The moon landing
I was too young to remember the moon landing, so like many don’t really comprehend how historic it was. It would have been a day the entire world was watching.
In my own lifetime, I regard the bringing down of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Empire as the most monumental, and not sure they will be eclipsed.
Much of the commentary on the 40th anniversary has been how little has been achieved since 1969. I do hope in my lifetime we will see someone walk on Mars, and maybe even a permanent base on the moon.
No TweetBacks yet. (Be the first to Tweet this post)
Tags: moon
July 21st, 2009 at 12:08 pm
9/11 not up there with the Berlin Wall then?
[DPF: 9/11 is 2nd on my list but a fair way behind. The fall of the Soviet empire, with hardly a shot, was mind staggering.]
July 21st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I’d like to see big things happen with manned spacefight, but big things will only happen if there’s money, not just science and politics, in it.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:20 pm
i think the yanks were talking about going back to the moon…. that was a year or so ago though. might nopt have the cash now.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I think The Onion put it best.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:28 pm
I remember it vividly. We were in a third form maths class on a Monday afternoon, and our teacher, one of the toughest in the school suspended teaching and let us listen to history being made. It really was an unforgettable moment.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
i was ripped off my tits..in aussie..with a group of other ripped off their tits people…watching it on telly..
..whoar..!
and the one rejoinder to the landing-doubters..
..is that the russians were watching them/tracking them ..
..had it been a fake..
..they would have been screaming about it..
..and i presume the ‘doubters’ also think each subsequent moon-trip was faked..?
(heh-heh..!..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Gee, over half an hour and we haven’t had a denier here yet telling us it was all a hoax!!!
Guess there’s no money to be made from denying the moon landings!
[DPF: And Toad fails again to understand the difference between a historical event, and climate prediction models]
July 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
The collapse of the Soviet Union is something I vividly remember.. at the moment that Boris Jeltsin attempted his coup I served God, Queen and Country and staunchly defended the free world against “the Russian Bear”. I was stationed on a radio spy base near the German border were we did 3 link plotting to keep an eye on Soviet troop movement throughout the “Eastern Block”.
On the very night of the coup I was doing nightshift and all of a sudden all the radio communication between Moscow and the outer posts ceased which leaded to panic amongst our officers because that was something unusual….
Little did we know that we were witnessing history in the making live until the code breakers got a hang of the “code of the day” and we could follow what was going on…
Funny detail was that there was only rebelious radio contact for the “maverick” states near the Baltic Sea.
July 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
was boris jeltsin one of the jetsons..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 1:05 pm
Philu is already walking on the Moon. He certainly isn’t resident on planet Earth.
On July 20th (21st our time of course) 1969 I was in Room 4 at Durie Hill School in Wanganui listening to it on the school tannoy. Probably the only day from my early childhood, apart from the odd birthday party, that I can remember the exact date.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hang on – Boris Yeltsin attempted a coup? When was this? I remember him resisting a coup against Gorbachev in 1991 and rallying the russinas against the coup, but I don’t recall him ever starting as coup.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Bearhunter, you are right, got my facts mixed up
July 21st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
“and maybe even a permanent base on the moon.”
I nominate Comrade Bradford or Delahunty as our first ambassador, so many Kiwi’s would take great joy from no longer having to share the same planet as those two useless liars.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Cheap Access To Space.
It would solve so MANY problems. Global warming? Gone. Energy? Gone.
We have come close. The DC-X prototype which was abandoned after flying and Venturestar which was abandoned at 95% completion. Since then the corporations whose business model is partly based on expendable launch vehicles have not provided even a hint that they will build it.
NASA can’t buy it. Congress won’t fund it or build it.
The future speaks Chinese.
BJ
July 21st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
big bruv
I second your nomination and further propose we strap them naked to the outside of the first stage of a three stage rocket.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Big bruv, the moon would be way to close for those two, perhaps Mars would be more their cup of tea it is after all the red planet, they should be right at home.
Listen to the moon landing at the local primary school. Then Mallard, the wanker, came and shut the school down, no it wasn’t in the same year.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Dear little cheezes
pleeze let the moon deniers and the “9.11 mr bush did it” boys and girls
coman play wiff us
my little truck is broken
and I am bored
July 21st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
I’m very disappointed with progress in space. The Americans have basically abandoned the “space truck” concept of the shuttle, and returned to expendable vehicles, with a capsule not very different to the original Apollo. It may be reliable and likely to get them to Mars, but it sure as hell isn’t about being able to operate in space. It is bare minimum.
