July 18, 2019
In a few days from now, it will be the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 11 landing men on the moon. While technology has advanced rapidly since then, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of this event. We have become desensitized to new advances in technology as they occur almost every day and we can even own them. Our science has provided us with new smart devices and we have come to not only accept it but to expect it.
I remember the landing fifty years ago. It was huge and everyone seemed glued to the television set to watch it happen. Try to place yourself back then. Color television was just coming into its own. Phones were wired and long-distance calls were extremely expensive and very infrequent. There were only a few television channels. The first personal computer, the TRS 80, would not be introduced for a few years. We had no calculators and knew little about technology.
Landing on the moon, given that background, was truly an astounding feat and almost hard to believe. Almost everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step down on to the surface of the moon. It was as if science fiction came to life.
Being able to land on the moon with the limited technology of the day shows what determination, commitment, and intelligence can achieve. This is a lesson for us all.
