At another blogspot, Christian Conservatives, it was pointed out that in 1969 on this date Apollo 11 was on its way for man's first landing on the moon. On that trip, on July 19th or 20th, Edwin Aldrin took private communion in the Lunar module! I hadn't heard that before. And I have been on a "fan" of the space program from the very beginning. I was at scout camp in Florida the week of the flight, viewing the landing Sunday afternoon July 19th in the mess hall. That night I had to settle to listening to the first steps on a transister radio after curfew since we did not have an adult with us from our troup.
The president is all for the return to the moon, though he hasn't been as bold as John F. Kennedy declaring the goal to be "by the end of this decade." At the New York Times article we read:
"In that time, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is to perform 16 more shuttle missions to complete the International Space Station, the half-built orbiting laboratory that was the Discovery’s destination in this flight. The agency will then embark on the president’s stated goal of returning to the Moon in a new generation of space vehicles."
I wrote a short story back in 1990 that projected 30 years into the future. In that story I thought that we would have established a mining and scientific colony there by then. Now, if the Lord tarries, we MIGHT have a colony there by 2030. That would be over 70 years since Sputnik. I suppose that's not bad in the scheme of things, though. I think that first decade was a little of a jump start that cost WAY too much!
Of course, it was largely the German rocket scientists that we and the Russians had "adopted" that gave us the science that became much of the space race. Our scientists, though, had developed the computer in 1947, which had not become significantly miniturized by the 1960's, even with transisters. All in all, though, we did "miracles" with very little loss of life. With today's computers, and vast advances in robotics and artificial "inteligence," a rudimentary station on the moon is a very real possibility by 2020.
Any one have the 1993 CD ROM "Return to the Moon"? Or maybe an update. I got that with our first "top of the line" computer -- a 486 machine, a blazing 40 MHz speed! I haven't tried it on my present computer, but it used a simulator to allow you to land on the moon. You also got to plan your missions, and all that. I am sure that a recent version would be a lot more fun.
Anyway, I think we can do it. Maybe even through international and/or private endevours. If we want to, that is.
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2 comments:
Thank you, Henry, for your kind words. I had never heard the Aldrin communion story, either, but I happened upon it as I "surfed the Net" looking for interesting stories from Christian history. Isn't it interesting that this story has never made it into a history book, and has never been told to the public in any meaningful way?
Interesting indeed. I suppose the liberal media still has a tight stranglehold on public information flow. Thank God for the internet.
I'll put a permanent link to your blog on mine if you want. Reciprocal linking is not necessary, but it would be appreciated. Let me know either way.
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