A mere 39 years ago, the U.S. landed on the moon in glorious black & white. (At least at our house. We didn't get color TV until 1972.) That afternoon, I'd hitchhiked out to a Chicago Forest Preserve for a picnic with some high school friends. Holding Old Style long-neck bottles in our sophomore hands, we listened to the radio as lunar module Eagle set down in the Sea of Tranquility. This awesome moment was soured by a massive drunken senior who began randomly kicking ass. Quickly, the mayhem spread. Big Drunk's chum threw a beer bottle, hitting me in the head. I punched him. Then Big Drunk hit me between the eyes. I went down faster than IndyMac stock. Someone carried me to a car and I was dropped off near home.
By now it was evening. Inside my house, the only light was the glow of the TV. My brother, sister and parents watched the lunar module, waiting for something to happen. I'd arrived just in time. As my bruises blossomed, I saw Neil Armstrong step onto lunar soil. Wow! Someone was up there! A man was on the moon! (It must've been even more astounding to my parents.) That night, it seemed everything I'd ever read in science fiction was possible. What couldn't Mankind do?
Sustain the space program, for one. Three years later, the last manned lunar mission returned to Earth. We'd beaten the Soviets to the moon. Why keep going? Space money was needed to solve poverty and other pressing issues that money alone can't solve. I wish we'd kept going. (The spin-off technology alone would've made it worth while. ) I wish we'd pushed on into space. There is a part of Man that yearns to step across the comfortable threshold of the known and set foot in the beyond. I think I'll have some Tang.
7 comments:
You need to have water for that Tang
Here here!
When A&E broadcast the NBC television coverage of the mission from lead-up to post-splashdown, "as it happened" 20 years after the fact, I got myself out of bed for every update, whatever time of day it was. I wanted to experience it in real time, since I didn't get the chance to on account of being born in 1970.
...and I recorded it all on videotape. It's weird for me, 'cause, when I was recording it, I was thinking, "Gosh, this is neat. This all happened so long ago! Look at how different everybody looks!" ...and now it has been nearly the same amount of time SINCE the time I watched those... but 1989 doesn't seem that different from today, comparatively! I guess it has to do with whether one remembers it or not. But I dunno, maybe the news sets did change more between then and '89 than they have from '89 to now.
Anyway, five years later, some of the ABC coverage was shown on another channel, so I recorded that too, only it was just a few hours, whereas the NBC stuff was comprehensive, from the long discussions of what they might find and how the television cameras will work and so on right down to the good stuff.
One of these days I should get video capture working again and save all that videotape to DVD.
I saw a program recently about the Moon missions, and Buzz Aldrin admitted a rather amusing fact. When he is stepping off the LM, he holds one leg out then pauses for a moment... becoming the first person to urinate on the Moon.
Jeff, are you serious about the water thing?
Keeper,
That was cool of A&E. I liked their programming much more back then, when they were the Luftwaffe Channel.
If there is life on the moon, hiding, secretive, do you think it waits for the day when it can piss on Earth?
I was joking since your prior post said your building had no water, did not want to get your hopes up, LOL
I only asked because I've always taken my Tang "neat" as it were, by handfuls from the jar.
I bet they'll piss on Earth if your water works so you can feed them some Tang.
I miss that stuff. My face did a dill pickle thing just reading the name.
That was the night I was at Girl Scout Camp, for the last time ever, and they decided On High that we should not be allowed to watch this event because it was past our bedtime.
I've stayed up all night ever since, whenever I darn well pleased.
I really like being a grownup.
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