Of all the creatures who had yet walked on Earth, the man-apes were the first to
look steadfastly at the Moon. And though he could not remember it, when he was
very young Moon-Watcher would sometimes reach out and try to touch that ghostly
face rising above the hills. - Arthur C. Clarke, "2001 - A Space Odyssey"

40 years ago, at 10:56 pm Eastern Standard time, Neil Armstrong placed a foot on Earth's only natural satellite and the world stood still to watch. It was a rare moment, even at a time when most people had only a few channels to watch.

It is not rare when the world gathers together to view a live news event that is not tragic in nature. For every event like Apollo 11, the Charles-Diana wedding or the Y2K celebrations, we have had many - too many instances of events like JFK, MLK, John Lennon, Challenger, 9-11, etc.

I myself was too young to remember Apollo 11. I was only a couple of weeks shy of my third birthday, and besides I wasn't allowed to be up that late (I think). Still, I could appreciate the drama of that day, and the excitement people felt as Armstrong and Aldrin loped along the Sea of Tranquility, feeling the effects of 1/6 gravity. My memories of Apollo 11 are black and white, grainy and narrated by Walter Cronkite, with a pan shot of the iconic photo of Buzz Aldrin striding across a small crater.



As I grew older, I found myself drawn to the saga of the space program. I remember watching coverage of Apollo 16 and 17. In 1975, when I spent a week at my grandparents', I got in trouble with my grandmother because I watched the Apollo-Soyuz link-up instead of going out to play outside. I memorized lists of astronauts and missions, and even studied up on the Soviet space missions as much as possible. I wanted to be an astronaut. Badly.

Unfortunately, that dream was not to be. I made bad grades in the mathematics classes I needed to be considered someday. I was afraid of flying at the time. Not exactly high recommendations for a future astronautics career, eh? I settled for being an enthusiastic observer. I was confident that by the early 21st century we would have bases on the moon, making our way to Mars and Venus, and taking passengers into orbit on a regular bases. Obviously none of this has happened... yet. This does not mean we should give up trying.

For nearly 30 years now we have sent people up in the Space Shuttle. It was great for transporting large modules into orbit, and for taking large crews to the almost-completed International Space Station. But the exploratory nature of humans will not let us be. The Shuttle program is set to be retired next year, once the ISS is completed, and NASA will then retool to prepare for their next project: Project Constellation.

Constellation will take us back to the Moon by 2019. In theory, it can also be reconfigured for a mission to Mars. Some have asked why, in a time where we face budget deficits, war on two fronts, and incredibly divisive politics, we are even considering returning to the moon.

In my own opinion, it is important that we go. Mankind needs something to aspire to. Mankind needs a goal. We have an innate need to explore. I believe that something like this can make us acknowledge the fragility and special nature of our own world, and work to make our own home a better place. And in that time when (not) if we begin to set up camp on other worlds, perhaps we will have learned our lesson enough to treat our new homes better than we treat our own now.

And yes, there will be losses and tragedies. There always have been in the course of exploration, whether it was Spanish caravels in the 16th century, the Scott expedition in the Antarctic, or Columbia in 2003. We should do everything we can to make sure that we explore the solar system safely, but we should also pause and thank the people who gave their lives to the greater cause of exploring outside our world:

Soyuz 1 - Vladimir Komarov

Apollo 1 - Gus Grissom
Ed White
Roger Chaffee

Soyuz 11 - Georgi Dobrovolski
Viktor Patsayev
Vladislav Volkov

STS 51-L - Greg Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Michael J. Smith
Dick Scobee

STS-107 - Rick D. Husband
William McCool
Michael P. Anderson
David M. Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel B. Clark
Ilan Ramon

I believe that someday (maybe sooner than we think) my son Ian will be able to look at a screen and watch as astronauts, cosmonauts and taikonauts take their first tentative steps on the surface of Mars. And God willing, I will be there beside him. And we will talk about the old days when the Moon was the limit.

The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.
-Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)