Friday night I worked late and drove home as the moon was rising. It's nearly full and it was beautiful low on the horizon, a small world hanging there in the sky.
It makes me wistful and angry to look at it these days. It's 2021 and the last human left the moon just under fifty years ago. We got there a few times and we never went back.
Blaming Presidents and Congress and NASA administrators for this is easy but the public had lost interest. And if an endeavor doesn't engage the public, it's darned difficult to get politicians to spend money on it.
Someday, we'll go back. If we're very lucky, we won't have to get our passports stamped by whoever's already there.
The Moon sure is pretty. It'd be prettier with some city lights showing.
I hope you get to enjoy the meteor showers. With all the smoke here, I haven't seen the stars in weeks.
ReplyDeleteElon seems to be in an all-out sprint to get to Mars before 2030 or not long after. It is a lot farther but even a thin atmosphere is better than a hard vacuum.
ReplyDeleteThe Moon was a good first step, and I'm sure the radio astronomers would love to get to the Far Side to set up their telescopes in a place the doesn't rot them away in a matter of years.
Unless we can find resources for air and fuel the Moon may end up an afterthought and a science base.
I was 6 when Alan Shephard was the 1st American in space; and 13 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. That night I'd have bet my grandfather's farm we would have had colonies on the moon and weekly (at least) flights to and from. Boy was I wrong. But I hope my grandson, who is 14, can get to the moon or Mars in his lifetime if he wants to go.
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