that’s one small step for man…
Think about this. We live in a time when humans set foot on another world and explored an alien landscape not with rovers or orbiters, but in person. They walked where no other creatures ever left a footprint. They studied alien rocks, took a drive across the gray, dusty hills and even tried to play a little golf just to see what would happen when only a sixth of the gravity they were used to was acting on the ball. On July 20, 1969, the space race was over and thanks to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, humans were no longer confined to a single celestial object. Decades of dreams and science fiction became reality during every Apollo mission that landed on the lunar surface.
Sure, for millions of people Apollo 11 was more about beating the Soviet space program than about the spirit of exploration. But for the astronauts and the staff at NASA, it was about doing something truly inspiring and profound. If humans could walk on the Moon, why not Mars? And why couldn’t we build on what we learned along the way to live and work in space? Of course, the bureaucrats didn’t see it that way. To them, the only thing that mattered was national pride and showing the Reds who’s boss. When that was done, there was no need to go back to the lunar surface and NASA was left to its own devices. Moon bases which would serve as a proving ground for the technology needed for a manned mission to Mars, were once again nothing more than sketches on the drawing board.
I was born the former USSR well after the Apollo missions and I remember the question floating in my head when I was old enough to understand the significance of what these lunar explorers did. Why did we turn back? What, was exploring alien worlds not exciting enough? Is that what government really want people to care about? Hum-drum errands? Today, I understand why we can’t just keep sending people to the Moon without serious long term planning and a way for the whole enterprise to pay for itself in something other than prestige. But my core question remains the same. Why shouldn’t we try to build a future around space instead of cooking in our own stew here on Earth, constantly complaining about the everyday problems we create as if they were insurmountable, universe-shattering dilemmas? Why not follow the lunar pioneers and go someplace new, someplace different? Why not reconnect with our ancestors and go exploring?
Today, on the 40th anniversary of humanity’s first steps out of its terrestrial cradle, we should take a little time to think about what we can do when we set our minds to it and give space another look. We put a little effort and now there are human footprints in alien dust dunes. With careful planning and imagination, maybe we could once again become explorers and quite literally, reach for the stars…
