July 20th, 2009: The 40th anniversary of Apollo 11

[The Overlord]

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 on the Sea of Tranquility


http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11Splash/index.html


Realtime rebroadcast of the mission-

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/apollo11_radio/




"Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories."

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible."

"At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved - if it can be achieved at all - within the next few hundred years."

"It may be that the old astrologers had the truth exactly reversed, when they believed that the stars controlled the destinies of men. The time may come when men control the destinies of stars."

"The inspirational value of the space program is probably of far greater importance to education than any input of dollars... A whole generation is growing up which has been attracted to the hard disciplines of science and engineering by the romance of space."

"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative."


Quotes from Arthur C. Clarke

[The Dark Raven]

And just for that, Overlord...I lurve you.

And i'll have to get the links from my buddy at NASA but...check out Project Constellation!!

[The Overlord]

Thanks for the response at least. The fact that this thing went since the 20th with hardly any views and no replies until just now is pretty dammed sad, given the topic.


And yea, I’ve been watching Project Constellation pretty closely, but also the competition and counter proposals. A lot of stuff is brewing now.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I suspect that the moon landings will go down in the history books of the future as the high-water mark of this phase of human civilization.

1969 was really the apex of American power and prestige.  Sure, the Information Age has been nifty, and the Internet really has transformed our lives.  But face it: the Information Superhighway just doesn't give one that same sense of awe that comes from looking up at the moon and knowing that humans have been there, for however fleeting a presence, and left our mark.

[The Overlord]

We'll recover that to a degree, as we're going back up there. Beyond that, time will tell if the spirit of the visionaries will win out and get us to Mars in our generation.

It will happen eventually, if we don't find a way to self-destruct, it's just a matter of when. Sooner is preferable to later, it's high time we grew up as a species.