Coincidentally, possibly, yesterday was also the 20th anniversary of Viking 1 landing on Mars.
Tom C. >From: "frank theriault" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <pdml@pdml.net> >To: "Pentax-Discuss Mail List" <pdml@pdml.net> >Subject: Re: OT: 37 Year Anniversary of Apollo 11 Moon Landing >Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:58:01 -0400 > >On 7/21/06, Doug Franklin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > P. J. Alling wrote: > > > When, JFK announced the program to send a man to the moon and return >him > > > safely in 10 years, it happened. Not long ago NASA was asked how long > > > it would take to return to the moon. The reply was 20 years. Makes >you > > > wonder what's happened to NASA. Well no not really. If we gave the > > > current space budget to Burt Rutan. We'd probably have space colonies > > > with scheduled commercial flights in 10 years. > > > > >From my jaundiced view, the difference is that the entire nation isn't > > "behind" that sort of effort now. They're too busy getting their > > half-caf decaf mocha chino bullshit. > >Let's not forget, we (The West, including Canada) were in a cold war >against the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union. Getting to the moon >first was an important propaganda tool; it proved that Truth, Justice >and the American Way would prevail. America was stung badly by early >Soviet space successes: first Sputnik then Gagarin. Those Russian >coups were, I believe, the impetus behind JFK's pronouncement about >getting a man to the moon and back by the end of the decade. Of >course, his assassination only served to inspire the nation to make >his promise good. > >The other thing to consider is that there was a military component to >the space race. The fear was that if the evil Russians got to the >moon first, they'd militarize it. If the Americans didn't get there >first, no telling what those filthy commies would do with the moon. >It certainly is no co-incidence that the space programme was largely a >military effort... > >cheers, >frank >-- >"Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson > >-- >PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >PDML@pdml.net >http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
