Niic Claudiu

APOLLO 11
With President John F Kennedys direction, the US wanted to become the first nation to
send a man to the Moon. This was accomplished on July 20, 1969. This became a symbol
of US power, prestige and dominance in world affairs.

For once, we will end on a major chord. In just about a week we remember the
significant events of July 20, 1969, when humanity did itself proud, in spite of all its
wars, sadism, hatred, and insanity. We set foot on another world. We have no choice but
to remember the awful things our species has perpetrated on itself and on Planet Earth.
But we can now choose to think of ourselves as ultimately good. Beneath it all, we are a
decent species. We did not, until this date, possess or even deserve a universal common
ground on which to agree. Now, no matter what else happens, if extraterrestrial life ever
learns of us, they will learn that we walked on our own moon, studied it up close and
personal, and returned safe and sound.

And it was the United States of America who saw it through. After tragedies
uncountable, the most notorious of which was the fiery death of Virgil Grissom, Ed
White, and Roger Chaffee. But NASA and most Americans understood that the prize at
the end of the race was worth finishing. England can claim some pride, in that Sir Isaac
Newton was proven right about everything he said. Without him, NASA wouldnt have
known which way was up.

Yet, some have detracted from Americas almighty achievement of the Moon Landing
with the argument that America achieved its goal in order to beat the Soviets to it. Thus,
it was an achievement born out of hatred and distrust. But that isnt fair. Once the Cold
War was over, Russia and America worked, and have worked, together in space
exploration, interested only in science and discovery. It is not NASAs fault, nor the fault
of Russias space program, that Capitalism and Communism didnt get along.
Niic Claudiu

Americas distrust and loathing of Communism is most directly attributable to Senator

Joseph McCarthy, who saw in denouncing it a chance to gain power for himself. He
preyed on peoples fear, and this works like a charm. Today, Russia is no longer
Communist, and cooperates with Americas and other space programs to study and reach
the stars.

But only Americans have walked on the Moon, 12 of them. No one of any other
nation has. There are five different flags on the Moon: the first planted is from the USA;
out of respect for other superpowers, the USA has planted the flags of the Soviet Union,
Japan, the European Union, and India.

NASA is now very intent on going back, and someday the next, much more giant leap
will be taken: to Mars. Whoever it is who speaks first on Mars must remember the
sentiment Neil Armstrong expressed, We came in peace for all mankind.

There would be five more successful lunar landing missions, and one unplanned lunar
swing-by, Apollo 13 (whose lunar landing was aborted due to technical difficulties). The
last men to walk on the moon, astronauts Eugene Cernan (1934-) and Harrison Schmitt
(1935-) of the Apollo 17 mission, left the lunar surface on December 14, 1972. The
Apollo program was a costly and labor intensive endeavor, involving an estimated
400,000 engineers, technicians and scientists, and costing $24 billion (close to $100
billion in todays dollars). The expense was justified by Kennedys 1961 mandate to beat
the Soviets to the moon, and after the feat was accomplished ongoing missions lost their
viability..