It is incredibly disappointing to me that we were on the cusp of some critical mass, and the will and the money dried up. It reminds me of the nuclear energy industry – on the cusp of moving from inefficient, unreliable, bespoke designs into a mass produced, standardised, cheap and efficient source of energy. Then everything went wrong, and it stalled.
With either of these, I really believe that a little more investment would have seen us over the hump and into a much better place. There are designs out there for single stage to orbit, for fully reusable launchers, for ground-based catapults that can fling payloads into orbit. Most of them are known to be technically feasible, but just waiting for the business case.
Once we properly conquer space, there are enormous resources available – massive solar energy, the asteroid belt and smaller planets to mine. The problem of “running out of resources” would be pushed back for generations – and the green focus on sustainability could go away.
My view is that the history of the human race is defined by rapidly expending our known resources, rapidly improving our technology, and making the leap to the next technology – thereby exponentially increasing the resources available to us. One of those leaps, in my opinion, should have been nuclear. Another should have been access to resources that aren’t physically located on planet earth. At both of these hurdles we have failed, for different reasons, and consigned ourselves to constantly arguing with the naysayers about how we’re all going to die when we run out of resources.
Anyway, my hope now lies with the commercial space tourism operators – noting that what they currently define as “space” I would call a higher than usual plane flight…..but someday soon we’ll see a commercial operator offering “an orbit of the earth.” When that happens, all sorts of possibilities will open up.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Toad said…
Gee, over half an hour and we haven’t had a denier here yet telling us it was all a hoax.
This was no hoax. The majority of people today who think that it was hoax are mostly lefties (including some greenies), since they’re against technological advancement of civilization (preferring that man get rid of technology and go back to living in the caves).
The astronauts left 3 laser retro-reflector mirrors, since the first mission. Scientists have been using these mirrors since the mission to measure the moon-earth distance more accurately by bouncing off these mirrors laser rays beamed from earth. So, these are facts and not prediction. In fact these measurements had been used to confirm theoretical distance calculated using gravitation laws.
DPF said…
And Toad fails again to understand the difference between a historical event, and climate prediction models.
In fact, the prediction model that was developed into the Apollo to predict its trajectory path to & from the moon was the model described here, ie, it was developed into the guidance system of the Apollo (reasonably accurate at the time). The difference between climate models and rocket trajectory path prediction is that climate is a self-emergent dynamical complex system (which is very difficult to model and almost useless to be applied in longer time-horizon, therefore it is mostly inaccurate & borderline bullshit), while rocket trajectory path prediction is not self-emergent at all, so the model works satisfactorily. This is why storm/hurricane long term forecasting is hard, since these phenomena can arise/emerge out from nowhere (ie, unannounced) in which models are quite useless to deal with such situations as self-emergent.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:18 pm
dime, they/Bush was even talking about Mars! Bonkers.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I too was too young to remember the event, but it still brings a lump to my throat whenever I really think about it. For me, this is the event of the century – indeed the event of human civilisation. Far more important in the bigger scheme of things than the Berlin Wall.
Despite that I am not an enthusiast for a return to the moon, or a trip to Mars. Both projects are a waste of money – concocted by Nasa to justify their budget – just like the International Space Station. A tenth of the money, invested in space exploration that doesn’t carry humans along for the ride, would produce ten times as much scientific discovery. THAT, I am in favour of.
As for Nasa: abolish it! That would clear the way for private enterprise to build “space trucks” that actually work at reasonable cost (unlike the Shuttle). I believe that the cause of space exploration – and even humans in space – will be far better served by unleashing the private sector.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Are you sure you were too young? Just checking…..
xx K
July 21st, 2009 at 2:42 pm
s.russell: private property rights? Why would the private sector invest in space exploration unless they can find something that they can make money from. If the first person who goes to the asteroid belt, puts a line on an asteroid, and brings it back is agreed to own that asteroid, then I reckon there is something to be said.
