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| son Political Sphere at NASA November 1986 on our first visit to Houston |
I remember July 20, 1969. I had just turned 11. It was a
Sunday. The afternoon meeting at church usually lasted an hour and a half, but
that day it was abbreviated to about twenty minutes, at which point we were
sent home to experience history with our families.
Our black and white TV was on the rest of the day. We
watched the occasional simulation, but waited what seemed endlessly for the
historic moment. After long hours, past summertime bedtime, we watched what
looked sort of like a fuzzy white ghost moving down a ladder to step onto the
moon—where no human had ever stepped before.
And Neil Armstrong spoke his historic words:
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
There’s a description in the Spherical Model of what a
thriving civilization looks like. One part of that description is:
Creativity
abounds; enlightening arts and literature exceed expectations. Architecture and
infrastructure improve; innovation and invention are the rule.
Putting a human being on the moon was a remarkable human
accomplishment. So many things went right—which included a supportive public in
a free world where creativity and innovation could thrive. It was a close race
with the competitive communist Soviets. But it seems to me symbolically fitting
that we, the free people, actual won the space race.
I’ve been celebrating the 50th anniversary in
little ways all month. Reading things in the newspaper and online, making plans
to do another tour. But this week has been especially fun watching a documentary
series presented by Bill Whittle, entitled Apollo 11: What We Saw. So
far there have been three parts, which can be either viewed or listened to as a
podcast. But I recommend watching. The fourth one will be shown on Saturday,
the actual 50th anniversary day.
Each is about an hour long, and well worth the time. The
first is here, below, followed by links to the next two. If you hunt for them
on your own, you can find them on YouTube and on The Daily Wire (whose studio
was used for the production), as well as The Daily Wire’s Facebook page.
Among the rich delight of details are a couple of observations. One is that, while it seems miraculous in the days of slide rules that we could send men to the moon, each step along the way was only the next increment beyond the previous accomplishment, which the whole population (Bill Whittle even more than most) were paying attention to. Another is that the astronauts were an extraordinary bunch, who really did have "the right stuff." Success beat out failure more than once because of Neil Armstrong's beyond-normal-human ability to think and act calmly while under more stress than most of us will ever face.
It's a story worth retelling, and forever remembering.
Among the rich delight of details are a couple of observations. One is that, while it seems miraculous in the days of slide rules that we could send men to the moon, each step along the way was only the next increment beyond the previous accomplishment, which the whole population (Bill Whittle even more than most) were paying attention to. Another is that the astronauts were an extraordinary bunch, who really did have "the right stuff." Success beat out failure more than once because of Neil Armstrong's beyond-normal-human ability to think and act calmly while under more stress than most of us will ever face.
It's a story worth retelling, and forever remembering.
Apollo 11: What We Saw
Part 1: Find it here
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| As the astronauts landed on the moon screenshot from What We Saw, Part I |
Part 2: Find it here.
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