LET’S SAY IT ALL STARTED WITH THE MOONWALK

LET’S SAY IT ALL STARTED WITH THE MOONWALK

On Saturday, August 25,2012 while we were all enjoying the remains of a memorable summer, a family in a Cincannati, Ohio wasn’t. The man who took a small step on an often fantasized as cheesy surface which did result in being a “giant leap for mankind” died. Neil Armstrong, not the cyclist or the jazz player, passed away at 82.

A month and 5 days prior, summer 1969,500 million people watched the same event at the same time worldwide. They watched Apollo 11 landing with its three-crew members Aldrin, Collins and Armstrong. At 2:56 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) when Armstrong’s left foot touched the moon that was a moment to remember. Man is on the moon. L’homme est sur la Lune. 人在月球上 .El hombre esta en la Luna.Mann ist auf dem Mond. الرجل هو على سطح القمر.

That moment showed that we are all earthlings.

That moment of complete unison regardless of the differences we try so hard to maintain showed that we are one people. It called for a change of mentality.

Yes we often think of the earth as our home, and in recent years we have taken up the goal to ‘save it’. But don’t we also consider ourselves citizens of a country, part of a nation instead of part of a single world? We must share a soul purpose.

Our cultural differences must be conserved, others perhaps not.

However, what else can bring us together than the exploration of this unimaginable thing we call Space? And it does. There is an international space station, where scientist from across the globe are shipped through Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency .The Program brings together space agencies from Russia, the US, Europe, Japan and Canada. They operate the station in unity.

On August 5,which was Armstrong’s last birthday, Curiosity, the Mars Rover, landed after the so-called “seven minutes of terror” (From the time Curiosity touches the top of the Martian atmosphere to the time it lands).

Curiosity will spend 2 years on Mars; so far it has crossed the equivalent of a football field. The aim of its work is "to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms," NASA said. Who knows what we will find but the myth of the little green aliens that drive around in saucepans is over. We are now looking for a proof that life may have existed on the red planet. But there is so little we know and so much to be discovered! Apollo 11,which could be considered as America’s winning strike against the Russian Sputnik during the Cold War gave us, earthlings, a new vision.

A vision, or more so a realization, to be treasured.

The one that we are so small, not even a pickle in a jar.

As an astronaut once said “I realized that little blue dot was the Earth. I lifted my thumb and hid the Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant, but very, very small.”

Hopefully this will bring us together and by the time we are older maybe we will discover or be discovered by other life forms. Our universe is huge it is impossible that we are the only ones out there, but will we ever explore it all? Who knows if we aren’t figments of our imagination or controlled by some supreme being…none can provide an exact answer and what goes beyond our sight, remains forever beautifully enclosed in a never-ending mystery. At least for the moment.

Next time you step outside on a starry night, and spot the moon, do what Armstrong’s family asked. Look at the moon and think of him.

Victoria TAITTINGER

Space Read: “ The Hitchhikers’ guide to the Galaxy “ By Douglas Adams