Flare Sci-Fi Forums: a somber reflection

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Posted by Cargile (Member # 45) on :

I've played the fool here many times, but sometimes something strikes a very serious chord in me and I wish to share it.

I saw this photo in Scientific American magazine (the first issue I bought), in a piece devoted to the Moon landings. At first I glanced through the mag, seeing the picture and not thinking about it. Then I began to look at each article in more detail. I still skimmed the picture thinking that it looked cool. It wasn't unitl I read the caption that I noticed the Lunar lander in the background, and something broke in me. The picture became whole, and it's message to me was clear. The lander, the rover, and the astronaught (Apollo 16 commander John W. Young) speaks of human accomplishment of the greatest kind. But you can't just see the picture to understand my emotion. You have to know that things were left behind on the Moon. Human artifacts that say, "We were here." The lunar module is called Orion. The lower half of Orion, and the rover (like the others) are still on the Moon, like markers of human ability. I was an infant when Neil and Buzz stepped on the Moon. I hope that I die an old man knowing that others during the 21st century returned. If not, I will die knowing that any decendants of humanity that returns to the Moon will find what we have left behind and know that we walked those dusty plains and saw our Homeworld in a new perspective.
I am reminded of an old childs' poem:

I see the Moon. The Moon sees me. God bless the Moon God Bless me.

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I was right in the middle of a gnikcuf reptile zoo. And somebody was giving booze to these goddam things."
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

You know what? I've felt the same way. Call me a silly romantic, but walking on the moon was something...something beyond the scope of any previous human accomplishment. Quite possibly the greatest moment in the history of our species.

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"And give me back my evil heart so I can see you as you are."
--
John Linnell

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

Nah, manned space exploration is pass�.

Posted by Michael Dracon (Member # 4) on :

*LOL@RW*

I hope, one day, I'll be able to take a trip to the moon and walk on the surface.

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"Calm may work for Locutus of the Borg here,
but I'm freaked out, and I intend to stay that way!"

- Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Posted by Jubilee (Member # 99) on :

Awww.......

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"Nothing can be altered, there is nothing to decide
No escape, no change of heart, no anyplace to hide
You are all I'll ever want, but this I am denied
Sometimes in my darkest thoughts, I wish I'd never learned
What it is to be in love and have that love returned"

Posted by Jaresh Inyo on :

I know where you're coming from. I've always regretted the fact that I wasn't born to watch it live. It's a total mind-blower.

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Josh: I think they're getting to know each other a bit too well, if you catch my drift.
Me: Oh, I agree. I think they're spending too much time together, that is of course, if you catch my drift.
Asher: I think he's *ucking her, and he's cheating on his wife, and he's risking his marriage, and if his wife finds out about it she'll leave him and take their son, and his life will be ruined. If you catch my drift...

Posted by Antagonist (Member # 76) on :

Not to ruin the mood, but walking on the moon didn't sound that amazing to me. Call me a moron, but that's what happens when you grow up hearing about it.

If we were to one day contact another race of extraterrestrial beings, colonize Alpha Centauri, or even land on Mars - that would be the equivelent to landing on the moon to me.

And BTW, I fully intend to walk the lunar surface, whether it be in a month or 100 years from now, I will do it.

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When I see an elephant fly...I'll shoot the mother down.

Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

Scientific American magazine is just the coolest. We get it in the library I work in and I take the issues as soon as I can to my little desk to read.

Of course I put them back.

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For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius!

Posted by Jeff Raven (Member # 20) on :

I've always wanted to walk on Mars... and I tried to get into the field that would put me in the best position for it, but alas, it didn't work out...Maybe I'll teach the kid that DOES walk on the moon, heheheh...

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"I do whatever the voice of Charles Capps tells me to do."

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

I saw the first moon walk, all the Apollo missions before and after. Curse Richard Nixion for ever for ending them. We could have been so much farther along now.

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WHO ARE YOU

Posted by Cargile (Member # 45) on :

Going to the Moon is a milestone. Now that we have gone there, putting people on other planets and moons isn't impossible, we know we can do it, if someone pays for it. The next milestone would be something like a 12 year round trip manned mission to Alpha Centauri. And after that, breaking the light-barrier.

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I was right in the middle of a gnikcuf reptile zoo. And somebody was giving booze to these goddam things."
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

That wasn't a joke, so there's no reason to laugh. Well, everything I say is stupid or doesn't make sense at all so laugh anyway. I've been laughed at for so long it doesn't hurt that much anymore.

Oh man, anyone have a piece of rope? Or a razor?

