50th Anniverasry of Humans Landing On The Moon!
What can be said about the anniversary of one of the greatest human achievements of all time? And what does it herald for our future?
Today marks 50 years to the day since humanity first landed on another world.
On the 20th of July 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module touched down on the surface of the Moon. Orbiting above, astronaught Michael Collins operated the command module, whilst Lunar Module pilot Buzz Aldrin steered and landed the descent vehicle to the hallowed surface below. Inside, Aldrin and mission commander Neil Armstrong (who together completed the crew of three) prepared for their history making first steps.
Six hours and 39 minutes later, Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the Moon, with Aldrin following 19 minutes after.
Armstrong's immortal words are undoubtedly the most famous spoken line in modern, if not all human history:
"That's one small step for man - one giant leap for man kind."
And now here we are - 50 years to the day since they landed, with tomorrow being the anniversary of when they walked.
What can be said about this momentous and epic occassion? Nothing that can quite capture the momentousness and epic of the event itself.
But for sure, though it was an American team that landed and an American flag that was planted - and though a great portion of the political capital and drive to undertake this insane, brilliant mission, was due the threat of war, and fear, and adversary - today every human being can reflect upon what this great feat of history gave all of us. For this endeavour affixed every single person on Earth with the knowledge, the belief - the right to certainty - that humanity is capable of the impossible.
That hope, ingenuity, creativity, bravery, intelligence, determination, excitement, passion and love flows through our very veins - that's the legacy of Apollo. That in each of us as individuals and as a society, we have the ability to be more, to do better - not just materially or for some imposed upon goal: but in the objective of seizing dreams. That for ourselves and for each other we can throw off the shackles of ordinary and achieve, across our own epic voyages, that which makes us fulfilled. That which makes us happy.
The Moon Missions showed us what humanity is capable of. They were the definition of inspiration. An act of science and art and to almost all people around the world, one of peace.
The Moon Missions meant all that, and so much more.
Of course, the Apollo program - with its 19 total missions, including 16 successes, 3 failures, and 6 Moon landings - helped usher in a new dawn of modernity and technological advancement, as well as one of optimism and scientific curiosity.
But where are we now? Did we truly wake up to the Apollo dream of a more modern - in every way, not just technologically - and united humanity?
Well, no. Of course the usual foes - greed, selfishness, lust for power and opulence, capitalism, hatred, bigotry, closed mindedness etc - have gotten in the way. And in the great effort of the richest elite to continuously and ever more so subjugate the masses, propaganda has turned people in the developed world away from believing in or respecting science in great numbers, despite human kind as a whole becoming much more educated.
It's sad irony that Donald Trump for example is president of the USA during this anniversary, when an absolute core and critical aspect of his and his party's operation is getting his voters to disblieve facts, numbers, science, logic, truth, etc, and in the most harmful and outrageous ways.
Similar again across the world, e.g. with 'fake news', 'don't believe it', 'that's just elites talking' being some key types of phrases often heard amongst Brexiteers, and being near the centre of many other global crises, too.
And look at the literal actual apocalypse we're facing with the monstrous and rapidly approaching threats of Climate Change. I say rapidly approaching - its effects are already here but they'll soon, within about 11 years, grow to the point of no return. Then humanity is on a domino avalanche to collapse, worldwide.
So, hatred has been used as a weapon to turn people away from things that exist purely to advance their own interest, and instead turned us to fighting with each other. Classic.
Also of course, we could have wiped out poverty, hunger, many more diseases, social suffering, loneliness, animal cruelty, war, mass societal lack of fulfillment and so much more since the time the Apollo crews trail blazed in the sky, if we really wanted to. If it were profitable.
So where does that leave us now?
Well, Apollo had plenty of failures. Some were catastrophic. Fatal, even. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were tragically killed during the ground test preparations of Apollo 1. But still the program persevered, still the hard work and determination and bravery and passion continued to pour into the project until it was complete. Until that great goal was achieved.
And so too must we look to that angle of their example. So must humanity combine together, and put all that is the best of us toward a new effort of overthrowing our problems - of dismantling our greed, our oppression from the super elites, our thirst for war and division, our fear of each other, the unknown and of our own limitations.
We must strive to claim back and build our future, and transform the society around us - so that one day, we too will step out into a new world.
(And then we can make that sweet Star Trek future a reality 🖖)
Let's make it so.
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