It was thirty years ago today that the first trip to the Moon began. Apollo
11 lifted off from Cape Kennedy at 8:32 in the morning, local time.

I very much remember where I was at the time. I stayed up the night with some
friends and co-workers from the entomology department where I worked at night
(I worked during the day at a nuclear weapons laboratory). The launch
occurred at 6:32 AM our time. But what I remember most about the launch was
the comment made by Marcia Bradley, an entomologist who was working on her
Ph.D. at the time and who had a very liberal viewpoint, essentially a
"rational" hippie. She said with surprising solemnity: "They're on their way
to the Moon."

It was the unexpected awe and approval in Marcia's voice that I remember the
most.

At the end of every millennium, there is always a great deal of reflection
about what will be remember a thousand years from now. That first trip to the
Moon will almost certainly rank among the very top few. All of the wars and
all of the presidents and all of the kings will fade into a general blur, the
mankind's first trip to the Moon in an amazingly rickety contraption will be
remembered.

The engineered in-service, useful lifetime of Boeing's new 777 aircraft is
specified at 70 years. That period of time is longer than the timespan from
Kitty Hawk to the Sea of Tranquility. When travel to the Moon and the
planets, and eventually the stars, becomes equally prosaic, the first trip to
the Moon will be considered with even greater awe.

Wirt Atmar


Wirt Atmar