Landing on the moon

July 16, 1969 - Launch of Apollo 11 from Kennedy Space Center
July 20 - Landing of the Lunar Module Eagle on the moon
July 21 - 45 years ago, Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another world.

This was an amazing accomplishment of human vision, engineering and exploration. Just think about the circumstances, only a decade before, the Wright brothers had invented the airplane. Now we had left our single, solitary world and set foot on another planet. Though we were not destined to remain, this was the start of the expansion of humanity outward.

As a scientist, I was enthralled by the lunar missions. As a science fiction fan, it was inevitable. As a biologist, it was a relief. We have been trapped on this one planet. Destroy the Earth and all of humanity is lost. But spreading to the stars allows us to spread our genes, our species to multiple planets; ensuring that a single event cannot destroy us all.

Since the end of the Apollo missions, there have been no other manned missions to other worlds. However, humanity continues to build upon the tremendous strides made by these pioneers by venturing to Mars. If all goes well, human colonies will exist on other planets within the foreseeable future spreading our race across multiple planets. Finally, the genes we've crafted and protected for so long will not be vulnerable to a single cataclysmic event.

Yes, I know this is a day late but I just figured this out. Forgive me this one time.

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This is a personal blog. The views expressed herein may not represent those of my employer.