Today marks 4 9 years, almost half a century, since Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, aboard the “Eagle” Lunar Excursion Module, became the first humans to set foot on another world. Mike Collins orbited overhead in the “Columbia” Command Module. Upon touching down on the lunar surface, they reported “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Later, as Neil Armstrong set foot on the surface, he stated “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
On television, at least one famous news anchor wiped away tears of pride. Across the planet, people crowded around televisions, news screens in public places such as Times Square, and other informational sites. There was no internet, of course, back then. Many music radio stations continuously played moon-themed music.
The Astronauts left a plaque that read “We Came in Peace for All Mankind.” And, indeed, for just a very brief period of time, and despite the competition for space supremacy between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. much of humanity saw itself as a singular entity, a species evolving into something more.
Earlier this century, Air and Space noted that “it signaled a climactic instance in human history…The flight of Apollo 11 met with an ecstatic reaction around the globe, as everyone shared in the success of the astronauts. The front pages of newspapers everywhere suggested how strong the enthusiasm was. NASA estimated that because of nearly worldwide radio and television coverage, more than half the population of the planet was aware of the events of Apollo 11. Although the Soviet Union tried to jam Voice of America radio broadcasts most living there and in other countries learned about the adventure and followed it carefully. Police reports noted that streets in many cities were eerily quiet during the Moon walk as residents watched television coverage in homes, bars, and other public places. Official congratulations poured in to the U.S. president from other heads of state, even as informal ones went to NASA and the astronauts. All nations having regular diplomatic relations with the United States sent their best wishes in recognition of the success of the mission…Those without diplomatic relations with the U.S., such as the People’s Republic of China, made no formal statement on the Apollo 11 flight to the U.S., and the mission was reported only sporadically by its news media because Mao Zedong refused to publicize successes by Cold War rivals.”
In the years since then, America, despite the extraordinary success of efforts such as the space shuttle program and the construction of the international space station, has had a far less ambitious manned space program. Barack Obama did everything possible to eliminate NASA’s ability to place astronauts in space, and during his tenure the United States endured the humiliation of depending on Russian craft to place personnel aboard the space station that America had largely constructed. However, that situation is undergoing a sharp reversal, as President Trump has enthusiastically supported NASA’s manned space efforts, and its goal of returning to the Moon and then on towards Mars.
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A Space Foundation report in 2007 found that NASA activities resulted in a net gain of about $180 billion to the national economy, a startlingly large return for a budget that is currently about $19 billion. In 2007, then-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin stated:
“NASA opens new frontiers and creates new opportunities, and because of that [NASA] is a critical driver of innovation. We don’t just create new jobs, we create entirely new markets and possibilities for economic growth that didn’t previously exist. This is the emerging space economy, an economy that is transforming our lives here on Earth in ways that are not yet fully understood or appreciated. It is not an economy in space — not yet. But space activities create products and markets that provide benefits right here on Earth, benefits that have arisen from our efforts to explore, understand, and utilize this new medium… We see the transformative effects of the space economy all around us through numerous technologies and life-saving capabilities. We see the space economy in the lives saved when advanced breast cancer screening catches tumors in time for treatment, or when a heart defibrillator restores the proper rhythm of a patient’s heart. We see it when GPS, the Global Positioning System developed by the Air Force for military applications, helps guide a traveler to his or her destination. We see it when weather satellites warn us of coming hurricanes, or when satellites provide information critical to understanding our environment and the effects of climate change. We see it when we use an ATM or pay for gas at the pump with an immediate electronic response via satellite. Technologies developed for exploring space are being used to increase crop yields and to search for good fishing regions at sea.”
The late, brilliant Stephen Hawking believed that “Sending humans to the moon changed the future of the human race in ways that we don’t yet understand.” He stated, notes the British newspaper The Independent “I believe that the long term future of the human race must be space and that it represents an important life insurance for our future survival, as it could prevent the disappearance of humanity by colonising other planets.”
Photo: Armstrong on the Moon. (NASA)