ThinkingManNeil
Charter Member
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Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
43 Years ago today...
- Thread starter ThinkingManNeil
- Start date
1969,a year like no other...The "Age Of Aquarius" thing in Bethel N.Y.,The Viet War and all that it brought home,Charlie Manson,and of course ,the most monumental event in our life time.Today other events overshadow the Moon Landing! The stuff of SI-FI realty come true..and its greeted by indifference by many.Not all however,many still look at the Moon and recall that great day in American space Travel. Today it does not inspire as it should.Our present government,for it has other pressing issues,has no real intentions at this time to go back and beyond ,with manned space flight. NASA is being reduced to ineffectiveness! It may be that an other flag will be planted on the Moon for eternity again? But odds are it will not be Old Glory.
"For Once You Have Tasted Flight You Will Walk The Earth With your Eyes Turned Skyward,For There You Have Been,And There You Will Long To Return" Da Vinci!
"For Once You Have Tasted Flight You Will Walk The Earth With your Eyes Turned Skyward,For There You Have Been,And There You Will Long To Return" Da Vinci!
I remember being glued to it on the TV in the UK. I was into anything space science related at that time (I was in my second year at High School) and my parents had bought me quite a powerful (for then) home telescope due to my interest. I was able to see the Orbiter going around the moon as a tiny silvery moving spec when the sun caught it right but it wasn't powerful enough to see the lander.
Reply...
Beana51,
Remember, the original motive for the NASA program was the deadly reality show of the 1950s..."Keeping up with the Khrushchevs." The United States was deathly afraid that the Soviets were going to gain control of space, and use it to reign nuclear destruction upon us. Fear can be the necessity of invention, and it this case it proved true. Perhaps we've lost the ability to have wonder...people who do what that shooter did in Colorado need to have that view of earth from the distances the astronauts did, and realize we all have to live on this oasis in space together.
The technological leap from Sputnik to Apollo 11 in twelve years is nothing short of incredible, and really showed the benefits of learning math without computers. (Give a student a slide rule now, and watch what happens) Many of our technological inventions we rely on today (such as the device I am typing this on) stem from the breakneck pace of that era. But without such an imminent threat, public motivation for such an enormous expenditure is tough to justify. Look at the interest in the moon landings following the Apollo 11 landing...Apollo 13 gained its following from the near-disaster; until then it was just another "routine" space flight.
Unless China becomes an enormous military threat on the scale of Soviet Russia in the 1950s, I don't see the American government changing course on this issue, sadly.
Beana51,
Remember, the original motive for the NASA program was the deadly reality show of the 1950s..."Keeping up with the Khrushchevs." The United States was deathly afraid that the Soviets were going to gain control of space, and use it to reign nuclear destruction upon us. Fear can be the necessity of invention, and it this case it proved true. Perhaps we've lost the ability to have wonder...people who do what that shooter did in Colorado need to have that view of earth from the distances the astronauts did, and realize we all have to live on this oasis in space together.
The technological leap from Sputnik to Apollo 11 in twelve years is nothing short of incredible, and really showed the benefits of learning math without computers. (Give a student a slide rule now, and watch what happens) Many of our technological inventions we rely on today (such as the device I am typing this on) stem from the breakneck pace of that era. But without such an imminent threat, public motivation for such an enormous expenditure is tough to justify. Look at the interest in the moon landings following the Apollo 11 landing...Apollo 13 gained its following from the near-disaster; until then it was just another "routine" space flight.
Unless China becomes an enormous military threat on the scale of Soviet Russia in the 1950s, I don't see the American government changing course on this issue, sadly.
Thank you Rami,Mans eternal fascination with the Moon goes back to mankinds roots...it may be in our collective genes...As surly as Early Man traveled on Earth,that same instinct is to travel to the heavans is our destiny!
Yes of cours WAR,is the Great Catalist for everything bad,and the spinoffs have been for everything Good...That Techonolgy takes away life,and at the same time gives life.
I would like to say our Moon Landing happened because of that great generation,However I believe any and all American Generations are great.We are like the Geni in a bottle...whats lacking is a leader ,to rub that bottle ,and let the" We" out in Freedom and unencumbered thought, with dreams, drawing on our skills, and to task us!...When Leaders do that? we answer the call,and when they do not,we stagnate. Great Leaders Lead Great People To Greatness!!
I cannot believe Mankind will be extinct because our Ole earth is Sick,or gets hit,or Blows up...The heavens are full of new worlds ,and we ,need a modern Columbus , to go find them." to Boldy Go Where No Man Has Gone Before"...Vin!
Yes of cours WAR,is the Great Catalist for everything bad,and the spinoffs have been for everything Good...That Techonolgy takes away life,and at the same time gives life.
I would like to say our Moon Landing happened because of that great generation,However I believe any and all American Generations are great.We are like the Geni in a bottle...whats lacking is a leader ,to rub that bottle ,and let the" We" out in Freedom and unencumbered thought, with dreams, drawing on our skills, and to task us!...When Leaders do that? we answer the call,and when they do not,we stagnate. Great Leaders Lead Great People To Greatness!!
I cannot believe Mankind will be extinct because our Ole earth is Sick,or gets hit,or Blows up...The heavens are full of new worlds ,and we ,need a modern Columbus , to go find them." to Boldy Go Where No Man Has Gone Before"...Vin!
ThinkingManNeil
Charter Member
Here's an interesting graphic depiction of the final approach and landing of Eagle
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In July of 1969 I was seven years old. I'm pretty sure I remember sitting in front of the B&W TV set in the living room. It was an amazing time.
In the 1970s, we though the "space race" was an epic "tortoise vs. hare" event, and that we had won. The Soviets did everything first, for the sake of doing it first, but gained no "knowledge in depth", no staying power. We, while slow, gained the required knowledge to actually complete a mission to the moon.
So here we are, in 2012, with no means to even get to orbit. We have to hitch a ride with the Russians to get to the ISS. Ok wait, who was the tortoise and who was the hare again...? I'm confused...
- Paul
In the 1970s, we though the "space race" was an epic "tortoise vs. hare" event, and that we had won. The Soviets did everything first, for the sake of doing it first, but gained no "knowledge in depth", no staying power. We, while slow, gained the required knowledge to actually complete a mission to the moon.
So here we are, in 2012, with no means to even get to orbit. We have to hitch a ride with the Russians to get to the ISS. Ok wait, who was the tortoise and who was the hare again...? I'm confused...
- Paul
Slightly too young to remember the miraculous event myself but found it totally fascinating as a child and still do. I have been to shuttle launches and would have revelled at the spectacle of the mighty Saturn rocket. Found out later that both sides used German brains to help achieve these fantastic feats.
What an irony considering the events of the previous 25 years.
I often wonder if the sixties felt special at the time and if so, how much of a part did free love and hallucinogenic inducement play in that also?
Finally, it is not just today’s kids that would struggle with your slide rules; I was a good mathematics student but can't remember how I used my logarithmic tables book now.
What an irony considering the events of the previous 25 years.
I often wonder if the sixties felt special at the time and if so, how much of a part did free love and hallucinogenic inducement play in that also?
Finally, it is not just today’s kids that would struggle with your slide rules; I was a good mathematics student but can't remember how I used my logarithmic tables book now.
