Moon landing 7/20/1969

I heard on the news today that there are some that thing we should move forward with space travel. That we should try to put a human on Mars. My thought to this is that it is too expensive. The USA is in debt way over its head and people want to spend money on something that doesn't really matter. Sure if we went to Mars, we would learn more about Mars, what it is made of, could it sustain life, etc. But why do we need to know these things? Will it feed the hungry, heal the sick, help underprivilaged children learn to read? It won't make my life better and I doubt it would make very many Americans' lives better. It would be exciting for a few people and provide a few more jobs that don't exist right now, but at what cost to the taxpayer? I don't know if the general public has lost interest or not, but I don't think its a good idea financally.

To be honest.. I don't think that we landed on the moon when everyone was told that we did. I think it was fake. of course we have now and I don't think that NASA has given up interest.. I think that they are just more secretive in what they tell us. I'm aware that my post makes me sound a little paranoid and crazy but.. well.... hell... maybe I am! lol!

I don't believe that we've lost interest in our space program but that our interest has shifted from exploration (aka Star Trek) to commercial and security. Communication satellites orbit the earth, providing many necessary services, and a defense shield in space is seen as a superior option for deflecting incoming missiles. I know you didn't ask this but there's a comment here and I've also seen them elsewhere expressing the view that we never really landed on the moon. I was 14 when those first steps were taken. What those who think the whole thing was faked don't realize is the number of people who were involved in the Apollo program and that it wasn't until Apollo 11 when man landed on the moon. During this mission there were hundreds of NASA staff performing various functions. Other agencies were also monitoring this mission...along with Russia and China. With any conspiracy, the more people involved, the more you run the risk of someone talking. In 40 years, with NASA employees retiring or leaving for other opportunities, not one person who had any involvement in that mission has come forward to say the landing and the moon walk was faked. I saw it live as it unfolded. The tension was real, the excitement was real. Those folks at Mission Control weren't actors...they were scientists and other profressionals...so their relief and joy was very real when this event happened.

I think Star Trek is to blame! Nothing against it, but at this point in world evolution, our movie-making technology is vastly superior to our space traveling technology. When we have Star Wars, Star Trek, and every other television show and movie about space, we get to see vivid color, fast-paced action, and get filled up with a fictional look at a real thing. History follows that simple rule: when the fiction is more exciting than the fact, go with the fiction. I think if you gave people a choice of live footage of an actual moon landing or an advanced screening of the newest space feature, most would choose the latter. It's not anything against space at all. It's only that our technology is limited in that field, but our imaginations aren't. If you're looking for aliens, turn it to Sci-Fi. But you won't find them with that telescope in your back yard.

It's that Space Shuttle. It's dangerous, and not very versatile. I just don't like it. The International Space Station is cool, but it's not like a space station in the movies, and often it's difficult to explain the work going on there.

We must have lost interest in it. I don't know. I never did keep up with it that much, myself. I just know that I haven't heard much about it in a long time and I'm about 100 miles south of Huntsville, Alabama, where the arsenal is located. The last time I went to Huntsville, which was the late '70s, my parents and I went to the arsenal. My daddy was on the real estate commission and we all went as a group. One of the ladies who was on the commission and I rode the model of what the space shuttle was going to be like. That was a lot of fun! I can't believe it's been 40 years since we put a man on the moon! It doesn't seem like it's been that long. I was only 17 at the time. I guess I'm giving away my age, lol! I wonder if Neil Armstrong is still living?Kathy.