SUBSIM Radio Room Forums - View Single Post - Apollo 11: First man on the moon

razark · 07-17-09, 01:44 PM

I wasn't yet born when it happened, but I've heard stories of how people felt that day.

Some days, I just look out the office window at the buildings around, and it strikes me just how much history has occurred here. Every time I watch a launch, I am amazed at what we humans can do when we set our minds to it. And every time I watch a launch, I think that with the current program drawing to a close, the space station's lifespan more than half over before it is built, and constant delays in getting the next generation of spacecraft off the ground; are we ever going to go anywhere and do anything?

I drive in the gate every morning past the remains of a Saturn V rocket built (mostly) to carry the Apollo 18 astronauts to the moon. It lies there, unused because a short-sighted program accomplished it's goal and then was declared to be done. We landed six out of seven crews on the moon before the program was ended. We have explored such a tiny part of the moon's surface. I fear that with our next lunar program, we may not accomplish much more than that.

Hopefully we will get to see that Mars landing within our lifetimes. And I hope that when we go, we go to stay, not just plant a flag and leave.

Razark

07-17-09, 01:44 PM	#9
razark Ocean Warrior Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 2,731 Downloads: 393 Uploads: 12	I wasn't yet born when it happened, but I've heard stories of how people felt that day. Some days, I just look out the office window at the buildings around, and it strikes me just how much history has occurred here. Every time I watch a launch, I am amazed at what we humans can do when we set our minds to it. And every time I watch a launch, I think that with the current program drawing to a close, the space station's lifespan more than half over before it is built, and constant delays in getting the next generation of spacecraft off the ground; are we ever going to go anywhere and do anything? I drive in the gate every morning past the remains of a Saturn V rocket built (mostly) to carry the Apollo 18 astronauts to the moon. It lies there, unused because a short-sighted program accomplished it's goal and then was declared to be done. We landed six out of seven crews on the moon before the program was ended. We have explored such a tiny part of the moon's surface. I fear that with our next lunar program, we may not accomplish much more than that. Hopefully we will get to see that Mars landing within our lifetimes. And I hope that when we go, we go to stay, not just plant a flag and leave. Razark