Nattering Naybob: Red Ranger, I’m sure you heard that Neil Armstrong died over the weekend from complications resulting from a coronary bypass operation. Like most others from our generation, I have fond memories of the ca. late 60’s / early 70’s Apollo missions. At the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, as a 7-year old, I did not fully realize the hazards of landing the lunar module– which had the same computing power as a modern laptop– on the surface of the moon. I did not realize how close the lunar module came to running out of fuel as Armstrong deftly navigated it over boulders and un-landable terrain, into the aptly-named Sea of Tranquility. Hearing the recorded communications between Armstrong (and his co-pilot, Buzz Aldrin) and Houston Control, I never realized until I got older how it embodied the culture of quiet courage and grace under pressure that typified the post-JFK NASA engineers and astronauts. Just this simple, now-iconic exchange as the lunar module landed safely, never fails to inspire me:
Armstrong: Tranquility Base here… the Eagle has landed.
Houston Control: Apollo 11, we copy you on the ground, you got a bunch of guys here about to turn blue, we’re breathing again… thanks a lot.
Armstrong: Thank you.
That was it. Simple, modest, laconic, exchange on the occasion of perhaps the twentieth century’s greatest accomplishment. As the comedian Robert Klein once commented, think of all the money Armstrong could have made by simply shouting out the words “Coca-Cola!!!” immediately after setting foot on the surface of the moon. But Armstrong obviously never did that, nor did he ever capitalize to any great commercial extent from his accomplishment.
Thinking about the accomplishments of Armstrong (and of Aldrin, and Michael Collins, the third member of the Apollo 11 crew), I started compiling a quick short list of my own nominations for the three greatest American achievements of the 20th century. Here they are, in no particular order:
-The aforementioned Apollo 11 moon landing
-The D-Day liberation of France as perhaps the central watershed moment of World War II
-The (mostly) successful outcome of the Civil Rights struggles of the late 1950’s and 1960’s
These three historical events seem to me to most fully embody the courage, commitment, know-how, and vision that the American spirit is capable of. In this modern age of political partisanship, bureaucratic bungling, absence of quiet dignity, and unwillingness to sacrifice and plan for a result that may or may not be realized while you are still on this Earth, I appreciate these achievements even more. I fear that for all of modern America’s technological know-how, there is just something lacking that may prevent us from reaching these heights again. Red Ranger, I am interested in your thoughts on this entire topic, and what you think of my list.
Red Ranger: I found out about the passing of Neil Armstrong while spending the weekend in Maine with the family. While watching a brief retrospective on Neil Armstrong my wife and I both agreed that the lunar landing was the greatest accomplishment in our lifetime. Several years ago we had the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and while her and I were both keenly interested in viewing all of the significant pieces of NASA history our boys were equally unimpressed. It is too bad that they do not have that one defining event in their life that makes them proud to be American. Hopefully, Romney can give them that event.
I think Armstrong could have made more money if upon his return to the earth he was asked, “Neil Armstrong you just returned from walking on the moon, what are you going to do now”. Armstrong – “I’m going to Disneyland” (remember Disney World was not yet built in 1969.)
While I do not disagree with the items on your list I would maybe tie at number 3 with the development of the Internet given how profoundly it has changed every aspect of our lives. I believe that the Internet was developed by Americans either at Stanford or CalTech but certainly the Internet is not uniquely American at this point. Still it is a great accomplishment.
I too doubt we will ever achieve such greatness again. Part of this is due to the death of “American Exceptionalism”. I occasionally watch shows on the Military Channel and am amazed at the hardships that our soldiers had to endure. While I in no way want to take anything away from the soldiers who are currently fighting our wars I think they are too quick to fall back upon post-traumatic stress syndrome when things don’t go their way when they return to civilian society. Again not taking anything away from their efforts I have to believe that soldiers of prior wars faced much harsher conditions and saw things that were much worse. Given the instantaneous dissemination of information we now know whenever a single American soldier is killed in combat whereas years ago the battles were much more person to person and hundreds or thousands would die in a single action.
I am glad that this Armstrong was able to keep his name untainted throughout his lifetime unlike another Armstrong (Lance) who like so many others before him have gone from a hero to a zero.
Nattering Naybob: Just wanted to close with a highly-recommended YouTube of an actual live broadcast of the launch of Apollo 11, I believe from CBS’s coverage. It is well worth the 10-minute investment to watch the whole video to re-live the sense of suspense and wonder that the Moon program inspired in the late Sixties. I love it when the NASA launch announcer says at around T-minus 25 seconds, “Astronauts report ‘It feels good'”. Great stuff.
Second Grade Minds 