tous Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 At 20:17 GMT (UTC for the young'uns, 03:17 EST) we heard, "Houston. Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.," Six hours later, we heard and saw Neil Armstrong step off the LEM landing pad and say, "That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind." Well done, lads. What is a damned shame is that the last man, Eugene Cernan, stepped off of the Moon on 14 December 1972. Well done, lads. No one has been back since. It is likely that no human will return to walk on the Moon in my lifetime. I don't care what language is spoken, what god is invoked, what flag is planted. Go back. Then, go further. Make that leap. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dric902 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) The Lunar Immigration Service has rejected Tourist Visas ever since just kidding, those guys were badass. Buzz Aldrin is an excellent example of “tough stuff” if we had kept going with the same gusto...we would have a working base on Mars right now. . Edited July 20, 2019 by Dric902 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadbart Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Tous, you guys thought and dreamed and built that stuff. It's my generation, and those who followed, who let down making a permanent moon base or manned mars exploration. I'm not sure why, but we sure did stop abruptly. Damn shame. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 It was my father's generation that put men on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were born in the 1930s and development of the rockets and capsules began in the 1950s. My generation put the Space Shuttle in the sky and the next generation built the International Space Station. Just give us a mission and the resources, it doesn't have to be half of the danged national budget, just enough to do the job and we'll get us to back to the Moon, to Mars and into the Universe. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 2 hours ago, tadbart said: Tous, you guys thought and dreamed and built that stuff. It's my generation, and those who followed, who let down making a permanent moon base or manned mars exploration. I'm not sure why, but we sure did stop abruptly. Damn shame. I think people were buying into the idea that money should be spent on them directly so they could count their bounty instead of anything that would further their legacy. This was about the time of, "If it feels good, so it" philosophy. It was when selfless turned into selfish. I remember endless news articles about how the money spent for space and human progress, should be spent at home here in the good old USA. It was as if the people complaining believed that the money should be given directly to them, instead of, as they believed, being spewed out into the Solar System. That it was not actually being spent on jobs and technological advancements furthering our species right here at home, in our country. As a result, we gave up potentially great improvements in, science, technology, medicine, and power development. As usual, the most ignorant decided that since they couldn't relate progress to a step increase in their personal fortune, it must be the result of their being ignored. Ignorance has prospered at the expense of greater intelligence. Even the most foolish among us can learn, if they choose to. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) The Great Society programs (Lyndon Johnson's welfare state) have cost an estimated 22 trillion dollars over the last 50 years. There are more people in poverty and living on the dole now then in 1966. Give us 22 trillion dollars and we'd have the danged Enterprise star ship up and running. Edited July 21, 2019 by tous 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 To achieve takes blood, sweat, and tears. To live at the expense of everyone else takes nothing but greed. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) Something we need to keep in mind. In the beginning, the space program was disaster, for both us and the Russians. The Viking and Vanguard programs of the 1950s created more smoking holes in the ground than successful launches. The Mercury program depended on the Redstone rocket, which was developed to carry nuclear warheads, not Alan Shepherd and John Glenn. Many Redstone launches ended as a big kersplosion. Project Gemini was the first to use the Titan rocket, again, it was a modified ICBM. Fewer Titans kersploded because we were were learning. No ICBM had enough lift capability to get the Apollo project into space, thus, the Saturn V three-stage platform. The Apollo 6 launch vehicle stared doing loops (exaggeration) 20 miles high in the sky until it settled down. Apollo 6 was unmanned. If it had had a crew, they would have had some stories to tell about their ride up. All of these programs had failures, some catastrophic, but the primary tenet of engineering is: Form follows failure. The Russians also had their share of kersplosions and smoking holes in the ground, but like the US, their engineers fixed what was wrong and waited for the next thing to break. Neither side ever considered giving up. Engineers don't surrender, they attack. Edited July 21, 2019 by tous 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 My grandmother once told me, "I went from horse-and-buggies, to a man on the moon! I wonder what you will see." Facebook. 1984. TMZ. We wrecked it. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 Ham the Space Chimp. The Russians sent a dog named Laika. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I don't remember which museum I was at, but I crawled into the command module (the part they fished out of the ocean). Holy moly. A sardine can. With three guys going, "****, ****, ****, ****, ****, ****......!" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tous Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 Try a Mercury capsule. We had one at McDonnell Douglas -- they were primary contractor for the thing. The Apollo capsule was huge in comparison. Those were men of great character and courage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 We once put a hamster into not-so-far orbit with the "Big Bertha" Estes rocket. Three D engines, I think. You could hear it for another full minute after you lost sight of it. We got the hamster back. He seemed OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 We once did a toad in the "Egg Crate". Too many G's. You can't come back from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huaco Kid Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Only mammals can handle space travel. Amphibians are a little too squishy inside. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadbart Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 16 hours ago, janice6 said: I think people were buying into the idea that money should be spent on them directly so they could count their bounty instead of anything that would further their legacy. This was about the time of, "If it feels good, so it" philosophy. It was when selfless turned into selfish. I remember endless news articles about how the money spent for space and human progress, should be spent at home here in the good old USA. It was as if the people complaining believed that the money should be given directly to them, instead of, as they believed, being spewed out into the Solar System. That it was not actually being spent on jobs and technological advancements furthering our species right here at home, in our country. As a result, we gave up potentially great improvements in, science, technology, medicine, and power development. As usual, the most ignorant decided that since they couldn't relate progress to a step increase in their personal fortune, it must be the result of their being ignored. Ignorance has prospered at the expense of greater intelligence. Even the most foolish among us can learn, if they choose to. Sir, you have decades of experience on me, but your post rings true to my heart. Along the line, we dropped the ball. Someone kicked it along to the next generations, and some of us hold the flame for the betterment of our species. Sure does seem like we let you guys and your monumental efforts down, though. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice6 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 2 minutes ago, tadbart said: Sir, you have decades of experience on me, but your post rings true to my heart. Along the line, we dropped the ball. Someone kicked it along to the next generations, and some of us hold the flame for the betterment of our species. Sure does seem like we let you guys and your monumental efforts down, though. I don't blame the people that care, but the people that don't care. I find that if you believe in self determination and self reliance, you don't fall into that bad category. Most that see the need to stay free haven't sold out, it's those that are willing to give up their freedom and future for some coin from the government. I haven't read of any people on this forum that I feel have fallen down on humanity. To appreciate freedom is to appreciate expanding your vision and humanity's horizons. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadbart Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 13 hours ago, Huaco Kid said: My grandmother once told me, "I went from horse-and-buggies, to a man on the moon! I wonder what you will see." Facebook. 1984. TMZ. We wrecked it. Dude. I see Charlton Heston on the beach, looking at Lady Liberty. Damn. Great post. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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