The Space Program

I just finished watching the end of “Apollo 13” on the TV. I’ve seen the movie several times, but the end always makes me think about the space program and the moon landings of forty years ago. As we hurtle well into the twenty-first century, we take for granted many things that did not exist in the 1960’s and 1970’s which would have made the moon landing program much safer than it was.
If you have had the chance to see a lunar lander or the capsules that took the astronauts to the moon, you know that those ships were not only engineering marvels of the day, but were also very crude-looking compared with some of what we know today. Their electronic computer and guidance systems were less powerful than a modern calculator. Many of the systems were stressed to the very limits of what they would do, and the technology of the day was pressed into service far beyond normal limits. There were a lot of seat of the pants decisions made on the fly, so to speak, and the astronauts really did take chances and put themselves in danger more than once for the good of the mission.
There will always be people who believe that it all was a hoax and we really didn’t go to the moon. My grandfather was one of them, as I understand. There will also be those who believe that the moon program (and other space programs) was (is) a waste of money. But the overwhelming evidence is that the program paid for itself many times over in new technology and scientific knowledge. And the notion that we didn’t really go to the moon is so laughable (sorry Grandad) as to not be given serious consideration.
Technological benefits range from cordless tools to medications and new metal alloys. Everything in between such as accurate maps, new camera technology, improved communications, new fabrics, pacemakers, engine lubricants, Doppler radar, insulin pumps, fire resistant materials, and on and on ad infinitum came from the space program.
Could it have been done differently? Absolutely. Could we have spent that money on other efforts? Yes, we could have. Did the program have flaws? It was conceived and run by humans. Yes, it had (and has) flaws. But it is a shining moment in history, one that I was privileged to have witnessed.