Nobody's Gone to the Moon (in Years)

We are beginning a countdown to the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing and walk on the moon.  We'll be awash in nostalgia for the next week.

I wrote most of the following (with some edits, additions/updating, and combining) on July 19, 2009 and July 20, 2009.  It was the 40th anniversary of the first landing on the moon.

Where was I when humankind landed on the moon? I was 16 when it happened.

I was in midtown Manhattan, with my Dad, at a space exhibit. I had followed the space program from the moment I was old enough to. I don't think I truly remember Sputnik, but I remember our country shooting dogs and monkeys into space. I remember Telstar, I remember being amazed at a trans oceanic broadcast of - The Today Show?

Then came the manned flights. In that day of no  24 hour news channels, the early flights, only several hours long, were covered in their entirety by the networks. They were big news items.

I remember following all the manned flights leading up to Apollo 11 on television. I was a great science fiction fan from around the age of 10, too, and it all tied in.

 I took lots of pictures at the exhibit.

 I stayed up to watch Neil Armstrong walk on the moon, along with millions of other Americans.

Why are we so fascinated by the First Moon Walk on this particular anniversary?

In 2009, I speculated that part of it was knowing that this may be the last 10-year anniversary where all three astronauts of Apollo 11 may be alive? (after all, Neil Armstrong was78). Now, in 2019, Neil has left us but Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, is still alive.  A total of four men who walked on the moon are still with us.  The youngest of them (Charles Duke) is 82  He was supposed to visit the place where I watched the Great American Eclipse in August of 2017 but we never saw him.

 Is it a sense of what may have been (why did we abandon manned space missions out to the moon and beyond?) Or is it because we have so many Internet "toys"that allow us to follow the mission, minute by minute, complete with astronaut updates on Twitter?

If only I knew where my photos were, I would scan and post them on this blog. Yes, I took black and white (of course!) photos of the TV screen at home. My Dad and I stayed up late to watch Neil Armstrong take his first steps.

However I never thought of taking pictures of us watching TV. That would have been interesting.

What if we had had the Internet then? Well we could say that about any time of history. Better in some ways that our memories are frozen in those faded photos and home movies. No matter how dated they seem to our children.

Eight months after the moon landing I would go on a trip with other high school seniors to study a total solar eclipse on the grounds of East Carolina University. (Greenville, North Carolina) I have been blessed - I have seen three total solar eclipses in my lifetime.

But who could have guessed what became of our space program?  My son (in his late 20's) and I discussed this when we saw each other on the 4th of July.

Who would have thought the last moon landing would take place in December of 1972?  Or that we would get to the point of needing to depend on the Russians (the country we were competing against in the "space race" to get into space?

I was in college when humankind last walked on the moon.  Now I am a senior citizen.

We have self driving phones and computers that fit in the palms of our hands (aka smartphones) but we can't get to the moon.

What will it take to get a manned space program (not just to the International Space Station) truly started up again?