Sometimes watching a watch tick is less about the time it tells, and more about the time it has told. I have to color myself jealous of those that watched their watch tick on this day, 45 years ago. Be it knowledged, or blissfully ignorant of what went into two men walking on the surface of the moon, mankind alike had accomplished.
On a mission for humanity, the Apollo 11 badge was the first not to wear the names of the astronauts, only the name of the mission. A statement of humility, a statement of unity. The pursuit of knowledge put them, and many before them into capsules on top of rockets taller than buildings, more powerful than any machine we had ever created and filled with millions of gallons of fuel.
With little technology by comparison to today’s computers, they rose to the heavens. Often in the face of danger, some flights carried the odds of 50 / 50 … not of success, but of survival.
While the normal inspirational quotes live on as common knowledge, “The Eagle has Landed”… “One small step for Man”… There is one that I found poetic that often goes unmentioned. Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon (but first to wear a watch), in his approach to the lunar lander to depart the Sea of Tranquility stopped and took one last look. He uttered four words…
“Beautiful, beautiful. Magnificent Desolation.”
Tonight, let’s all lift a glass to Apollo 11, 45 years since man’s greatest accomplishment.