This special, Commemorative Issue of ALIVE, celebrating the 50th anniversary of what is arguably one of, if not the most, historic event in human history—the Apollo 11 lunar landing—is only the second one so designated in our fourteen-year history. The first Commemorative was our July 2009 issue celebrating the 40th Anniversary, and it wouldn’t be a longshot guess that the next Commemorative may be the 2029 edition, celebrating the 60th.
With all due respect to Mr. Musk and SpaceX, iPhones, Amazon, streaming videos, and Instagram, to my way of thinking, none of these “miracles” of modern technology and progress hold a candle to what was accomplished on July 20, 1969, when two American astronauts touched down on the surface of the Moon.
Traveling nearly a quarter-million miles over four days, aided by technology with less computing power than a modern cell phone, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins, accomplished something transcendent of scientific advancement and historical exploration; their mission and journey captured the attention of the entire human race. As then President Nixon said to the astronauts as they stood on the lunar surface, “Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man’s world. For one priceless moment in the whole history of man, all the people of this Earth are truly one.”
Since the earliest years of the American space program, I have always been a “space nerd.” I was only six when Alan Shepard became the first American in space (May 1961), but I followed that and every subsequent mission; watching TV, listening to the radio, and clipping articles out of newspapers and magazines.
While interest in the Apollo 11 mission was universal, little did I know at the time that my passion for all things “NASA” would be serendipitously-connected to my then future-wife-to-be, as her family was on the same track, closely following every milestone of space exploration. Soon after we started dating, I learned that Peggy’s older brother, Horton, was likewise devoted to all things “space,” insisting that the entire family follow all the missions, as he compiled an equally impressive collection of space-related paraphernalia.
Fifty years have passed since humans first set foot upon the lunar surface, and it’s been nearly forty-three since Peggy and I were married. Horton Newsom, Ph.D., went on to become a research scientist and is today one of the world’s foremost planetary-science experts, currently working as a team member on the Mars rover missions. While being married to a most incredible woman and being the father of a wonderful son are the pinnacles of my life experience, as far as my interest in space travel is concerned, getting to know Hort has been awesome; having a close connection with him—along with having met and interviewed Buzz Aldrin— rank at the top of my space-related bucket list.
As I reflect on the past 50 years, much has happened in the world—some of it difficult and even tragic—but I have found that, for me, the positive, unifying events are the ones that matter most. In the end, we all have choices. What we value, how we assess the past, and what we decide to focus upon in our life experience largely determines our path forward.
So, as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11, let us recall and embrace the good and noble things, and use them to influence our way forward into the future.
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