3 cheers for Aldrin Armstrong and Collins

[HAL Jr]

On this evening 40 years ago man left the Earth and made his way to the stars. I just wish I'd seen it happen!
One giant leap indeed!

[admin]

I was there, Charlie!

[slaven41]

I remember that I watched it, but I don't really remember what it was like. (I was 8.)

But yes, Hip Hip Hooray! (There's one cheer.)

[HAL Jr]

Well at least you lot believe it took place!

[admin]

When I say I was there, I mean I was there!

John Guidry, Don Markstein, Pete Bezback, Don Walsh, and I piled into John's car and drove to Cape Canaveral, where we crashed at Joe Green's house. Heinlein and Clarke and Poul Anderson were there. We watched the astronauts go out to the van that drove them to the rocket, watched the liftoff from about three miles away, felt the heat of the blast.

[HAL Jr]

Oh god Rik now I am jealous!
And how people can still believe it never happened is beyond me!

[slaven41]

And how people can still believe it never happened is beyond me!

I think most people don't appreciate the fact that if you look at any event with intense scrutiny, you will find things about it that look fishy. I'm sure if you looked at it long enough you could cast doubt over whether the '69 World Series took place. (I mean, come on, the Mets???)

That's part of the problem.

--Dave

[HAL Jr]

I tend to find that the doubters are those that know absolutely nothing about rockets,space and astronomy. They tend to have no interest in these things at all. Mind you one guy was saying it was unlikely because the van allen belts would be a major barrier.

[admin]

I lot of people get their ego strength by being "in the know" about things "they" don't want you to find out. Things like that the moon landings never took place, that no Jews were killed on 9/11, that the air force has a flying saucer in area 51, and that the Mets didn't really win the series.

[Brightonian]

I remember it well. For us Armstrong's moon walk was at about 4am. My parents stayed up with it all night and my Dad got me up in time to see Neil walking down that ladder. It was the perfect time to be a geeky 13-year-old boy.

[HAL Jr]

I'm insanely jealous of you lot who witnessed it!
Lets just hope we get to witness a mars landing someday!

[slaven41]

The thing that makes me sad is how space travel has ground to a halt. When I was born, there was no such thing as manned space flight (that started two days later :-), and by the time I was nine man had walked on the moon. My students (I teach at a small college) have seen no advancement at all in space travel during their lifetime. And I've been able to say that for years now.

On the subject of space flight, The Case for Mars by Robert Zubrin is an excellent book. He basically lays out in detail a plan for sending a number of extended manned missions to Mars, for not too much money, with pretty much existing technology.

--Dave

[John Thiel]

Hey, I'll cheer for them. We've got a Neil Armstrong park within walking distance of here, though I'd rather drive to it.

[admin]

The human race has a tough choice ahead. If we give our parents and grandparents the health care they deserve, it is going to take all our money, with just enough left over for a few battleships, so no space program, no pell grants, no nothing except care for the elderly. China, where the government has ruled that children must take care of their parents and grandparents, will soar past us to the moon and Mars.

[HAL Jr]

The human race has a tough choice ahead. If we give our parents and grandparents the health care they deserve, it is going to take all our money, with just enough left over for a few battleships, so no space program, no pell grants, no nothing except care for the elderly. China, where the government has ruled that children must take care of their parents and grandparents, will soar past us to the moon and Mars.

Not such a bad thing! After all its not a race and its all for the good of mankind-who cares who gets there first?