please empty your brain below
We’re ahead of the xkcd lunar actuarial tables, but only by 1.

Tom | Homepage | 14.12.22 - 7:55 a.m. | #

Better that money is spent on rescuing our own planet from the disaster we've created before we go on to ruin other bodies in space. The moon sits in the sky. We see it often on the horizon and high in the sky. Let's leave at that. Not our business.

Andrew | Homepage | 14.12.22 - 8:33 a.m. | #

I think the episode of The Clangers where the spacemen visited made more of an impression on me than the actual landings.

Froglet | 14.12.22 - 8:38 a.m. | #

Presumably there to catch people out, but it's a myth that non-stick Teflon pans were a result of the Apollo space programme :-).

Trevor Smith | 14.12.22 - 8:43 a.m. | #

Distance and the speed of light barrier will protect the galaxy from the extra-terrestrial depredations of the self-regarding ape.

William | 14.12.22 - 8:52 a.m. | #

Still mankind's greatest achievement to date in my mind.

Pretty sure I am preaching to the converted here, but if you have yet to see it, Tom Hanks' series 'From The Earth To The Moon' covers this subject (the Apollo landings beyond just 11) superbly and is highly recommended.

Will | 14.12.22 - 9:16 a.m. | #

The book 'Moondust' is also a great read, following up with astronauts after they walked on the Moon. They've taken very different paths in life afterwards - which in itself is interesting, because by and large they came from very similar places to get to NASA. The common theme is that the experience was utterly transformational, and that looking back on the Earth from space in person rewired a part of each of their brains. A secular miracle, in a way.

Ben | 14.12.22 - 9:19 a.m. | #

I think the building of Lincoln Cathedral just squeaks past the Apollo programme in the achievement stakes, given the technologies available at the time. Ok, the spire collapsed at one point, but Apollo 13's voyage was not an unmitigated success either.

cau1khead | 14.12.22 - 9:21 a.m. | #

The Apollo period also features brightly in my memory as a time of huge excitement, optimism and great possibility. Viewed from now, it was possibly because we were youngsters, with too little life experience to notice the racism, misogyny and exploitation that existed all around us.

Frank F | 14.12.22 - 9:52 a.m. | #

The ten manned Gemini missions in 1965 and 1966 were an integral part of the Apollo programme, gaining experience in techniques such as week-long endurance in weightless conditions, Extra Vehicular Activity, rendezvous in orbit, docking, and an emergency landing (unplanned).

(Lincoln Cathedral's spire stayed up for 240 years (1311 to 1549) - it might have lasted longer had the Reformation not reduced the maintenance budget for such fripperies.

Timbo | 14.12.22 - 10:08 a.m. | #

Andrew's comment above beat me to it.
I'd rather see money being spent to save the planet we live and depend on.
When we are at a point where mankind doesn't exploit or destroy everything it touches, THEN might further space exploration be considered.

Cornish Cockney | 14.12.22 - 12:49 p.m. | #

As a species I'd like to think we could accomplish more than one thing at once. Managing not to destroy our homeworld isn't much of a brag.

Entertained | 14.12.22 - 1:05 p.m. | #

Most computers back then were substantially larger than wardrobes. I visited Houston Space Center in around 1980 and there were rows and rows of grey wardrobes, made I think by Univac.

Peter | 14.12.22 - 2:06 p.m. | #

I read once that your mobile phone has more computing power than ALL of NASA's computers at the time of the moon landing.

Pedantic of Purley | 14.12.22 - 3:25 p.m. | #

Let us not forget the Apollo 1 fire of 27th January 1967. RIP Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee. Every one of them would have probably walked on the moon, and their sacrifice helped it to happen.

Alun | 14.12.22 - 4:09 p.m. | #

But, on a less melancholy note, let's not forget that the names of Schmitt and Cernan and their Apollo comrades live on in the form of small metal plaques embedded in the trunks of the trees on the left-hand side of Kennington Road heading north from Kennington Lane towards the Imperial War Museum.

Matt | Homepage | 14.12.22 - 4:25 p.m. | #

We seemed to be so much more optimistic about all kinds of scientific advances back then, whether it was space travel, nuclear power, or high speed linear induction monorails much admired by the Tomorrows World programme. We also looked forward to an era of increased leisure time and improved living conditions for all. Ah well!

ActonMan | 14.12.22 - 5:33 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy