Most people remember “One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” However, that was the culmination of years of sacrifice, planning, and luck. What has sparked this post? The new motion picture First Man, a biopic about Neil Armstrong and the United States journey to the Moon.
I walked out of the theater with greater respect for not only NASA and the absolute ridiculousness of the task they solved by doing something no one has ever done, put a man on the Moon. The Moon is 238,900 miles from Earth. Think about that for a second. The mission required countless engineers, mathematicians, and freethinkers to calculate all the variables to make the impossible probable. The Apollo Mission was far from certain, Neil Armstrong and each of the Astronauts knew that failure was a real possibility. A handful of their fellow astronauts lost their lives due to equipment failure.
Neil Armstrong had a couple of dire situations of his own, whether it was the X Flights, or testing the Lunar Landing Vehicle, or the Gemini 8 mission. Gemini 8’s purpose was to rendezvous with a pre-launched spacecraft Agena. The complexity of having to dock with Agena in space which is vast as it is and the fact that it is a moving target was no small feat. They successfully located Agena and docked their vehicle; however; during a period of communication blackout Agena and their vehicle began to spin uncontrollably to the point of nearly one revolution a second. At that rate, Neil Armstrong and David Scott would be unconscious and lost in space. Neil was able to maintain consciousness and was able to undock from Agena and stop the role with quick thinking.
Neil went on to become the first man to step foot on the Moon, and an American Hero. Not to be overlooked is the people behind Neil. His Wife was a pillar of stability and did not allow Neil to forget his responsibilities to his family and especially his kids. Janet Armstrong made great sacrifices that allowed Neil to pursue his dream of completing NASA’s mission of space exploration.
Impossible is an idea and an idea alone, we can all accomplish anything if we put our minds to it. One thing to consider is humans are capable of great feats. Media highlights our faults, failure, and instability. Yes, I agree issues are affecting us as a whole; however, I don’t concede that there are not solutions. We can overcome our obstacles by looking to one another, extending a helpful hand, and focusing on our similarities instead of our differences. Just as the impossible became possible in July 1969, we too can make the impossible become possible by working together. We can overcome the challenges that we face as a society and individually. One person can make a change, but when a group of people comes together with a common goal, there is no limit to what we will achieve.
Nunc Coepi 