I was four and a half years old when that first moon landing took place. I remember watching it on our old black and white television set. I was far too young to understand what it was or appreciate the importance of the event. I remember being told to play quietly that Monday. Every adult in the house was glued to the BBC News that evening, as film recorded during the early hours was replayed continually. I remember a blurred image of a man in white hopping across the Lunar landscape in a later live broadcast and the awed silence that it inspired. I was but a child, yet I saw and I remember.
Within a year or two many toys had a space theme. I had a spacesuit by the time I was six and a sort of indoor tent affair in the shape of a Gemini capsule. This would be erected in the living room or the garden, depending on the weather. I would then bravely spacewalk in costume, from room to room. Sometimes I would explore the garden for the rare and exotic alien plant life.
Television shows increasingly incorporated a space theme as time passed and obviously more toys did the same, as they reflected the television shows of the time. We had alien play sets and ray guns, action figures and story books. The influence of the event; that magnificent human achievement, touched our lives in a million different ways. The event was historic and it changed the world.
Today more than fifty years after this great, wonderful and courageous happening, we have people denying that it ever took place. Truly the intellectual capacity of humanity must have regressed, for people to now believe that the world is flat and that the moon-landings were hoaxed. Why do people believe such foolishness? What has caused people to turn away from a proven, documented event? That question is not one I can answer. I am at a loss, as I often am when looking at the strange and bewildering world around me now.
Throughout our history, from what we call romantically the 'very dawn of time' there have been discoveries, innovations and developments that have had a far reaching significance. The development of agriculture, the invention of the wheel, writing, and music, the domestication of certain animals and the discovery of weaving. These are just a few examples of mankind's steps towards civilisation as we know it. What the great Professor Jacob Bronowski would have called 'the Ascent of Man.' We could add the steam engine, electricity and the computer, there are many more. Innovations, discoveries and inventions often linked or building upon some earlier development, have brought about some new creation.
There have been instances in our history, when a visionary has had the idea of some new invention but their aims have been stymied by the lack of available technology or resources. The genius that was Leonardo da Vinci being one such man. At other times an innovator has been able to set themselves a goal and realising that the technology is not available, has set about the development of the necessary technology. Flight, healthcare, the telephone, the bouncing bomb and space exploration, are amongst the potential examples of this category of development.
When the USA and the then USSR set about the exploration of space, the technology did not exist. It did not come into being overnight or in some 'light bulb' moment of revelation. A goal was set and the technology was then sought, developed and in the process of doing so, new discoveries were obviously made. This is one of the reasons that our reaching the Moon is such an outstanding achievement. It was not the step by step innovation of ideas, building upon what was known to lead to a new discovery. Rather it was the other way around. The goal was set and then the question was asked, how?
How can we do it? What do we need? These were the questions that faced the USA, in setting itself the goal of going to the Moon as envisioned by President Kennedy. The aim was set and by hard work over several years that goal was eventually achieved. Three courageous men, Neil Armstrong, Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Michael Collins undertook a mission that was not without risk, to raise the standards of human achievement. Two walked upon the Lunar surface, while Collins had the responsibility of piloting the orbiter and monitoring the mission. Sadly history neglects his importance because he did not walk upon the Moon, yet his role in the success of the mission was vital.
To achieve such goals and developments in scientific advancement, it is necessary to study and to research. Those that deny that we ever went to the Moon or that spaceflight is possible, will tell us that they do their own research. A form of independent research that exists outside of the official channels. These official channels, all of whom are part of a great conspiracy to hide the truth; cannot be trusted. So it is claimed. I am unsure what this great secret truth that is hidden from us may be, I am as yet not part of the Illuminati and therefore, I am not yet privy to such information.
This independent research consists of the regurgitation of poorly reviewed and misunderstood papers, web-links and YouTube videos that due to their inaccuracies, have an almost comedic element. The mistakes, misconceptions and lies have been disproven time and again. Yet the conspiracies, the foolishness and downright stupidity exists. It won't go away.
We could of course ignore it all and that is possibly the best approach. Yet what matters outside of the obvious spreading of misinformation, is how these so called conspiracy theories appear to represent a disturbing subculture of society. They are all part of a now fashionable denial of reality. Whether it is spaceflight, chem-trails, the Flat Earth, anti-vaccinations, anti-Evolution or simply a misunderstanding of what the word theory actually means. They are a select club of 'special' people, wanting to be different by being all the same. They are the real snowflakes of our world.
Even more importantly however, is that their denial of reality, devalues the great achievements of our species and our civilisation. The men and woman who strive to push the boundaries of cultural, scientific and artistic progress should be celebrated. The courage of the men and woman that undertake space exploration, should not be questioned. Yet instead we witness a growing anti-intellectualism that is damaging our society. From the 'Ascent of Man' we are degenerating and we can now witness the descent of human intelligence.
The first successful manned
mission to land upon the Lunar surface, represents the unified pinnacle of
scientific achievement and human endeavour. It is still some fifty years later,
our great accomplishment and an outstanding example of the human spirit forever
triumphant. It deserves to be celebrated.
The Toxic Internet & Intolerance
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/the-toxic-internet-intolerance/
The Toxic Internet & Misinformation
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/02/08/the-toxic-internet-misinformation/
TOXIC INTERNET: SOCIAL MEDIA & THE SEEDS OF
DIVISION
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/12/10/social-media-the-seeds-of-division/
Young Earth Creationism and the Televangelist Movement
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2020/06/30/young-earth-creationism-and-the-televangelist-movement/
American Christianity & Politics
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/01/13/american-christianity-politics/
TWENTY – TWENTY VISION – A YEAR IN REVIEW
https://chatteringmagpie.wordpress.com/2021/01/10/twenty-twenty-vision-a-year-in-review/
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