Forty years since we humans walked on the Moon - on July 20, 1969.
I
was thrilled at the time, and still am, but I already could tell then
that it would be a long time before our species got much farther. Lots
of people, even back then, didn't seem to care all that much about this
extraordinary accomplishment - the most extraordinary, in many ways, in
our history.
Some said, back then, that it was the Vietnam War -
that it soured many people on anything connected with the military. But
it was more than that. I think there are some people, many people, who
just didn't and still don't see the big deal about getting off this
planet and out into space.
For me, it's always seemed crystal
and pressingly clear. And the reason is not just scientific, or
economic, though they play a part.
But the main reason is simply
this: we'll never know truly who we are from our vantage point down on
this planet. We live on a planet that is part of an immensely larger
universe. And until see some more of that, first hand, we'll be lacking
a crucial piece of our self-awareness and discovery. To borrow from
Socrates, we'll never be able to truly know ourselves from just on this
planet.
And once, against all odds, we did make it off this
planet, and more than once. But we followed up with missions, which
though heroic and valuable, have not really pushed the human envelope
beyond the Moon.
Where will we be 40 years from now?
I hope further than where we were 40 years ago, and where we still are today.
5-min podcast about the Moon