Exactly 40 years ago today the first men set foot on the moon after years of planning, research, and development. By 1961 Russia had achieved the first manned space flight with Yuri Gagarin, followed closely by America’s first foray into space with Alan Shepard. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy vowed we would go to the moon within ten years. On July 20, 1969, that dream became reality for three men, two of whom would touch down–literally–on the moon. Those men were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
This event happened nearly five years before I was born (guess everybody knows how old I am now!). In my lifetime we stopped going to the moon, started the shuttle program, and sent unmanned probes into space. Our longest-running unmanned probes, Voyager 1 and 2, have ventured beyond our solar system. The rovers Spirit and Opportunity are exploring Mars as we speak.The shutle program will end next year, leaving us reliant on Russia to get us to the International Space Station, which itself will retire in a few more years. What then?
Will our manned exploration of space fizzle out?
That would be a shame, considering the Herculean efforts involved in taking mankind to the moon. Men died to achieve that goal. On the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, let’s take a moment to hope our exploration of the universe will not end with unmanned probes. If we want to truly understand our universe, we have to walk through it.
Click here to explore NASA’s special web pages all about the 40th annivesary of Apollo 11.
Filed under: Random Thoughts | Tagged: Apollo 11, moon landing, NASA, space exploration
You must be somewhere near 35 Your a sweet young thing. I’m twice as old as you and I remember it well.