BUZZ ALDRIN CALLS ON AMERICA TO GO TO MARS IN NEXT 20 YEARS
I can still remember that exciting day at 2pm on July 20, 1969 when my teacher wheeled the school b&w TV into our 3rd grade room. It meant there was no work for an hour as she announced that man was about to land on the moon. She turned on the TV and you could just see TV snow as she adjusted the rabbit ear antennas on top. Slowly, an image began to appear. It was hard to make out at first. All those tiny pixilated white and black squares trying to create a shape. And us kids begin to make out a shape of a space craft landing on the moon. It was unbelievable. You could see the grown-ups at Cape Canaveral acting like kids, whooping and hollering as they realized their mission had been accomplished. The teacher started clapping and so did all the kids. It was super exciting. As kids, we believed anything was possible and easy to believe that Americans had landed on the moon. The two astronauts were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Oh man, what a day.
Today, Buzz Aldrin, now 83 years old, is calling on America to get to Mars within the next 20 years. It harkens back to the day when John F. Kennedy came on TV and challenged fellow Americans to get to the moon before the end of the decade. And no human had ever done so! Thanks to Mar's Rovers Curiosity and Opportunity, we have never been closer to getting there.
Buzz points out the scientific advancements of the moon program are still in effect today. Products such as baby formula, phone cameras, computer mouse, cordless tools were all born out of NASA. Imagine what new technologies and products we can create to help people all over the planet?
To read more about Buzz Aldrin's vision, visit; http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/07/buzz-aldrin-get-to-mars-within-20-years/
Additional Resources:
http://www.businessinsider.com/everyday-items-developed-by-nasa-2012-8
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/first-person-on-moon.html
Comments
CONOR THINKS I HUNG THE MOON
There’s something special about a dad and his son that just seems to make the world make sense. I feel like all the stuff i learned once upon a time has a purpose again. And if my son doesn’t like that I’m always imparting bits of trivial knowledge into his brain, he doesn’t show it. In fact, he acts like he relishes it. He’s only two but I thought he might like to know that the moon is only 270,000 miles from Earth. And when i took a picture of it this weekend with a powerful Nikon lens, I pointed out the acne spots were really places where asteroids collided with the moon. He laughed and clapped. I never really thought of it that way but I decided it was funny and thought applause was in order. I mean it really must have been quite a sight to see two foreign bodies crash into each other 270,000 miles away. I mean, it’s not like anyone got hurt or anything. He was playing with the wheel of my bike this weekend and as it spun, I explained that once an object is in motion it will continue that motion until an opposite force makes it stop. He rubbed his finger along the rubber until it stopped. He laughed. I said, “exactly”. Then he realized he burned his finger on the spinning rubber and he lifted his finger for me to kiss and make better. I did as told and he smiled. I didn’t tell him of the phenomenon ‘placebo effect’ because that would ruin everything.
It’s a brief time that my son is a little boy thinking that his dad hung the moon. I’m going to milk it for everything it’s worth. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-oct-2013.html#sthash.csgaEp8K.dpuf