Posted 7/20/2004 05:28:00 PM by Douglas

July 20, 1969. For some, it's just another day. For Marilu Henner, it's the day she lost her virginity (it's true, google it yourself). But to most Americans, it's the day that mankind set foot on another planet.

"That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind," said Armstrong.

The words were seared into the memories of the 600 million some people -- about 1/5 of our planet's population -- who watched the broadcast transmitted from the lunar surface.

"For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, the people of this Earth are truly one," said President Richard Nixon.

Then the world said "hey, that was pretty cool. . .now what?" A question we're still trying to answer today. Twenty years in Low-Earth Orbit and the first president with an agenda for NASA refers to Astronauts as "spatial entrepreneurs." A spaceship without a rudder.

But it's not too late for some conspiracy theorists, is it? I won't link to the guys in the tin-foil hats that think we faked it, but if you're looking for some interesting reading about how we didn't fake it, this site's got all you need to know. Also, check out badastronomy.com for some good de-bunking of a bad Fox program. And just in case you wondered why we can't see Astronaut trash from our fancy telescopes, here comes the science.

But I don't think the big picture here is if we went or even why. This story raises some really good questions, about the last "moondoggle" and the prospects of yet another one.

Advocates of new space visions and strategies, including a variety of proposals for a human return to the moon, seem to be still stuck on all the pseudo-motivations of Apollo. We will satisfy our curiosity (“science”), or our greed (“resources”), or our geekiness (“new gadgets”). While all of those things — and more — doubtlessly would follow such a project, they are no more capable of mustering political support for it now than they were for Apollo forty years ago.

Well that's how they're going to try to "sell" it, isn't it? Gadgets or science, both of which are a loss leader when it comes to the third part of that equation: resources.

So, in fear of the outside unknown universe (the “cost of not knowing”), and in fear of our own inner demons (the “cost of not distracting them”), and in a history-based confidence that all the secondary benefits stand a good chance of also being satisfied, the case for returning to the moon can be confidently argued.

And maybe someday, just maybe, when televised images of footsteps in moondust again are displayed to earthlings, it will be in time for some men who have already been there to see. And maybe it will be in time for all of us, too.

That's the cost, isn't it? Sometimes it costs more not to go than it does to totally scrap the program. The day we stop reaching for the unatainable and unimaginable is the day we never see another headline like this one.