Thirty years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the Moon, the
lunar landing remains the quintessential human triumph. After all, nobody starts
a sentence with: 鈥淚f they can eradicate smallpox, why can鈥檛 they鈥︹�� No,
it鈥檚 always: 鈥淚f they can put a man on the Moon鈥︹�� that presages a plea
for a techno-fix. The 30th anniversary celebrations on the Web have begun
already. NASA鈥檚 history office has created a site devoted to the Apollo 11
landing at www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap11ann/introduction.htm.
Meanwhile, the National Space Society is reliving the mission day by day at
www.nss.org/apollo/countdown/home.html.
On the official site there is no debate about whether Armstrong fluffed his
famous line: 鈥淥ne small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.鈥� Judge for
yourself at www.moments.com/sound/step.au or
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/a11step.aiff.
It might also be worth asking Aldrin
what happened. From 16 July, he鈥檒l be answering questions at
www.askanastronaut.com.
Among the objects left by Aldrin and Armstrong on the Moon are an American
flag and a plaque reading: 鈥淗ere Men From Planet Earth First Set Foot Upon the
Moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.鈥� The plaque bears the
signatures of the astronauts鈥� and Richard Nixon. It could have been
worse: the name of former UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim鈥攁llegedly
involved in Nazi crimes鈥攈itched a ride on Voyager. See
http://vraptor.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager/record.html.
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Want a lunar passport? Dennis Cole, the 鈥淗ead Cheese鈥� of the Lunar Embassy
at www.lunarembassy.com might be the person to contact. His idea of setting up a
fictional embassy to mark the anniversary is not much crazier than the Hilton
company鈥檚 idea for a Lunar Hilton and an Orbital Hilton鈥攎ade from spent
shuttle fuel tanks. Meanwhile, botanists, cooks and janitors can apply for
supposed jobs in space at www.spaceisland.com.
