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I remember Apollo XI
This is more about getting a thread going, than elaborating on my own
experiences. I was thirteen at the time. At the launch, if not one of the other missions, reporters were interviewing "Charlie Brown" who was supposed to be about 120 years old and a former slave. Watching the rocket take off, he asked "what keeps that thing up there?" I thought, that's actually a good question if you don't know about escape velocity. While watching that first landing on TV, I had a common "this is really neat!" attitude but also thinking how much it cost. It was shown around three AM since I was in Germany. The first step being made by another "Neil" was cool too. Even as I heard "One small step for [?] man, one giant leap for mankind" I was thinking: it's almost a great line but doesn't sound quite right, he needed to say "for a man, ..." Also, the chicks seemed left out, why not say "for all humankind? Heh, will controversy over that line ever end? The controversy over what we should do now may never end either ... Is that Ares rocket really as flawed as some people say? It's controversial. To think, we just can't seem to get our act together. BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on what happened then and later, and what it means now: http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories. |
#2
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I remember Apollo XI
Neil B. wrote: BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on what happened then and later, and what it means now: http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories. You know, even before Carl Sagan's corpse was completly cold, Michio Kaku had spotted the niche that had been vacated in the popular science ecosystem, and headed straight for it. Pat |
#3
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I remember Apollo XI
"Neil B." wrote in message ... This is more about getting a thread going, than elaborating on my own experiences. I was thirteen at the time. At the launch, if not one of the other missions, reporters were interviewing "Charlie Brown" who was supposed to be about 120 years old and a former slave. Watching the rocket take off, he asked "what keeps that thing up there?" I thought, that's actually a good question if you don't know about escape velocity. I can remember my dad trying to use his 35mm camera to take pictures off the tv of the landing. Didn't work very well. Of course, we've come so far with tv's and the digital age. Now I can get streaming videos over the computer. Three inch blurry little videos that stop and start every couple of seconds, if you wait the several minutes for it to download that is. Boy, we've come so far. At work I stand around almost 2 hours a day watching brand new computers chew and chew. They generally are down for service till 10:00 am (until out IT crew has arrived), and go back down about 3:00 pm (before our IT crew goes home). Well... at least at home our computers are so great, provided they've been de-fragged, de-visused, de-malwared, de-cookied and de-spywared .....nightly. While watching that first landing on TV, I had a common "this is really neat!" attitude but also thinking how much it cost. My earliest memories where about that time. For instance, when Nixon won the election I remember my dad hollering 'oh no the republicans are going to win"! I was just terrified at the thought that if the democrats lost we wouldn't be a democracy anymore. And that might put an end to the war, that scared me too. Since my earliest memories we were always at war, that seemed the norm to me. And I remember how upset my dad was at MLK and Bobby getting killed. Back then when the tv broke with a 'Special News Report" I would shake in my.... hushpuppies. It was shown around three AM since I was in Germany. The first step being made by another "Neil" was cool too. Even as I heard "One small step for [?] man, one giant leap for mankind" I was thinking: it's almost a great line but doesn't sound quite right, he needed to say "for a man, ..." Also, the chicks seemed left out, why not say "for all humankind? Heh, will controversy over that line ever end? The controversy over what we should do now may never end either ... Is that Ares rocket really as flawed as some people say? It's controversial. It looks like they decided in advance who the contractor would be. And didn't check to see if a single solid booster was practical till later. I think that's supposed to be the other way around, but oh well, what's a few billion wasted here and there? To think, we just can't seem to get our act together. Bush started a military space race with the Chinese. We have to go to the Moon now to own the ultimate high ground for missile defense tracking and so on. Oh well, what's another forty year long cold war going to cost anyway? The last one was so cheap and safe. We shouldn't fear another one. Why not repeat the worst mistakes of the last century? The military and big aero seem to think it'll be good for them. BTW this is IMHO a good overview and assessment piece by Michio Kaku on what happened then and later, and what it means now: http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/16/apo...rss_popstories. |
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