Happy 40th Neil and Buzz!

As most of you know today marks the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon for the very first time. It's an event that still gives me goose bumps...and I wasn't even alive to be a part of it. I firmly believe it's the greatest feat ever achieved by any country or man.
These days I hear NASA talk about new missions to go to the moon (by 2020) but I highly doubt it will actually happen. In my lifetime I'd love to see what my parents did back in 1969...a person on live TV walking on a celestial body. But I hear skepticism coming from Washington about any future manned NASA missions to the moon, and I fear that I may never see it happen. I would love to see a manned mission to Mars someday as well...but I don't see how that's going to be possible without somebody first going to the moon. And if we can't even commit to going to the moon, then what business do we have even thinking about going to Mars.
I believe the only way we'll ever return to the moon and/or Mars is by way of private enterprise. My hope is someday a small company or start-up somewhere will come up with a cheaper and more efficient way to reach the stars. I think relying on the federal government to do it is pretty much a pipedream at this point. That is unless China succeeds in their mission to reach the moon. If that happens then we might have ourselves an old fashioned space race once again.

I wrote about this film a while ago, but I'll talk about it again. If you are interested in the Apollo missions, and the astronauts who walked on the moon...I can't recommend enough IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON. It's one of the best and most moving documentaries I've ever seen.

Also...here's something that's very cool. Many of you have heard of Google Earth I'm sure. Well...the latest version (download here) allows you to not only navigate the Earth, but the Moon and Mars as well. There's a pull-down menu at the top that allows you to explore other mapped planets. I spent about an hour today flying over the moon looking at all the U.S. landing sites...and I analyzed the entire Sea Of Tranquility and the Apollo 11 landing site. Pretty cool.

There was a time (in my conspiracy theory days) when I did indeed question whether or not we actually set foot on the moon. But over time I of course came to believe we did. However, back when I questioned the fact...well...I'm glad I never asked Buzz Aldrin about it.