aldrin on a rotten B&W TV at school and was utterly transfixed by it. I remember well that while most of the class were outside on the playground I was one of a large handful inside in the combined K1/K2 classroom at Oyster Bay Public School watching intently. Even though I was only eight, I knew this was history big-time being made before my eyes and was determined to watch every moment.
Along the same lines, I also remember listening to Nixon's (I am not a crook) impeachment speech broadcast over the school PA system when I was about 11 and having a similar appreciation for the moment (though I understood very little of the situation).
But Apollo did it for me. Such was my interest I was given a telescope as a gift for Christmas that year I think (or the year after, it's hard to know so far back) and joined the James Cook Astronomers Club (this was the original name of Sutherland Astronomical Society) in 1972 as a junior.
Best,
Les D
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