Tuesday July 20, 2004 at 12:16 PM
Thirty-five Years Ago Today
Appearing in American Culture
- Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D.
We came in peace for all mankind. - Apollo 11’s Lunar Module, Eagle
A friend of mine tells a great story about President Kennedy. One day the President was touring a NASA facility. As President’s are want to do, Kennedy stopped to talk with one of the workers along the way. This particular worker happened to be a janitor but when President Kennedy asked him what he was working on, the man replied, “I’m helping to send a man to the moon.”
I don’t know if the story’s true but it certainly illustrates the power of vision, purpose, and commitment.
Thirty-five years ago today that vision came to fruition. Thirty-five years ago today the modern American nation made it’s greatest contribution to mankind; it’s most shining moment. Thirty-five years ago today, men from Earth walked on the moon.
Simply amazing.
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Comments
Bob,
Thanks for honoring a great achievement. If you are a big enough person (and you are) to strip away the politics and the cold war drivers from the space program you can stand back at marvel at one of the most incredible achievements of mankind.
As you know, I have a very personal connection to the Apollo program and when I look at the moon at night I see much more than the moon.
Thanks...
Posted by: jim on Tue Jul 20, 04
Jim...it's kind of funny but I NEVER associate the Cold War with the Apollo mission. I know that's the historical context of the event but the moon landing was such an amazing event "for all mankind" that it really supersedes the political and military realities of the time.
Another example of how military and political competition can inspire extraordinary human effort and achievement is the Fisher v. Spasky World Chess Championship match of 1972. I recently read "Bobby Fisher Goes to War" (highly recommended by the way) and was amazed to learn about the Cold War backdrop surrounding the event. Unfortunately, I have little confidence that our current conflicts possess the requisite structure and order to inspire such feats of courage and imagination.
As for looking at the moon, I'm right there with you even though I don't have the same sort of personal connection to the actual Apollo program as you do. Ours is the first generation in history to look up at the most dominant object in the night sky and think to ourselves, "I can't believe there's actually 6 flags, 12 sets of footprints, and 4 cars up there."
Posted by: Bob Baxley on Tue Jul 20, 04