It was 40 years ago today that man landed on the moon and took a little walk. We all watched as Neil Armstrong took that little jump and landed on the moon surface. We heard him speak those now famous words, "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." All of us were able to finally let out the breath we were holding and then smile and cheer.
I was 11 then. This was a BIG DEAL. It was a big deal because 1969 was a really strange time in America. I don't remember much about it, not because I was doing drugs but because I was still a kid. But I heard about a lot of stuff that was happening. The Vietnam War, protests on college campuses, massive music festivals where youth were "getting high and getting naked" (the getting high part didn't interest me but the getting naked....well, I was entering puberty then).
In many ways 1969 marked and transformed a generation. At least, so we have been told.
But this, this moment, took science fiction and turned it slightly on its ear because now what was only dreamed about had become fact: man was on the moon and it wasn't made of cheese! It was a major feat for the USA, a positive in the midst of a lot of negatives. I suppose it was the shot of hope that America was yearning for. I mean, if we can make it to the moon, walk on the surface and them make it home again (a major feat in itself), well then, we can overcome anything and even change the world.
But we Americans are a rather fickle lot, aren't we? Actually, we humans are a very fickle lot. We grow bored to things pretty quickly. We made it to the moon, now give us another "grander" event. It didn't take long before people didn't pay much attention to rockets going into space (it took a near death crises with Apollo 13 for people to tune back in, briefly). The country didn't get any better; the Vietnam War came to an end, eventually, with a non-victorious crash, but other wars just came up to take its place. The 60's movement of love, peace and music just progressed into sexual disease, selfishness and disco.
And the footprints left on the moon surface got covered over with moon dust.
NASA says thay want to go back to the moon but there are some of those astronauts that have been to the moon and into space who are saying, "We've already been to the moon. Forget the moon. Let's go to Mars." I think it would be pretty cool to go to mars and bring back a bag of rocks from there. I guess the expense would be worth it. I'm not sure what the status of the moon rocks are but I'm sure they served an important purpose in helping humankind progress and better itself.
I've been watching online some of the footage of the moon landing and moon walk. It brings back some memories of being 11, but those memories are foggy. Nothing "major" stands out about then except that a few months after the moon landing I was moving from Georgia to Rochester, NY. That's really all I really remember clearly about that year. Everything else, just a fog. But I know that 1969 and that event of July 20th forever changed me. I just don't have a clue how!
I was 11 then. This was a BIG DEAL. It was a big deal because 1969 was a really strange time in America. I don't remember much about it, not because I was doing drugs but because I was still a kid. But I heard about a lot of stuff that was happening. The Vietnam War, protests on college campuses, massive music festivals where youth were "getting high and getting naked" (the getting high part didn't interest me but the getting naked....well, I was entering puberty then).
In many ways 1969 marked and transformed a generation. At least, so we have been told.
But this, this moment, took science fiction and turned it slightly on its ear because now what was only dreamed about had become fact: man was on the moon and it wasn't made of cheese! It was a major feat for the USA, a positive in the midst of a lot of negatives. I suppose it was the shot of hope that America was yearning for. I mean, if we can make it to the moon, walk on the surface and them make it home again (a major feat in itself), well then, we can overcome anything and even change the world.
But we Americans are a rather fickle lot, aren't we? Actually, we humans are a very fickle lot. We grow bored to things pretty quickly. We made it to the moon, now give us another "grander" event. It didn't take long before people didn't pay much attention to rockets going into space (it took a near death crises with Apollo 13 for people to tune back in, briefly). The country didn't get any better; the Vietnam War came to an end, eventually, with a non-victorious crash, but other wars just came up to take its place. The 60's movement of love, peace and music just progressed into sexual disease, selfishness and disco.
And the footprints left on the moon surface got covered over with moon dust.
NASA says thay want to go back to the moon but there are some of those astronauts that have been to the moon and into space who are saying, "We've already been to the moon. Forget the moon. Let's go to Mars." I think it would be pretty cool to go to mars and bring back a bag of rocks from there. I guess the expense would be worth it. I'm not sure what the status of the moon rocks are but I'm sure they served an important purpose in helping humankind progress and better itself.
I've been watching online some of the footage of the moon landing and moon walk. It brings back some memories of being 11, but those memories are foggy. Nothing "major" stands out about then except that a few months after the moon landing I was moving from Georgia to Rochester, NY. That's really all I really remember clearly about that year. Everything else, just a fog. But I know that 1969 and that event of July 20th forever changed me. I just don't have a clue how!
