Armstrong & Aldrin(but who took the photo?)
The 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon is one of the most historic events in United States history. Apollo 11's landing is even more remarkable when you consider the Wright brothers first took flight in 1903.
In a span of 66 years we went from Kitty Hawk to Cape Canaveral to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin sipping Tang on the moon!
The anniversary makes me think of all the amazing achievements of the last century and the early part of the this one. I wonder, how does landing a man on the moon compare to the historic election of Barack Obama as the first African-American U.S President?
After all, the Supreme Court didn't make segregation illegal until its 1954 decision in Brown vs. Board of Education. Less than six decades after the ruling, Obama wins the 2008 election for our nation's highest office.
Think about it, which feat is more remarkable? It's science vs. social behavior, a space race vs. the human race, a moon walk vs. a walk through civil rights.
Obama, 44th U.S. PresidentI've asked my respected elders for their assessment, and have heard compelling arguments for both sides. Some say changing a mindset that goes back to slavery and the civil war is more remarkable than advances in technology which can be quantified and built upon with tangible results.
The flip side is that science is a mysterious unknown that requires patience through trial and error and that lab work is more remarkable than a human being changing behavior through thoughts and reason.
I've always said my grandparents lived through one of the most incredible times in U.S. history. This country was still using the horse and buggy as the preferred choice of short transportation until 1915. 54 years later it was glued to a grainy black and white picture beamed back from space.
For my parents, their 54 year span takes them from the Supreme Court ruling to Obama's platform of change, keeping in mind MLK was assassinated in 1968 and race riots continued into the late 70s.
Depending on my mood and the day, I go back and forth and truly straddle the fence I propose!
Check out these links from Wikipedia on the civil rights timeline and the history of aviation, and you'll get more depth and background on two remarkable feats that are worth discussing.
Bottom line, you can't argue with gravity and you can't predict when ideologies will change.
2 comments:
Very good, short and sweet too.
Gorilla,
I say man on the moon is the more remarkable accomplisment. It took more work and courage to leave the planet than a man to win/buy an election with a creative campaign.
I recently watched a Walter Cronkite special and he was asked what was the biggest story he ever covered... man on the moon or the Kennedy assination and I was surprised that he said it was man on the moon.
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