Posted by HMS White Star (Member # 174) on :

to RW: Wow you are really really depressed, that isn't good, well look at the bright side as long as you are alive then you can change your environment and yourself. Honestly things probably aren't as bad as you think (even if your life is really really crummy) and if you bottomed out remember, things will get better they have too

. Well it could be worse you could be me

. The only thing that keeps me going is my positive attitude.

Honestly the moon landing didn't really impress me either, hell what would, would be to walk (or to play a friendly round of golf) on the moon, that would be cool.

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HMS White Star (your local friendly agent of Chaos:-) )

Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :

RW! that was so funny! - I can't believe you were getting depressed at someone thinking what you said was funny, if it helps I laughed out loud - it was SUCH great timing *grin*

no really it was hilarious - I'm laughing at you joke not at you - I think that's what Altair meant too!

anyway.

Andyroo

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"All is full of love, all around you" - Bj�rk

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

When I was little and watching the Apollo missions, I knew that it would only continue, and that we would go farther and farther out. Alas, that has not been the case. We should have had a base on the moon years ago. Then on to Mars. If we had taken all the money spent on war in the last 55 years, and spent it on space, where would we be now?

I'm not saying that we shouldn't take care of people first, but so many good things come down from the space program, like computers, I can't help but think that it would only have continued.

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WHO ARE YOU?

Posted by RW (Member # 27) on :

Imagine where we would be now if we spent all that money on welfare..

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

Even half on Welfare would do it, for those who wanted off the bottom.

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WHO ARE YOU?

Posted by Cargile (Member # 45) on :

Another somber reflectionL: If able people got off their asses and got a job, I wouldn't have to support them through tax deductions. I hate Welfare. GET A JOB AND QUIT HAVING BABIES I CAN'T AFFORD TO FEED!

hehe

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(This message has been edited by the Website Enforcement Authority, and rigoruosly inspected by 12.)

Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

I always liked that Dilbert cartoon where Dogbert decided to make people take a test and get a license before they could have a baby. When the people failed he told them they'd "have to leave some body parts at the door". *LOL*

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"We both said 'I really love you.' The Shriners loaned us cars. We raced up and down the sidewalk twenty thousand million times."
-They Might Be Giants, "She's an Angel"

Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :

Dhezus Khryst!

We ALREADY spend more $ on Welfare than we do on Space Exploration, by like a factor of TWENTY!

In fact, if you break down the US budget, (and I'm sure I did this in an old thread) about 1/4 goes to paying off the interest on the debt, a little under 1/4 to defense, another 1/4 to social security, and most of the last 1/4 goes to other social programs, education, agriculture, etc.

NASA's Budget is around 1/2 of 1 percent.. on a GOOD year.

we're already pouring money down the sinkhole that is "social programs," and we NEVER get anything back for it. On the other hand, conservative estimates show that we get $3-6 back for every $1 we spend on NASA R&D programs.

Skylab gave us smoke detectors.
Viking gave us a treatment for juvenile diabetes.
The Shuttle's given us a scanner that can classify tumors 1000 times faster than the old methods.
And there's about TEN THOUSAND other humanity-benefiting things that have come out of tech developed for the space program, from shatterproof windshields to better A/C to impact resistant bike helmets, to better MRE's.

What these shortsighted people who say "take money from space program, save the slums" don't realize is that it doesn't friggin' WORK that way!

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"When we turn our back on our principles, we stop being human." -- Janeway, "Equinox"

Posted by Saiyanman Benjita (Member # 122) on :

I completely agree with the budget remark. If we had spent more money on these humanity-benefitting programs, rather than supporting wars we don't fight and people who have babies just to get more money from the government, we would probably be living on Mars right now.

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All we are is dust in the wind, dude....
Dust, Wind, DUDE!!!

Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :

Sometimes you don't even have to look for the right words. Sometimes you stumble across them even before you begin to look. I found this quote-of-the-day at http://www.herdthinners.com/ .

<Quote>
Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity. It eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation."

-- Johnny Hart
</Quote>

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"Someday your ship will come in...and you'll be at the airport "
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited July 19, 1999).]

Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :

Sarcastic insight and commentary at its very best.

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Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know.
~Groucho Marx, "Animal Crackers"

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

the half I was refering to, and although it may be dangerous to my health to speak for RW, we were refering to half, or in his case all, of the money spent on war, I was thinking of Veitnam. One of JFK's people was on C-span this weekend, something recorded before Jr died, so he wasn't mentioned. John Kenneth Galbrieth said he believed JFK would have found a way out of Nam given time. I have always read that JFK increased numbers of american adviseres there, but was looking for a way out at the same time. Given all that we know now about his presidency, I tend to believe it.

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WHO ARE YOU?