OT: 45 years ago tonight

[mikeo80]

Apollo 8. The opening verses from the book of Genesis. The Earth rising above the moon.

I was 15 when this happened. I was GLUED to the TV screen. I had lived through the deaths of John, Martin and Bobby. Hope and dreams were dead.

And then.....THIS....

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary...llo8_xmas.html

How small we really are. How big we can ascribe to be.

My $0.02

Mike

[stormlion1]

Youtube version, takes a minute to get the point though but enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU5QwuYKIgQ

[Targan]

Well the next time we're all glued to our TV screens to watch a manned moon landing, I hope the commentary has an English translation in the subtitles, because I don't speak Mandarin.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by Targan

Well the next time we're all glued to our TV screens to watch a manned moon landing, I hope the commentary has an English translation in the subtitles, because I don't speak Mandarin.

I, for one, do not care if the next person on the moon speaks Mandarin. Or Russian. Or Farsi. All that matters is that maybe, just maybe, if that person looks to the horizon, and sees the fragile Earth come over that horizon....

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn to live together....

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn to forgive each other...

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn that the man or woman next to you is your brother or sister....

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn to go to the stars....

Maybe, just maybe, we can learn that we are NOT alone...

Sorry about the soap box.... But maybe.....just maybe.....

https://www.google.com/search?q=apol...%3B2400%3B2400

My $0.02

Mike

[stormlion1]

Actually competition is what drives technology and progress. Watch as someone lands on the moon and speaks mandarin, then watch next week as someone else puts a base up there or says in ten years we will land a man on Mars and bring him back. Once the Russians stopped being interested in the Moon the US dropped the Lunar program like a hot potato, but watch someone else go back and you will see the competitive spirit start up again.

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by stormlion1

Actually competition is what drives technology and progress. Watch as someone lands on the moon and speaks mandarin, then watch next week as someone else puts a base up there or says in ten years we will land a man on Mars and bring him back. Once the Russians stopped being interested in the Moon the US dropped the Lunar program like a hot potato, but watch someone else go back and you will see the competitive spirit start up again.

Something needs to wake the world up. THE ENTIRE WORLD. The space program will continue to stagnate as long as only a few countries in the game. We're 40 years behind in our manned space program -- and if the human race wants to continue to grow, we CANNOT stay here on this little planet. The Earth is a dead-end.

[Littlearmies]

I was another of the generation that watched the moon landings on the telly as a little boy. I expected that by the time I graduated Uni there would be colonies on the moon, and in Earth orbit, and man would have landed on Mars. If someone had told back then me that man wouldn't leave low Earth orbit for the next 50 years I wouldn't have believed them.

Now I go onto the back garden at night for the dogs to do their business and wonder what happened to all that potential. Just when did our dreams get so small?

[Nowhere Man 1966]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

Something needs to wake the world up. THE ENTIRE WORLD. The space program will continue to stagnate as long as only a few countries in the game. We're 40 years behind in our manned space program -- and if the human race wants to continue to grow, we CANNOT stay here on this little planet. The Earth is a dead-end.

You sound like my uncle who worked for NASA from Project Mercury to the Space Shuttle. He is right, we do need to be up there. Robert A. Heinlein did say that it is foolish for Mankind to put all his eggs in one basket.

Chuck

[Nowhere Man 1966]

Originally Posted by Littlearmies

I was another of the generation that watched the moon landings on the telly as a little boy. I expected that by the time I graduated Uni there would be colonies on the moon, and in Earth orbit, and man would have landed on Mars. If someone had told back then me that man wouldn't leave low Earth orbit for the next 50 years I wouldn't have believed them.

Now I go onto the back garden at night for the dogs to do their business and wonder what happened to all that potential. Just when did our dreams get so small?

Yeah, I get the same feeling when I take out the garbage and look up at the stars.

Chuck

[Targan]

I have no doubt that some solid attempts at manned exploration of the solar system will happen before we finally render the Earth uninhabitable and begin our sad descent into extinction. It's just that the flag most likely to first fly on Mars won't be the one we all expected as youngsters.