Who could forget, who could forget....
Sitting in a classroom in St George's College in Harare; listening through a storm of static on a little radio to the halting voice of Neil Armstrong doing his small step and giant leap - and then trekking to a cinema in Harare a week or two later, to see the actual footage of the moon landing - in black and white, so fuzzy it was hardly visible, but we wouldn't have missed it for the world. For a 14-yr-old science fiction aficionado, this was Christmas, the Millenium and the Holy Grail, all wrapped into one.
So it was entirely fitting that, on my way to the airport at 5 am yesterday, I commemorated the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's successful mission with Jethro Tull's "For Michael Collins, Jeffery and me" (Benefit album, 1970) - loudly. Commiserating with Michael Collins.
"I'm with you, LEM
Though it's a shame that it had to be you
The mother ship is just a blip
From your trip made for two
I'm with you boys, so please employ just a little extra care
It's on my mind, I'm left behind
When I should have been there
Walking with you..."
We marvel now that it was done with slide rules, with less computing power than is now packed in the average cell phone, that 1950s technology was driving a 1960s achievement. That it was probably done for all the wrong reasons - we didn't care then, and we shouldn't care now.
We took a step off the planet.
And then we stepped back.
Ah, well.
"And the yellow soft mountains
Grow very still
Witness as intrusion
The humanoid thrill"
21/07/2009, 10:46
Well said Retroid. Ye gods, I'd almost forgotten doing the same thing in a classroom in Natal. Against the headmaster's instructions our maths teacher brought a radio into the classroom and we all listened (for which he was nearly fired by said headmaster for 'wasting precious education time'). What's happened to us since then? That 'step back' you mention has been huge. '50's technology? Yes, but 50's vision, still untrammelled by fear and gross profiteering. That was the last time we heard a nation say (even if it was for ideological reasons as much as any other) "yes we can". Now some of them have said it again when all we hear from other politicians is "you can't but we can".
But that was also the era of the 1968 student riots that changed Europe, of Vietnam and Berkeley, of flowers down rifle barrels, of napalm and Agent orange, of Dallas and a dead president.
But thanks for the reminder and the momentary lift.
21/07/2009, 12:13
Man, it took me back just writing it! But how "yes, we can!" changed to "well, we could, but we won't" - was tragic.
We could be on Mars - and we're not.
08/08/2009, 10:00
What wonderfully evocative memories! I kept a scrapbook at that time of all the newspapers clippings and school projects etc...wish I still had it :-)