THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Twenty-five years ago, July 20, 1969, only 66 years after the Wright brothers made the first powered flight, the first man set foot on the moon. That historic accomplishment was the culmination of the efforts of a few brave and great men, and many more ordinary ones, who set their sights on a goal only thought possible in poetry or science fiction.
``In the long evolution of the human race up from the primeval ooze, no more significant step has ever been taken than yesterday's when man the worldling truly became but `little lower than the angels' and first set foot upon another planet,'' The New York Times editorialized the day after the landing.
There were some dissenting voices at the time. ``They have stolen the romance out of the moon and it will never be the same again. Now the moon is real and lovers won't have it for themselves anymore,'' a Yugoslav youth lamented. The more practical-minded complained about the cost.
Overwhelmingly, however, the mood was one of triumph and achievement. The landing and safe return of Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins was the culmination of the ``space race'' that had begun 12 years earlier with the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union. In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy set as the goal of the American space program the landing of a man on the moon before ``this decade is out.'' Apollo 11 kept the promise with five months to spare.
The feeling that mankind was on the threshold of a new era was widespread. ``The ancient promise of Apollo moves nearer to fulfillment as we approach the day when knowledge and its application will have dispelled forever hunger, ignorance, disease, and perhaps, even war,'' George E. Mueller wrote in The New York Times.
The promise of space, however, was oversold at the time. Some byproducts did come into everyday use, such as Velcro and Teflon, but not miraculous cures for world problems. The public lost interest in manned space flight remarkably quickly following the first moon landing. Recently, Congress only barely reauthorized the proposed space station. The space shuttle's flight this week has been overshadowed by unmanned news from space, the comet impacts on Jupiter.
Just as the Soviet space program did not prove the ``superiority'' of its political system, the success of the moon landing by itself could not make space commercially viable. It is clear now that space will have to pay its own way. In past explorations of unknown territory, it was the trading ships and commercial vessels that opened up territory to the scientists. NASA, however, continues to push private industry into a peripheral role.
If a determined effort is made to open space to precision manufacturing or other private uses, perhaps interest in the uses of space will revive. In the meantime, however, we have the glorious technical and human achievement that was Apollo 11. To all who made it possible, we salute you. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Apollo ll Astronaut Edwin E. ``Buzz'' Aldrin on the moon.
by CNB