As you all know, or should, today marks the 40th anniversary of the day humankind first set foot on the Moon. That day the human race truly became citizens of the galaxy, even if only locally. My partner is old enough to remember watching the event on television, and recalls the singular excitement of realizing that life as she knew it had changed forever.
In the decades that followed, the space program began a steady decline. The thrill of discovery slowly became the routine of mere recitation of facts. The bright future we envisioned of commuting to a lunar base faded into the distance. NASA continued to tour space, but that first small step for a man (which was the original phrase before Neil Armstrong misspoke it in his excitement — and who could blame him, really?) ignited the world’s imagination and started many down the path to becoming astronauts.
It seems incredible these days that the younger generations may not realize what a tremendous achievement it was to land people on the moon — to them, it might seem merely the stuff of textbooks: dry, clinical, and devoid of interest.
But with NASA’s recent declaration to make the Moon a priority again, it’s not inconceivable that our children could be the ones to actually colonize our biggest satellite. So take the time to teach them what it was all about; the Internet is full of useful sites and links to some great resources, including footage of the moonwalk itself. Let’s get our kids dreaming of exploring other worlds, and by the time they get old enough, they’ll help make these dreams a reality!
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