50 years ago to the minute, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module "Eagle" landed on the surface of the moon. Aboard her rode astronauts "Buzz" Edwin Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, while astronaut Michael Collins watched from 60 miles above.
The three embarked on their journey on July 16th, 1969 - mere months before the late President John F. Kennedy's deadline to "put a man on the moon by the end of the decade." Aboard the Saturn V rocket they climbed first into orbit, along the same path blazed by Yuri Gagarin, Alan Sheppard, John Glenn and the pioneers who first left the clutches of the atmosphere. They screamed at 16,000 miles per hour over the pale blue dot on which all human experience lies. Lighting their engines a third time, they set sail for the moon and began the journey which would cement them in history. We know their story, and we tout this day as mankind's greatest achievement - the day when Mother Earth sent her own children to grace a foreign world. It took over half a million men working tirelessly to build the Saturn V that would carry these three to the moon. Many millions more built the rockets that had preceded it and paved the way for that "small step". Dozens died in the pursuit of space flight, as would dozens more in the 50 years since we first trod on lunar soil. So what is the ultimate message to take away from today? I believe it's a simple one; What has been deemed foolish, has always yet been done. The victories we see as impossible, will regardless, still be won. What Apollo told the world, as they soared through the sky, Was a message to and from all men, "We can do it if we try."
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AuthorMy name is James Falcon Doss. I'm a member of Severn School's class of 2020 and have a passion for all forms of engineering. Archives
May 2020
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