To the moon, and beyond
Posted by Joseph on Monday, July 20th, 2009
People of my age remember watching men walk on the moon, on our television sets, when we were young kids.
I have no doubt, it shaped us profoundly and irrefutably. Practically, in the way we viewed the world & humanity, and spiritually, in how we saw our fragile breed, riding this blue marble.
in the 40 years since that landing, I probably thought about being an astronaut a million times, I’m sure. I’m not alone among the people who abandoned sporting and historical heroes to replace them with the riders of rockets to the unknown; with heroes of the future; with the scientists and engineers who made things happen, as much as with the rocket pilots themselves.
Millions of people will write about what the anniversary of the moon landing means to them. I won’t add to it. Instead I’d just like to say “thank you”.
I’d like to thank the millions of people who made it happen, from the astronauts themselves, to the parents of the factory worker who tightened any one of the thousands of bolts on the LEM, or approved the velcro strips as they slid past them on the quality assurance table. They’re all in there. They were all important.
The Apollo missions marked the age I was a child of, Aquarius, and influenced my era in ways we have yet to fully explore. And fortunately, we’re still learning from it, and still pushing the boundaries.
And to those who think it didn’t happen? Sorry. I don’t believe you.
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The lunar landing happened in black and white in our darkened living room, and then later, it went technicolour in hundreds of glossy magazine pages with pretty blue and white pictures of the planet. At school, we kept the buzz going all year. I’ll never forget it. And I think that makes me thankful, too.