Dear Crabby, Did We Really Go To The Moon?

Dear Crabby, It’s Been 50 Years and I Still Wonder, Did We Really Go To The Moon?

Sincerely, Luna

 

Dear Luna,

Ah, a skeptic? I like that. But in this case I’ll say you’d be better off believing we went. Don’t get me wrong, I distrust a lot of things The Government says, and I’m sure we don’t know the whole story on many things, but I’m pretty sure we went – it was a big deal 50 year ago.

For one thing, the other space-going nations would have called our bluff – after all, it was a “space race.” The Soviets beat us with the first couple legs of the race; however, we crossed the finish line first by putting an American on the Moon. Russia or China would have called us out if it weren’t true. Plus, all those Moon rocks we brought back – they went all over the world to be studied – I kinda think someone would have said, “Hey this rock is from Colorado” or something if we faked that. So, we went. But the better question might be, why did we stop going?

Well, I’m glad you asked. However, I sort of answered that already – We Won the Race! The main reason NASA was there was to beat the USSR to the Moon with Americans being the first to land on the Moon. And Old Glory waves its red, white and blue at six landing sites after taking 12 astronauts to the surface of our giant satellite (roughly a quarter size of the Earth). After proving we could do it, and after doing it with our Apollo missions, why continue. And we are still the only nation to put people on the lunar landscape.

That’s what many Americans thought, both politicians and the public, who would rather see that huge expense going to other programs in the country. NASA had plans to go to Mars by the 1980s back then, but settled for a slimmed down budget to build the Space Shuttles, Sky Lab, and finally the International Space Station. What we need is a new space race to rev up interest again.

Read: Dear Crabby, Would You Ever Travel to Mars?

We have that brewing just a bit. With China going to the Moon this year, as well as Russia, India, Israel and a handful of private companies getting into the game, America will just have to compete. It will take a lot of money and the congress will have to agree to set a budget for it. But times are good, the economy going strong, it’s a great time to talk about this … I hope we go back (in my lifetime).

Sincerely, Dear Crabby

Read: Dear Crabby, What Do You Think about the Space Force?

Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer?

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