40 years ago today, Apollo 11, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr. and Michael Collins, blasted off from Cape Kennedy, Fla., on the first manned mission to the surface of the moon.

That was a great historic feat and the race to the Moon was the reason NASA was created.

So how funny is it that now the manned space missions are just to deploy satellites and fix the Space Station. I have not heard of any plans to land on the Moon again because apparently NASA figured out that there isn't much to do up there.

I guess the Moon colonization of Space 1999 is not happening in our lifetimes.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
That was a great historic feat and the race to the Moon was the reason NASA was created.

So how funny is it that now the manned space missions are just to deploy satellites and fix the Space Station. I have not heard of any plans to land on the Moon again because apparently NASA figured out that there isn't much to do up there.

I guess the Moon colonization of Space 1999 is not happening in our lifetimes.

They are actually retiring the space shuttle soon and then the new fleet of spacecraft will be launched with the intent of building a lunar outpost. I could be wrong, but I think the target for the outpost is 2020.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason00:
They are actually retiring the space shuttle soon and then the new fleet of spacecraft will be launched with the intent of building a lunar outpost. I could be wrong, but I think the target for the outpost is 2020.

I know they want to build new spaceships, but I didn't hear anything about lunar outposts. I seriously doubt that NASA will be anywhere near getting that kind of technology running within the next 11 years. And when the budget crunch comes from all this stimulus spending who knows how much funding the government will even give them. NASA may be still flying those old rockets in 2020.

Here is the info on wikipedia -- of course, always take anything on wikipedia with a HUGE grain of salt

I hope it is true, I would love to see people land on the moon again in my lifetime.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason00:


I hope it is true, I would love to see people land on the moon again in my lifetime.

I would love to BE one of them!

I wouldn't be surprised if all the technology is in place and has been for years. It's not so much a cost thing, more of a "what's the point?"

I read quite an interesting article about the preparation and tech to send Apollo 11. Made me lol when I found out that the chip in a singing greetings card has more processing power than the whole of NASA in 1969. The research at Roswell must have paid off

My mother always made certain that I witnessed historical events. Forty years ago tonight, my mother did that very thing.

I was only 5 years old that day. I remember my mom being very excited about something going on that day but I was more interested in playing. That night, my mom turned on the TV and switched the channel to Walter Kronkite. My mom sat me down in front of the television to watch...a news broadcast. I was bored. But my mom kept telling me to watch, so I did. And then I saw this slightly fuzzy image of a man in a space suit climb down a little ladder. Still not fully comprehending the enormity of the event, I looked at my mom who had a huge smile on her face. I turned back to watch because it was obviously something VERY important. I witnessed the first man on the moon, because of my mom.

Thanks, mom, for teaching me to "mark the moments" in history and my life.

And I'm glad that "life" had my folks move to Florida that summer, and I was working nights in my summer job. So I've seen one launch from the Merritt Island beach. Nothing could top that one!

I found an original Apollo 11 keychain at a yard sale this past Saturday for a whole 50 cents. Of course I snapped it up.

I always remember the moon walk because it was only 2 days before my birthday. I was 10, nearly 11 at the time of the actual moon walk.

I never saw an in-person Apollo launch, but was at Kennedy when Apollo 17 was on the launch pad.

I have had the pleasure of seeing one shuttle launch though. We happened to be in Florida again, heard about the launch, and shuffled things around in our schedule so we could see it. What an amazing sight.... I will always remember that.

Mike.