* i know, the 10,000th Moon diary - I am trying a different take
And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
Roger Waters, Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" (1973)
On May 25, 1961, President John Kennedy spoke these words to Congress
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."
In a decade filled with blackouts, civil unrest, several major wars and the assassination of the man who made this pledge, it was quite amazing that only 8 years and 2 months later, Kennedy’s dream was fulfilled.
As one of many 11-year olds shipped off in sleep away camp that summer - around 200 of us crowded around a small black & white television set that could barely pick up a signal from Boston. But I remember every moment of it (having some pictures helps). Even Walter Cronkite could not contain his emotion (RIP, Walter).
The prime mission objective of Apollo 11 is stated simply: "Perform a manned lunar landing and return".
On July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins (A, A, C – the same initials of the first three men on Earth according to the Bible – Adam, Abel, Cain) blasted off from Florida for their ¼ million mile trip to the Moon. After orbiting the moon, the Lunar Module Eagle separated from the mothership Columbia and began its descent to the Sea of Tranquility.
The Eagle Has Landed
Several hours later, Armstrong opened the hatch and released the surface television camera know as the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA). The MESA would record mankind's first step on the Moon. At 10:56PM EDT, Neil Armstrong climbed out of the Lunar Module Eagle and took the first steps by a human on another planetary body (we all know what he said). A few moments later, Buzz Aldrin emerged from the module and followed Armstrong.
A sample of lunar surface material was collected immediately and stowed to assure that, if a situation arose requiring an early end to the lunar mission, samples of material would be returned to Earth.
The astronauts remained on the moon for 21 hours and 38 minutes. They collected around 46 lbs of rock, planted a flag, and played golf (oops that was a later moon mission). The entire Apollo program cost around $25 billion in 1969 - which would be around $150 billion today (we have spent 7x more in Iraq – and what do we have to show for that?).
In every way, Apollo 11 was a smashing success – it achieved its primary mission to perform a manned lunar landing and return safely to Earth and it provided scientists with a trove of samples to analyze and examine. Apollo 11 paved the way for 6 more lunar missions to follow (5 of which landed on the Moon, Apollo 13 so famously became a rescue mission). More significantly, Apollo 11 gave the United States a major shot in the arm of pride, technological superiority and confidence.
The Apollo moon mission was perhaps mankind’s greatest technological achievement. It also was the United States at its finest moment. For eight short days the world literally came together to celebrate something positive, a truly miraculous invention, and an achievement that many thought could never happen in their lifetime.
What is also incredible is that the computer I am using to write this diary is infinitely more sophisticated than the computers that took Apollo 11 to the Moon. A 4-year old would scoff at the limited abilities of computers used in 1969. A machine with the same power as this PC in 1969 would have cost millions of dollars would have taken up a warehouse of space. One of the most complicated and dangerous science experiments ever planned was achieved with a computer that couldn’t run child’s software written today. The fact that NASA was so successful and did it without a major hitch is frankly, incredible.
The world was changed in so many ways after Apollo 11. Technology expanded at a rapid pace. Inventions used to as part of the lunar program became part of every day life. Scientific advancements began to take hold and the mysteries of the Universe began to unravel. However, it didn’t take very long to for that incredible high to revert back to strife, hatred, war and plain reality. In many ways, it was the acme of prowess and pride for America. After this peak, the US would begin to witness an accelerating decline as a society in many ways.
Triumph turns to arrogance turns to hubris turns to disaster
The nightmare of Vietnam would get worse before finally collapsing in 1975. The President of the United States would be embroiled in criminal activity and forced to resign in 1974. Our dependence on cheap foreign oil would bring about gas lines and recession in 1973. The US government began to not-so-secretly nose around in places that it should not have been (like Chile) in the mid 1970's. Before long we would vote in a simpleton as President in 1980 because his acting skills worked in front of a camera. And if that wasn't bad enough, a dozen years later we would elect appoint an even bigger moron as President in 2000 because he was the kind of guy you want to have a beer with. A beer that ushered in an incompetent nincompoop with meglamaniacal and misguided policies that would ultimately produce our current malaise and nearly bankrupt the Treasury.
If you ask some people (like Sally Kern of Oklahoma), they would tell you America has declined because of drinking, drugs, gays and liberals. If you ask others (like Bay Buchanan) they will tell you America is in trouble because of immigrants and affirmative action. But we take a real hard look at ourselves, we will see America has declined because our goals of achievement and betterment for mankind, people and society became achievement and betterment for me, myself and I.
For some reason I just cannot figure out, the triumph of Apollo 11 seemed to mark the end of the challenges this country dared to face and conquer. The enormous success of the Moon landing should have been a stepping stone to even loftier goals and improving our lives on Earth. Instead, America 40-years later has resorted to a place where ending free lunches for kids, starting immoral wars, preventing universal health care for all citizens, and stopping gays from getting married are more crucial and imperative than a truly harmonious and knowledgeable society. This is one Eagle that landed but never took off again.
A Gallup Poll a few years back show 89% of the US public believed the landings were genuine 6% believed they were staged, and 5% were undecided. Some recent polls show that 30% of the country would actually vote for Sarah Palin for President You tell me - what have learned since July 20, 1969?
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
If someone like Sarah Palin was President during this triumph that plaque would have read WE CAME IN PEACE FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA