What does Neil Armstrong look like?
Never mind, I've just searched for images of him. But I'll still think of that iconic shot in the spacesuit on the surface of the moon. I recently read 'Moondust' by Andrew Smith, which is initially about interviewing the lunar astronauts in the 21st Century, but goes on to explore more fundamental questions, such as 'Why go to the moon?' and 'How did it affect those who went there?'
NB at this point I should say that the lunar landings never happened. It's all a conspiracy. Science shows that they wouldn't have been able to make it to the moon with their payload, because the Lizard Lady who carves the craters would have stolen all their LOX to rub on her belly and make an astral black hole.
I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with the lunar astronauts. I knew there were a number of missions to the moon, but I didn't really know how many or when they stopped. I knew about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but even then I only knew their names. Andrew Smith's book was a great remedy for that. I've got a clearer idea about the whole Apollo project now, I know that there were 12 men who went to the moon and (at the time of the book) there were 9 left alive, all of whom seem to be in good health for their age. They are also a fascinating mix of people whose lives took them in very different directions after they landed back on Earth.
I was shocked by the relatively low pay that the astronauts received and the way that they had to make their money from lecture tours, books or from selling stamps that they'd secretly taken with them on the trip. Although they did get found out on that last one. For the level of risk involved, given that they were put in a fragile tin can and bolted to thousands of pounds of explosive, it seems a little stingy. For some reason, they couldn't get insurance either.
And then there was the assertion that going to the moon irrevocably damaged the space program. That if they'd kept their goals small, they would be much more advanced than they are today.
The big questions remain - should we go to the moon? If so, why?
For me, the answer is clear cut. If our civilisation doesn't move forward, it will decay and fall over. Society, technology and life is driven by the need to expand. The land masses of Earth are eventually going to be insufficient to support us. We could try colonising the oceans first, but eventually we will have to take our pollution to other worlds. Right now we're in a position to achieve that, but what if there was a nuclear war? What if we really did run out of fossil fuels without finding a viable alternative? What if our cities get flooded by melting glaciers?
Going to the moon wouldn't solve world hunger. But we've NOT been going to the moon for decades now and we still haven't got to the bottom of that one. Every day, millions of cars make millions of journeys around the world. Are all those journeys helping to stop poverty? Is every job that we have designed to improve life for the desperate and needy?
Part of the problem is that humanity only looks at most to about five-ten years into the future. Benefits from getting established on the moon might not be seen for twenty, fifty or even a hundred years, but they would certainly come. But what politician would spend a fortune on something that wouldn't reap a return in their lifetime?
Anyway, that's enough moon talk. We're not going. So the Lizard Lady will have to make do with the LOX she's already got.
Never mind, I've just searched for images of him. But I'll still think of that iconic shot in the spacesuit on the surface of the moon. I recently read 'Moondust' by Andrew Smith, which is initially about interviewing the lunar astronauts in the 21st Century, but goes on to explore more fundamental questions, such as 'Why go to the moon?' and 'How did it affect those who went there?'
NB at this point I should say that the lunar landings never happened. It's all a conspiracy. Science shows that they wouldn't have been able to make it to the moon with their payload, because the Lizard Lady who carves the craters would have stolen all their LOX to rub on her belly and make an astral black hole.
I have to admit, I wasn't familiar with the lunar astronauts. I knew there were a number of missions to the moon, but I didn't really know how many or when they stopped. I knew about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but even then I only knew their names. Andrew Smith's book was a great remedy for that. I've got a clearer idea about the whole Apollo project now, I know that there were 12 men who went to the moon and (at the time of the book) there were 9 left alive, all of whom seem to be in good health for their age. They are also a fascinating mix of people whose lives took them in very different directions after they landed back on Earth.
I was shocked by the relatively low pay that the astronauts received and the way that they had to make their money from lecture tours, books or from selling stamps that they'd secretly taken with them on the trip. Although they did get found out on that last one. For the level of risk involved, given that they were put in a fragile tin can and bolted to thousands of pounds of explosive, it seems a little stingy. For some reason, they couldn't get insurance either.
And then there was the assertion that going to the moon irrevocably damaged the space program. That if they'd kept their goals small, they would be much more advanced than they are today.
The big questions remain - should we go to the moon? If so, why?
For me, the answer is clear cut. If our civilisation doesn't move forward, it will decay and fall over. Society, technology and life is driven by the need to expand. The land masses of Earth are eventually going to be insufficient to support us. We could try colonising the oceans first, but eventually we will have to take our pollution to other worlds. Right now we're in a position to achieve that, but what if there was a nuclear war? What if we really did run out of fossil fuels without finding a viable alternative? What if our cities get flooded by melting glaciers?
Going to the moon wouldn't solve world hunger. But we've NOT been going to the moon for decades now and we still haven't got to the bottom of that one. Every day, millions of cars make millions of journeys around the world. Are all those journeys helping to stop poverty? Is every job that we have designed to improve life for the desperate and needy?
Part of the problem is that humanity only looks at most to about five-ten years into the future. Benefits from getting established on the moon might not be seen for twenty, fifty or even a hundred years, but they would certainly come. But what politician would spend a fortune on something that wouldn't reap a return in their lifetime?
Anyway, that's enough moon talk. We're not going. So the Lizard Lady will have to make do with the LOX she's already got.
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