The Apollo missions

Last July we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first person on the moon. Recently we passed the same milestone of the safe return of the Apollo 13 crew to Earth after an explosion on board the spacecraft that could have easily killed all three astronauts.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned more about the political and cultural context in the U.S. and the rest of the world that surrounded these events in the late 1960’s. Protests regarding the civil rights movement and Vietnam were rampant, and some thought our energies should have been spent on issues closer to home. If this could have made the situation back here on Earth better sooner, we’ll never know for sure. The events going on in other parts of the world, particularly the Soviet Union, were largely responsible for the amount of resources devoted to taking on the challenge of space travel and eventually in landing on the moon. Perhaps it would have been a sweeter journey had it been undertaken for pure knowledge or exploration of the unknown only, as opposed to the threat of spreading communism or fear of how being one-upped by the Soviets might look. Actions of this scale for purely altruistic reasons are hard to come by, but does that mean they shouldn’t be undertaken at all? In the final analysis I believe the magnitude of our achievements overshadows both the justifications behind and the amount of resources expended at the time making it happen.

The Apollo missions, and the sacrifices made by all involved, should serve as reminders that we have the ability to inspire greatness and to conquer seemingly impossible feats, both as a nation and as a people. Human ingenuity and determination are the actual limiting factors, so long as we keep our eyes on the prize and don’t get in our own way.