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Picture of the day -
May 4, 2006
Apollo 17 - The Last Lunar Mission
Photo courtesy of
NASA.
Today's picture shows Apollo 17 sitting on the launch pad on December 7,
1972 preparing to blast
off on the final Apollo Lunar Mission. Jules Verne predicted way back in 1865
that some day it would be possible for man to travel to
the moon, and just
over a century later his prediction came true with the now-famous Apollo Lunar
Missions.
Apollo 17 was the last of nine
lunar missions that allowed a dozen American
citizens to walk, play and explore on the surface of the moon - the very same
moon that appears so large yet is so far away as I stand in my yard gazing out
into space on a clear night.
The Apollo missions have been recognized as tremendous achievements that added
untold volumes to both human history and scientific understanding, but some see
them (and all space exploration for that matter) as a waste of resources and wealth. Personally,
I believe they were worth every penny we spent plus a whole lot more.
It is my belief that God gave man an inquisitive mind, an adventurous spirit,
and an intense desire to explore all of His creations, not just the ones here on
earth but those in other parts of the universe as well. I hope to see us return to the
moon in the near future and eventually venture out to other planets in our
solar
system and points beyond.
Unmanned spacecraft and rovers make excellent explorers that do a great job at
sending back to earth detailed images and mounds of valuable scientific data,
and we need to dispatch lots more of them...but we also need human explorers
walking upon the surface of distant worlds, examining whatever they find
there with their own human eyes, live and in person!
While the Apollo lunar missions were spectacularly successful, we need to view
them as simply a great first effort. We need to take what we learned from them
and all of our other scientific research and take manned spaceflight to the next level,
starting with the planet mars. In my opinion, these future manned missions will
not be a waste of money, but if we fail to follow through on them it will
definitely be a wasted opportunity.
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