September 23, 2005

MOON

Last night my husband and I watched the final episode of From the Earth to the Moon. I must say that after this week's revelation that we might return to the moon, I watched this episode completely differently than I did nine months ago. The finality of it all really hit me the first time I watched it: Cernan would be the last man on the moon for forever, we'll never have another chance to leave hammers, rovers, or golf balls up there again, we've lost the gumption that got us to the moon in under a decade. But this time around I had hope, hope that we'd be back again.

When it ended, my husband turned to me and said, "I wanna go to the moon." I do too, I said.

I was saddened to read much negative commentary online about returning to the moon. I know it costs money and time, but I just want to go back. And to imagine a staging point for a future trip to Mars...well, that's just beyond my comprehension.

Hope is a wonderful feeling.

Posted by Sarah at September 23, 2005 09:26 AM | TrackBack
Comments

I know a Chinaman that'll pay for all the Mars trips and hurricanes and wars that we wanna have. Won't coss us nothin. It'll be cool.

Posted by: bigbob at September 23, 2005 10:33 PM

Hi Sarah,
I too wanted to be an astronaught when I was young. As an engineer, I've designed some part that left the planet. I did turn down a NASA job and I have to disagree with you. We don't need to go back to the moon just yet.

Knowing that we can go there is one thing. Knowing that the time is right so we should go, is another conclusion entirely.

Sarah, we can do a lot with 140 billion dollars, and going to the moon is not at the top of my list.

My small disagreement about going to the moon does not diminish my appreciation of you and your husband. Thank you for all you give to this country.

Posted by: Rob Morse at September 24, 2005 06:17 AM

It's no problem, Rob. I know it may not be the most practical thing to work on right now, but I'm afraid that if we never commit ourselves, we're never going back...

Posted by: Sarah at September 24, 2005 07:16 AM

Rob: I admire your maturity of expression. And I'm not kidding.

Posted by: bigbob at September 25, 2005 02:53 AM