Rant #2,412: Moonflight

Once the Columbia came down from the heavens and the first moon mission ended, the hype was still there, at least for a little while.

Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were feted on earth as conquering heroes, had various parades where they were the honorees, and moon fever was still a positive malady that we seemingly all had, worldwide.

I was listening to Tommy James' "Gettin' Together" show on Sirius Satellite Radio yesterday, and James recalled that period of time from his perspective.

He said that he and his band were slated to play a concert the evening that the moon walk was slated to be held, and he admitted that the fever had struck he and the Shondells, and they rushed through their set so that they would be able to watch the walk like everyone else in the world would be doing.

They finished the show, rushed back to their hotel rooms, but alas, Armstrong had already set his feet on the moon surface, but at least they were able to see Buzz Aldrin make his walk.

James declared that the walk was "our defining moment" as human beings for anyone that was around to see it, and he is right; I cannot think of another such moment that galvanized not only our country, but just about every other country on the face of the earth, like this one did.

We have not seen anything like it since, and probably never will ever again.

After everything had died down, Armstrong became a professor, and although he had the most advantageous position to cash in on being the first human being to walk on the moon, he simply never did.

He died on August 25, 2012, right after celebrating his 82nd birthday.

Buzz Aldrin stood out as the most prominent member of the crew during the past decades, mainly for his admittance of mental health issues. Edwin Aldrin has also battled alcoholism.

He celebrated his 89th birthday in January of this year, continues to battle his demons, and is winning the fight. He remains a staunch supporter of manned moonflight, in particular, to Mars.

Michael Collins, the least celebrated of the trio but the man who probably had the most difficult job of the threesome--he was alone in the Columbia during the moon walk and had to position his craft just right to re-dock with the Eagle--has been employed by a number of aerospace firms over the decades since the moonflight.

He celebrates his own 89th birthday in October, and like Armstrong, he kept a very low profile after the mission.

As for me, the mission still fascinates me, the pursuit of landing men on the moon continues to intrigue me, and I hope we can do it again in my lifetime.

My fascination began at an early age--certainly by reading comic books--and it continued to grow as my uncle, an engineer based in California, was one of the engineers for the Gemini program, the initiative that came directly before the Apollo program.

He would send us lots of things related to Gemini, and I wish we still had them.

But couple that with a young boy's world of wonder, and you had someone who was firmly ensconced in the moon program and what I believed to be the eventual Mars program.

It didn't happen like many of us thought it would, but there is increased interest in not only going back to the moon, but also, jumping off the moon to Mars.

I am hoping that within the next several years we can do that.

And when we do, I will be sitting at my TV, just like I did 50 years ago, and I will be watching with the same keen interest that I had way back when.

What a thrill it was back then, and I guarantee, what a thrill it will be now, to see such a mission come to be.

We can dream, can't we?