by Ann » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:10 pm
To me the Moon landing - and then I mean Apollo 11, of course - wasn't life-changing. It made a greater impression on me to go out at night and look at the stars with my newly-acquired knowledge that these tiny points of lights were mighty suns unimaginably far away than it did to go out and look at the Moon and try to comprehend that there were people up there.
Still, I did go out and looked at the Moon and tried to comprehend that there were people up there. It felt unreal, because the Moon looked exactly the same as before. (Yes, I realized, even back then, that the Moon was so far away and the astronauts were so tiny compared with the Moon that it was impossible to see any signs of the astronauts and their equipment from the Earth.)
I remember that everybody was in awe. The whole thing was just so solemn, so incomprehensibly amazing. But the wonder waned quickly. There was soon another Apollo mission, Apollo 12, but the media, which had treated Apollo 11 as the pinnacle of human progress (and perhaps it was), treated Apollo 12 as old news. The there was Apollo 13, and we were all riveted again, biting our nails as we fervently hoped that the astronauts would return home safe and sound. When they did, we cheered. It was so heroic. But then there was Apollo 14, and nothing special happened. Apollo 15, 16 and 17 came and went. And then it was all over.
Now, almost 40 years later, we get to see physical signs of humanity on the Moon. It is so poignant. For me it is like returning to my youth again and to a time of innocence, when everything seemed possible, and yet, also the time when NASA accepted that the returns on the investments into the Apollo mission no longer matched the costs. It was a turning point, perhaps in more ways than was obvious back then.
But it is very poignant to see these signs of humanity on the Moon. In a way they are like the pyramids in Egypt: awesome reminders of the fantastic efforts of people in the past, and their incredible accomplishments.
Ann
To me the Moon landing - and then I mean Apollo 11, of course - wasn't life-changing. It made a greater impression on me to go out at night and look at the stars with my newly-acquired knowledge that these tiny points of lights were mighty [b][i]suns[/i][/b] unimaginably far away than it did to go out and look at the Moon and try to comprehend that there were people up there.
Still, I [i]did[/i] go out and looked at the Moon and tried to comprehend that there were people up there. It felt unreal, because the Moon looked exactly the same as before. (Yes, I realized, even back then, that the Moon was so far away and the astronauts were so tiny compared with the Moon that it was impossible to see any signs of the astronauts and their equipment from the Earth.)
I remember that everybody was in awe. The whole thing was just so solemn, so incomprehensibly amazing. But the wonder waned quickly. There was soon another Apollo mission, Apollo 12, but the media, which had treated Apollo 11 as the pinnacle of human progress (and perhaps it was), treated Apollo 12 as old news. The there was Apollo 13, and we were all riveted again, biting our nails as we fervently hoped that the astronauts would return home safe and sound. When they did, we cheered. It was so heroic. But then there was Apollo 14, and nothing special happened. Apollo 15, 16 and 17 came and went. And then it was all over.
Now, almost 40 years later, we get to see physical signs of humanity on the Moon. It is so poignant. For me it is like returning to my youth again and to a time of innocence, when everything seemed possible, and yet, also the time when NASA accepted that the returns on the investments into the Apollo mission no longer matched the costs. It was a turning point, perhaps in more ways than was obvious back then.
But it is very poignant to see these signs of humanity on the Moon. In a way they are like the pyramids in Egypt: awesome reminders of the fantastic efforts of people in the past, and their incredible accomplishments.
Ann