One Small Leap
Posted: Monday, July 20, 2009
by Michael Ramzy
delusionthread.com
I remember 1969 like it was forty years ago.
The Americans, th
ose wild and brave Americans, landed two men on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took turns exiting the relative safety of their capsule to step foot on another world, and the whole world watched in awe. Michael Collins, in orbit above the moon, watched as well. Perhaps he thought of driving the orbiter down to the moon, something that probably was not possible and yet something all of us, in that situation, would consider.
This was a new world, another shore. An alien shore There were no natives to contend with, of course. Instead, these men were greeted with a rock barren of life and oxygen, full of potential and hope. The potential and hope lay not so much in the moon itself but in what it all meant: if Man could rocket a quarter of a million miles into space, he could perhaps rocket anywhere.
The technology had been around for years. The reason these men went at this time was because they wanted to go. Sure, there was a cold war and Vietnam and other reasons which could perhaps justify this adventure (or distraction, depending on who you ask), but in the end it all came down to simple will.
Going to the moon was supposed to be the first step, that 'giant leap'. We were then to go to Mars, then other planets. To explore, to seek life, and at the very least to prove we were able to do it. It was not to be, of course, as money, politics and a lack of interest invalidated the program. Sure, we sent a rover to Mars and sent probes to the reaches of the solar system, yet it was never the same. To have a human in space, so bold and so impervious to fear, is something no machine can ever match. That giant leap turned into a small one. A leap for sure, yet not so grand as could have been.
Forty years ago we went to the moon, answering the question, 'what if?'. Today we can look back on that time and realize we were once bold and daring, audacious and imaginative. Today we can look back not in regret but in hope that one day, perhaps, we will be as bold and imaginative again.
Perhaps.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Deep article--thought provoking and well done. I must also say that the first sentence made me laugh out loud...you remember it "like it was 40 years ago". Outstanding.It's hard to believe it's been 40 years, isn't it? And yet, we're still earth-bound. Thanks for reading as always.
When I was a teenager, space travel I found very exciting just studying it. Today I believe we should nurse our own planet back to health before we try to conquer the unknown. "good article"I agree we have a lot to deal with on this planet, yet the moonshot 40 years ago was the only time the entire planet was entranced for one good reason; everyone came together and realized there is more to this life than this Earth we are using/abusing. Sure, the money can be used elsewhere, yet the money can always be used elsewhere: health care, social security, cancer research. And still, although those are important things, they haven't the ability to capture the imagination and wonder of traveling through space.Thanks for reading and commenting. I think most people believe as you, that there are more pressing issues. I only wish we could create that feeling again, that worldwide feeling.
Hi Michael.Good article and quite some memories it stirred up. My dad had just had his 49th birthday and was dying of cancer when they landed on the moon. He died on August 8, but I was so glad that he got to see the first steps on the moon.You are right in that it brought the entire world together and that we need something like that again.Thanks,DianneI don't know of anything that can capture our imagination such as sending humans off the planet. Those who saw the landing experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event, something that won't happen until we go . . . further out. Thanks for reading and commenting.
hi michael,i can relate to that feeling of excitement and moving forward. and everyone bonding together.we certainly could use more of the same,my best regards,sueI know, we sure could use something that captures us all, but what? Thanks for reading and commenting.
Well done, Michael.I remember , at school in '69, the "AV" boys, (audio visual- geeks before geeks were popular) would roll a tv set into the room on a tall, rolling shelf, and we would watch the events of that day, usually reported by Walter Cronkite, (And That's the way it is!)How exciting it was, even though us kids really had no idea how significant it all really was.Ahhh yes, Good Times!Thanks Ken. Those were imaginative times for America, right in the middle of horrific times (Vietname). How strange it worked out that way.
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