Apollo 11 Moon Landing Anniversary

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.   President John F. Kennedy,  May 25, 1961 


42 years ago today on July 20, 1969 the United States and NASA fulfilled President Kennedy's goal by landing astronauts Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon in the Eagle landing craft while Michael Collins orbited the moon in Columbia.

Armstrong and Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface, spent 21 hours and 31 minutes on the Moon, collected 47.5 pounds (21.5 kg) of moon rocks before they blasted off its surface to rejoin Collins and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on July 24.

But this anniversary of the crowning achievement of the Apollo program is tempered by the bittersweet arrival in a few hours of the space shuttle Atlantis from its final mission to the ISS to cap the Space Shuttle program

So as the space shuttle touches down for the last time at KSC it's causing space junkies like myself to ask what's next for the US space program as we shift our sights away from low earth orbit missions and hand that responsibility to the private sector.

I believe the United States and NASA needs to be doing everything possible to expand our knowledge and technological capabilities in terms of executing space missions to and the eventual colonization of Mars, colonizing the Moon, and solve the challenges and problems of long duration space flights.


It will be necessary to do so not only just to explore our celestial neighborhood but nearby stars and emerging discovered planets as well. 

The United States for its future educational and economic well being definitely needs to continue on the path started by President Kennedy and NASA as a spacefaring nation.   We must be part of any international space exploration efforts or projects like the International Space Station.   

If we want the human race to survive and thrive as a species even with all its flaws we gripe about at times, we must explore the final frontier.

The Final STS-135 Launch

Atlantis was first launched into space on October 3, 1985 on the STS-51J mission, and yesterday's 10:36 AM CDT launch of STS-135 was witnessed by over one million people and millions more on television.   Atlantis has wings once again and has begun its 12 day final mission to the International Space Station.

In case you missed it:



Not including this mission, Atlantis has spent a total of 293 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes and 37 seconds in space and gets to add 12 more days to that total.  

The Last Shuttle Mission Blasts Off Today

As a person who grew up here in Houston, I've had a ringside seat to many of the events surrounding the US space program and NASA since the Johnson Space Center is just outside of town in Clear Lake City.

The Space Shuttle program was being conceived and tested while I was in junior high and high school, and for much of my adult life US space launches meant watching the shuttle go up.

Today marks the launch of Atlantis and the STS-135 mission, the last shuttle launch after 30 years of shuttle flights, assuming the weather holds up and allows it.

Atlantis was moved to the KSC launch pad on May 31 and its planned liftoff for its 12 day mission will be at 10:26 AM CDT

For Houston space junkies like me who have gone on multiple school field trips to the Johnson Space Center, my most memorable one was courtesy of a junior high school writing contest I won.  In addition to the non-standard NASA tour we got, I got to meet Nichelle Nichols and the first group of African American shuttle astronauts that included Dr. Mae Jemison, current NASA director Gen.Charles Bolden, Guy Bluford and the late Dr. Ronald McNair.

The space program is more than just watching launches and landings of spacecraft, it was part of our educations and a proud part of our civic identity.

If you think I'm kidding,  you know the obvious part about our Houston major league sports teams being nicknamed the Astros, Rockets and Comets (sniff, sniff).   The Houston Police Department uniform patch has a planet Earth with a red orbital path crossing over the Houston area twice and the words 'Space City USA' on it.  Four local television stations have either their lead anchors or senior reporters at KSC and the Chronicle has a reporter regularly covering NASA and space issues.    One of our downtown parks honors the Apollo 11 moon landing.   It's why we went off when the city didn't get one of the soon to be retired shuttles for display.

So yeah, we've been through this before in terms of the downtime between one NASA program ending and another one either beginning like Apollo, Skylab and the Space Shuttle one.

The debate will soon commence in terms of wondering what direction the US space program will or should be headed in or going through the arguments of whether we need to spend tax money on space.   Here in H-town, Space City USA, we'd emphatically argue yes we should. 

But it will still be a bittersweet moment when Atlantis blasts off to start STS-135.