That's 1 Small Step for Man

Hard to believe it has been 40 yrs, but it has. Like many people, I can remember the day clearly. It was a sunny afternoon in Oelwein. Grandpa & Dad went fishing. I was home. My mind was more on the landing. Even today, to hear the words said when the Eagle landed brings a thrill to my heart. What was science fiction the year before when 2001: A Space Odyssey came out was now reality.

Then at a little before 10 pm CST the 1st steps were taken. As that was happenning we saw the following on our TV screens:

Again thrilling words. & I was very thankful NASA had moved the walk up from its original middle of the night time so I could watch it live (or as close as possible given the few seconds time delay to reach us.).

Looking back at how much has changed technologically, I know that without the space program we wouldn't have much of what we do today. 1 of the big things in the papers in the days leading up to this were articles explaining to people how to use their cameras to take a picture of the 1st step off the TV screen. No DVDs, no VCRs, no nothing to save it like we do today. Yet, there was film that is now available, & we can watch it, including color pictures since the TV camera was black & white. (Later flights did have color cameras.)

Growing up, I watched each step along the way. The USSR & US flights, the sattelite pictures, the successes, the failures & even the deaths that occured were all steps along the way. It was thrilling & exciting to see what we could do with the talents God gave us. Finally we got near the moon with Apollo IX in lunar orbit. So close, but not yet there. Then back again with Apollo X. With the Lunar Excursion Model tests, even closer to landing, but still not yet. Then finally Apollo 11. & "The 1 small step for man, 1 giant leap for mankind!" occurred.

It wasn't until 1989 when I was at Huntsville, AL & went to the Space & Rocket Center there, that I truly had a grasp of the size of the Apollo craft, the LEM & the Saturn rocket. I of the rocket nozzles is 1-1/3 times as tall as I am. The rocket is hige, yet the Apollo capsule was so small. & to see the various rockets developed over the years was thrilling as well. To visit the Marshall Space Flight Center where they tested the Redstone rocket, to see where they actually did some of the training, to see a full size mock up of the space shuttle, well, I could go on & on. This was were it all started so many years ago.

40 yrs later, I find 1 thing hard to believe, that we have yet to return since Apollo 17. So, many of the things that were shown in 2001 about man in space have yet to be fulfilled. Part of that I blame on not encouraging private enterprize until recently. 1 of the things that was clear in the movie was the fact that much of what drove where things were in the movie was capitalism, not the government. & while my dream of walking on the Moon may never come true. It will for others.

But we are finally getting ready to go back. We are finally letting private corporations move ahead with their own programs. & whatever lies ahead, 1 thing is sure, we have plenty of exciting things to discover about how God made the Moon, the planets & the stars. Many people will ignore it, many people will deny it, but every discovery we make, every new thing we learn will only show that we are not here by chance. They will show that there is a God that made the universe. & that He is still in charge.