Imagine if we could get a whole supply chain in space – go get an asteroid, pull it into, say, a moon orbit, use solar energy the smelt the thing into something useful, maybe make some computer chips or something in zero g, then send only the finish product down on the next trip to earth. The economics are clearly not there today, but over time these things get cheaper – and it of causes zero pollution down here on earth…
July 21st, 2009 at 2:47 pm
So the Luddites won’t give you a membership card unless you deny that a moon landing took place?
Cool.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I was certainly old enough to remember the day vividly, bloody exciting, in the intervening years so much has happened which never fails to excite & hold me in awe of mans potential & ability.
I just wish space exploration was happening faster, as I will miss the most wonderous things yet to come, space elevators, colonisation of planets etc etc etc etc etc.
I talk to my grandchildren about the things they take for granted as a part of every day life, and how most of these things never existed when I was a boy, or even a young man, and I try to enthuse them about the future wonders to come that they will see, and maybe even take part in.
Wonderous times indeed.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:17 pm
Don’t assume you wont be around to see it, half life for medical technology is something like 7 years
July 21st, 2009 at 3:33 pm
[DPF: 9/11 is 2nd on my list but a fair way behind. The fall of the Soviet empire, with hardly a shot, was mind staggering.]
What do you think the manned space progam was?
A Saturn V is the honking big bullet that wounded the bear.
After that we just nickle and dimed them with coke and blue jeans. Do NOT underestimate the power of freedom to choose.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I remember it as interesting enough but I was far from awestruck, not sure why.
Thinking about it, yeah, it was technically a great achievement, but it was a huge team of people making it possible, the astronauts were just the ones chosen to go along for the ride. They new exactly what should happen all the way.
Compare that to earlier explorers, Everest and North/South Pole pioneers, Columbus, Cook etc – they were going into a much bigger unknown and had to survive by their wits for extended periods of time.
Think of the people who emigrated here, especially the Polynesians. But even the “ordinary” people from Europe, leaving everything they had known behind, going into what was largely an unknown, for life.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:47 pm
It was a lot more than just a ride Cerium. Without Buzz Aldrins maths second guessing the NASA “computer” they wouldn’t have made it home and without Niel Armstongs piloting they would have never made it down in one piece with about 6 seconds of fuel left.
These guys are exceptional in ever sense of the word.
Early explorers were sailing in water, they were familier with that. There was no experience of sapce travel to refer to for NASA. They wrote the book.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Being 10 years younger than DPF 9/11 gets it for me.
Not sure whether the moon landings should be regarded as humanity’s greatest hour or greatest lost opportunity. Any fan of 60s/70s TV will recall that by the year 2000 we would have moon bases etc (Space 1999 anyone). Now Bush decides to go back and it is going to take 20 years!
I imagine that it was mind blowing. The fact that the NZ government sent two airforce bombers to Australia to pick up the tapes in time for the 7pm news (which was networked nationally for the first and only time until the 70s) probably sums up how big it was.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Its one of those things where you had to be there.
When you’ve stood on your lawn at 4 in the morning and looked at the moon while a couple of guys were up there standing on it it has more impact.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:09 pm
The technology that launched the first man into space also gave us the 1957 Lada, 50 years of improving technology and space is still hard.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:34 pm
9/11? Berlin Wall? Matey, I remember listening crouched with the parents round the old steam radio to the American nuclear bomb tests at Bikini Atoll! Gripping stuff! Oh how we breathed a sigh of relief back then in 1945 realising that with the existence of the Bomb the future peace and securiy of the whole world was at last secured! Calloo Callay – Oh frabjous day!!!
July 21st, 2009 at 5:37 pm
I’m too young to remember the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union a couple years after. I guess the biggest event I’ve been old enough to observe with a level of understanding was 9/11. Watching man land on the moon would have been quite a sight, maybe in my life time Mars will be the next step.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
As much as conspiracy theories are amusing, the folk who insist that the Moon Landing was fake are the same types that believe that we will be submerged by rising sea levels in the next month or so.
I guess its what suit perception, outlook, and political stance.
NZ soldiers never got involved in any fighting in Iraq either. Did they Helen?
July 21st, 2009 at 6:06 pm
With all respect to Polynesian intrepid exploration, wouldn’t it make sense for a Maori Only, Moon landing?
Just think of the ongoing Land Claim settlements they could extract from any further landings?
That American Landing could easily be debunked.
