Stepping On the Moon

Forty years ago today, I was sitting with my parents in our pickup truck on our annual vacation from northern Canada down to Vancouver. We were listening to the truck's radio and following the progress of the first manned landing on the moon. 

I urged my dad to drive faster, so that we would get to our friend's home sooner, and could see Neil Armstrong step onto the surface. It was that day, July 20, 1969, that my dad decided he needed to save gas, and drive 5mph below the speed limit.

Space was a big deal for me in that era. I had built the Revell model of the lunar lander and Apollo capsule. My godfather had taught me the names of constellations.

When we arrived in Vancouver, we discovered our friends had no tv. But they made arrangements for us to go next door, where we got to see the second man step onto surface of the moon.

As for man on Mars, my conviction is that it'll never happen. 

Comments

[R.K. McSwain]

Re: Mars - probably not in our lifetime, and the odds are probably even that it would even be the US. Today is much different than the late fifties and early sixties in this country.

Remember, people were saying the same thing about airplanes before 1903, and they certainly could not have imagined that we would be able to leave Earth's gravity in only ±60 more years, much less put twelve humans on the moon.

[RobiNZ]

Maybe not soon, but never is an awfully long time?

[Dietmar]

Ralph, never say 'never' ...
Even in our lifetime I expect people to go to Mars, because similiar to what happened to computers all it takes is maybe two radical technology changes to make it 'easy'. One change I expect is a much more commercialised space usage. There will be hotels and factories in space as soon as companies see the opportunity of making money with it. And for Mars wait to see improvements in continuous-accelleration propulsion as already working in experimental satelites. The main problem to go to Mars is the time it takes (200 days each direction). Having continuous accelleration of 1g (not possible with today's technology), it takes less than a week to get you to Mars. 'Never'? Do you remember computers 40 years ago? All it takes is some ideas and money to earn :-)
Dietmar

[Clint Johnson]

The way I see it, "it'll never happen" is a painfully nihilistic sentiment. There is nothing technologically stopping us from going to Mars and the economics of it should be manageable within a few decades even for private companies. The only thing that would reasonably keep us from getting there within the next 50 years is if we wipe ourselves out.

Or are you making that very argument, that the technological singularity will destroy our species before we get to Mars?