40 Years Ago
As this entry goes live, exactly forty years have passed since the world changed forever. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin landed in a small spacecraft named “Eagle” on the surface of the moon while Michael Collins orbited above in the Command Module. After them came fifteen other men on Apollo 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
The sad thing is that no other person has walked on the moon since Eugene Cernan stepped back onto the LEM at the conclusion of Apollo 17′s moon walks. The moon has been there the whole time, but we haven’t gone back. I wish that we would. The US is beginning to lag behind the rest of the civilized world in our scientific prowess, and this must be righted. I believe that if we were to embark on a new moon “race”, the benefits could be enormous. It would get young people interested in science again. It would invest money in science and engineering and produce untold new “spinoffs” that would be of benefit to all mankind. It would once again inspire the world and show that we can do great things when we put our minds to it.
So this is my challenge to our leaders both political and scientific (with deference to President Kennedy for the wording):
I believe this nation should commit itself, before the year 2025, to returning man to the moon, to establishing a permanent lunar outpost, and to use that lunar outpost as a staging ground for the first manned mission to the planet Mars.
Do we have the ability as a nation to do this? We most certainly do. Do we have the will? I hope so. Happy 40th Anniversary Apollo 11!
Updated (9:56 pm): “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Monday, July 20th, 2009
