“Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
43 years ago today. You can still hear a bit of the awe of those moments in Walter Cronkite’s voice. I particularly recall after they’d set up a camera outside the LEM looking back at ‘Eagle’ with “LIVE FROM THE MOON” across that ghostly B/W image. I was simply TRANSFIXED.
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A. D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
I think it’s almost criminal that we haven’t gone back.
I too remember this, at 13 being allowed to stay up for as long as it took, to watch the live feed from the Moon. My parents at some level understood how this event stood with gaping possibility to change everything. It was also my brother’s birthday. Not sure, but I now think he felt cheated. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. About a dozen years ago I came across a collection of record albums complete with accompanying text and photo jackets of the entire Moon mission at a garage sale. I promptly bought it and sent it to my brother for his birthday thinking I had just sent the coolest thing ever to him for a birthday present. He never acknowledged receiving it until I finally asked him. Then he just replied, “yeah, I think so.” He never said anything more about it. Since he is a rocket scientist I really thought he’d like it even more. I suspect he no longer has it. What a crime, speaking of crimes.
Of course if we went back now the plaque would have to read much differently if we were to be honest: “WE COME FOR PROFIT AND EXPLOITATION, HAVING LARGELY RUINED OUR OWN BEAUTIFUL HOME.”
Comment on July 20, 2012 @ 2:20 pm
As it turned out, the planned landing spot was a field of house-sized boulders… Lovely. Neil & Buzz had to do some pretty fancy flying to find a better landing point. They finally did so with less than 30 seconds of fuel remaining, thus the ‘guys about to turn blue’ at Mission Control.
A culture which ceases to continue pushing beyond itself has lost its confidence and is (perhaps irretrievably) in decline. We cannot allow ourselves such an ignoble epitaph.
The senseless tragedy which occurred in Aurora, Colorado last night is NOT the sort of shit *I* want to see on the news. I’d much rather see wall-to-wall coverage of something we can all be PROUD of, like landing on MARS, dammit!
Comment on July 20, 2012 @ 2:41 pm
Cat-eyes: I’m sorry about your brother’s ‘underwhelmed’ response… especially given his profession. Have you ever asked him about it?
Actually, in the actual plaque, I was impressed that it wasn’t full of jingoistic chest pounding:
“WE CAME AS RICH CAPITALIST BASTARDS TO ROOT OUT AND DESTROY ANY VESTIGE OF COMMUNIST INFLUENCE ON THE MOON. BUT WE ONLY FOUND A FEW LOUSY ROCKS. SO WE ARE OUT OF HERE. GOD BLESS AMERICA.”
Comment on July 20, 2012 @ 3:17 pm