tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post4401712255243287846..comments2023-09-15T02:40:58.916-07:00Comments on Move Along. Nothing To See Here.: The Man Who Never Came DownFlintharthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-24486187167566763162012-08-26T13:03:12.822-07:002012-08-26T13:03:12.822-07:00The Disney Corporation has a lot to answer for. Bu...The Disney Corporation has a lot to answer for. But that is a serious digression.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-86491255359513090082012-08-26T01:47:46.208-07:002012-08-26T01:47:46.208-07:00I think Mickey and Goofy may disagree with you...I think Mickey and Goofy may disagree with you...Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-20838620974893941502012-08-25T23:25:17.955-07:002012-08-25T23:25:17.955-07:00PNB, I said as much about Pluto to my four year ol...PNB, I said as much about Pluto to my four year old yesterday when we were looking at his kiddie encyclopedia. <br /><br />Pluto is still a fucking planet in this house.<br /><br />melbohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14032793912135092967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-60208814905830153292012-08-25T23:10:22.587-07:002012-08-25T23:10:22.587-07:00Fuck Degrasse Tyson. Pluto is a planet. That's...Fuck Degrasse Tyson. Pluto is a planet. That's my view and I am sticking to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-88338173509147270672012-08-25T23:03:27.954-07:002012-08-25T23:03:27.954-07:00Wonderful piece on Neil Armstrong. And better than...Wonderful piece on Neil Armstrong. And better than NBC news achieved with its tribute to Neil Young, first man to walk on the moon dies at 82. <br /><br />You are also right that "Neil Armstrong’s name shouldn’t be a household word. Not any more". The astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson (yes the man who deplaneted Pluto) reflected a similar feeling when he looked up at the Saturn V rocket in the Smithsonium. He said it looks hell impressive but it shouldn't. Any other piece of transport that we look at that is 40years old draws comments of quaint, or how did they ever accomplish what they did in such a frail thing. But unfortunately we built it and that was where it peaked. <br /><br />Neil Armstrong will be remembered as the first, just not the first of so few, so far.Michael barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08986102144813296339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-88143954667511999692012-08-25T22:58:55.227-07:002012-08-25T22:58:55.227-07:00Really I can't agree more. When I think of ev...Really I can't agree more. When I think of everything they achieved with what they had available to them at the time, it boggles my mind. They did it because they wanted to beat the rival superpower and they did it because the assassinated President wanted it to be done before the end of the decade. And they made it by six months. <br /><br />It's proof for me that we can do whatever we want to do if the will is there to do it. Somehow along the way, this has been lost. It is more than money ... it is a mindset. <br /><br />The symbolism of it all is quite potent. The moon landing symbolised hope for the future, pride in achievement and a will to succeed. Maybe others will think there have been better examples since but this is the one that sticks out for me. <br /><br />I have a soft spot for Neil - always have - purely because of his very quiet, everyman, unassuming demeanour. He went to the moon and then he went back to his life. I think as you say, he never expected this to be the pinnacle. He thought he was at the beginning of it all.<br /><br />Sorry for rambling. Nice post Mr Flinthart.melbohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14032793912135092967noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-46361704909165325812012-08-25T22:41:10.016-07:002012-08-25T22:41:10.016-07:00You're right. We can't. Yet. But I recall ...You're right. We can't. Yet. But I recall reading something just the other day. Apparently, a single year of military expenditure in the recent Iraq adventure actually accounts for more money than NASA has spent in its entire lifetime.<br /><br />I wonder just how far we could have gone if the money had gone to people like Armstrong, instead of people like Dick Cheney.<br /><br />You're right. Armstrong didn't fail. But I still say that the rest of us failed him, and I think it's time we admit that, and try like hell to do better.Flintharthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17456024642528783549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2485469691062620401.post-82619321452693979772012-08-25T20:43:00.703-07:002012-08-25T20:43:00.703-07:00He stayed on the moon because we cannot get any fa...He stayed on the moon because we cannot get any farther.<br /><br />At least not yet.<br /><br />Armstrong was the quintessential American: not too bright, but courageous enough to take chances, skilled enough to turn risks into victories, and optimistic to a fault - so optimistic he thought, as you point out, that he was part of the beginning, and not the beginning of the end.<br /><br />I was 10 years old in 1969, sitting on a couch with my family, with a tiny shot glass full of really bad champagne - the first I ever tasted - handed to me by my mother, who told me she bought that bottle because what was about to happen was important, and she gave me that glass so I would never forget what I was about to see, because it was important, because it was the first step of many to come, that - who knows? - my children may live on the moon or on mars or beyond.<br /><br />She was wrong, but only via the optimism she shared with Armstrong. No one anticipated how technically difficult it would be to get beyond those footsteps. No one realized that humans cannot survive very long in space. No one really understood how important it is for a planet to have a magnetic field.<br /><br />Armstrong didn't fail. My mother wasn't wrong. The world has been waiting for the need to travel out there to meet the desire to do so. <br /><br />That need is rapidly approaching, and billionaires are plotting on how to exploit resources in the asteroid belt, and their plans are dead serious. The tech is almost there. Almost.<br /><br />It really is just a matter of time.<br /><br />And each time I drink champagne, I remember Neil Armstrong.<br /><br />Ad Astra.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com