History 144
Shane Newton
Professor Blackey
“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” JFK. July 16th 1969 at 1332 the legendary spacecraft, Apollo 11 carried by the Saturn V, launched into space from a Launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Demonstrating the technological and economic virtuosity of the United States and established American technological preeminence in the world, but it also opened up so many more possibilities to the world of what could be done, infinite possibilities of what mankind can one day be able to achieve in the future. The world had viewed for many years space crafts going up into space orbiting the Earth and the moon, but then there was this possibility that we could actually land and walk on the moon, and make it back down to Earth safely. Unbelievable most thought, that there was no way that we could ever possibly land on the moon, let alone walk on it. Then Apollo 11 took down 2 astronauts from the command module in lunar orbit and on July 20, 1969, at 20:17, man had landed on the moon. Six hours later a man named Neil Armstrong took the first steps of mankind on the moon. This amazing piece of technology, this one craft that took years to build, made it to the moon bringing about mankind to the mysteries of outer space. This is where my fascination with space has led me. Growing up I had always heard of us landing on the moon, how it was an important time in history. It wasn’t until the past couple of years that my fascination with outer space began. It began with me watching a TV show called Sargate SG1, which got me into other TV shows that were also about the reaches of space such as: Doctor Who, Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis, Star Trek, and Battlestart Gallactica. It’s safe to say I have become a nerd about this stuff, but the idea of space is so fascinating to me. Look how small we are compared to the rest of the universe and look how much history we have had ourselves, there are trillions of years of history out there, and for humankind it all began with the creation of Apollo 11. Yes the Apollo 11 space craft had a lot of political gains for us Americans in the Cold War. However how I think of what the Apollo 11 did for the world is unforgettable. It gave the world infinite ideas of imagination of what is out there in the world. Before there of course was many ideas about what was out there, but after the landing people started to believe that all of that was possible, humankind can go anywhere it wanted to, that’s what I believe was on everyone’s mind that day when we landed on the moon. And look at us now sending up satellites day after day, and now we’ve landed on Mars. Further and further we go into the ‘Verse, and I don’t believe there’s anything stopping us. “Where angels fear to tread,” and it’s all because of Apollo 11. I still enjoy the thought of the thought of how big the universe is, and how small we are compared to it. I hope that I am alive the day we start exploring into space daily with civilians for trips or vacations, or even finding another suitable planet that can sustain human life. I know the odds are against me being alive to see that happen but that’s what it’s all about, hope. I truly believe Apollo 11 and the men that were aboard her that warm summer month in 1969, are the cause for the motivation of certain projects around the world today. “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”
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