DustLords, CraterLords, GravityfreeLords,SerenityLords, DarksideLords, The possibilities are endless. Could build the first KFC there as well!
July 21st, 2009 at 6:14 pm
“..[DPF: 9/11 is 2nd on my list but a fair way behind. The fall of the Soviet empire, with hardly a shot, was mind staggering.]
how do you think the fall of the american empire will go..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Glutaemus, I would have said the moon landing conspiracy theorists are like the global warming conspiracy theorists.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Glutaemus Maximus “With all respect to Polynesian intrepid exploration, wouldn’t it make sense for a Maori Only, Moon landing?”
I’m a little confused, can you clarify what that post meant? I need things to be spelt out for me as my grasp of the english language in tenuous despite it being my first language.
July 21st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Heh, in your smack-riddled dreams, phool. I know you’d love to be a slave to the Chinese dragon (which is basically what NZ foreign policy has been post-Lange) but there are quite a few who do not, and who appreciate American power and protection in the Pacific (quelle horreur!).
July 21st, 2009 at 7:00 pm
yeah hurf..and they will rush down to protect us..eh..?
you are young..
..aren’t you..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 7:02 pm
btw hurf..i think it was about 1984..
(around about when you were born..eh..?..)
..that i last used smack..
so you can stop ‘getting off’ on that..
…eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 7:07 pm
“and they will rush down to protect us..eh..?”
No. I wouldn’t expect them to. Not since the ANZUS betrayal, anyway (Thanks again Lange!). But then, they won’t swallow our resources and government whole in their quest for power and control, like they’re doing in Australia and Africa.
July 21st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
All i can remember about the Berlin wall coming down was my mum forced me to wear a florescent tracksuit outfit, repressed memory’s should stay repressed =(
July 21st, 2009 at 7:37 pm
you are a tad scattered/confused/disjointed..in yr thinking there hurf..
..i might just leave you to it..i think..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 21st, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Not particularly.
Lange screwed over Australia and the US with his anti-nuke ludditry. China is buying up African resources like it was going out of fashion, and Krudd is a well-known Sinoboo who wants Chicom meat in his mouth. Won’t be too long until SNOOC is exploring the Taranaki fields and shipping in Pacific Islanders to work in near-slave conditions.
July 21st, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Hurf Durf what does Sinoboo mean? Also just because Rudd is a Sinophile doesn’t stop him from acting in what he believes (rightly or wrongly) to be his country’s best interests even if it will annoy China. Example – Australia’s planned military build up
July 21st, 2009 at 8:37 pm
“Compare that to earlier explorers, Everest and North/South Pole pioneers, Columbus, Cook etc – they were going into a much bigger unknown and had to survive by their wits for extended periods of time.”
I think sitting in a tin can on top of a fuel tank with over 3.6 million litres of fuel waiting for someone to light the fuse gets the nod from me.
I remember as an 11 year old being fascinated with the buildup. The facts and figures, explaining angles and velocity and what could happen if they got anything wrong. All done with computers less powerful than a modern day warehouse calculator.
The countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7…….was nerve wracking.
I achieved an ambition when I went to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston and got my pic taken beside the Saturn V replica lying on it’s side. Huge! What blew me away most was looking at the engines – when you see the nuts and bolts (literally) up close and the metres of small bore stainless steel pipe, all put in by hand, you realise this ain’t the Starship Enterprise!
July 21st, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hm i always thought that landing on the moon when a good proportion of the planet struggled to find enough to eat was immoral at best.
However i will concede If they did find enough to eat at least they could have cooked it in nonstick fry-pans
July 21st, 2009 at 11:49 pm
Starvation is not the problem. It’s a solution. Over population is the problem. Space travel offers a nicer solution.
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Why would we want to put men on mars? Waste of billions of dollars that could be spent on the poor. or a whole host of things.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:17 am
Very origional Chris, repeat the whinge of the small minded like it has meaning.
There is a list of benefits and advances from the manned space program. It comes in BOOK form. NASA is also one the best investments available returning $7 worth of research results for each dollar invested. There’s a lot of people who are a. alive b. have a much higher quality of life because of manned space program.
Make at least the slightest effort to get a hint of what you’re talking about first. Either that or enjoy the gloom in the back of your cave since you seem to prefer it.