40 years ago today the crew of Apollo 11 would be getting ready for their historic launch. Tomorrow will be the 40th anniversary of the successful launch of Apollo 11 with Monday being the anniversary of the actual landing. We have not had a lunar mission in the life time of any registered member of this forum. The last lunar mission was Apollo 17 in December of 1972.
In an age when people wonder why the number of sceintist and engineers are dwindling I propose the reason is lack of wonder. In the 50’s and 60’s we had the lunar mission to inspire student. Even in the 80’s we had a new space shuttle. The future looked bright and full of hope. In today climate we are about to retire the space shuttle without a suitable replacement. The International Space Station will be /deorbited/ in 2016.
Many people deride the space program because of the astronomical cost (no pun intended). There are very few direct financial gain by having a space program. The intangibles from such work are tremendous. Technologies developed for the space program make their way into our life. Items such the ear thermometer, smoke detector, and everyone’s favorite drink Tang are spin off of the space program.
I would encourage everyone to take a moment and think about the beauty and wonder of space. Reignite the wonder you had as a child when you first heard of the brave men and woman who roared into space. Math and Science are fundamental to our society. I can think of few ways to inspire more children to because scientist and engineers than the space program.
