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Apollo
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Message 1.Μύ
Posted by Amphion (U3338999) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
As somebody who (Even though a child) remembers the Apollo missions, I can safely say that they inspired me with an interest in space, the solar system and of those heavenly bodies we call planets. There were clearly advances in science and technology whilst also, sadly, there were loss of life. It is probably regarded as the most remarkable of human achievement that men walked on the moon, but ultimately what did it really achieve?
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Message 2
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
The technology that NASA created filtered down to loads of different areas to benefit our daily lives.
From PCs to thermal blankets, from Satnav to data transmission, it's all rooted in the Apollo program. -
Message 3
Posted by dmatt47 (U13073434) on Tuesday, 25th January 2011
Apollo achieved a lot of things for the day when we have to leave the Earth and without the booster rockets like the Saturn V we would not have weather satellites to tell us how the weather is going to be on Earth. We also need Apollo to get the meteorite searching project going and also learning about the Universe. One could say that Sir Francis Drake only came back with tobacco and potatoes from the New World.
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Message 4
Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
It is probably regarded as the most remarkable of human achievement that men walked on the moon, but ultimately what did it really achieve?Μύ
The use of "ultimately" in your question betrays your own doubts that the accomplishment was worthwhile.
I would argue that no project of exploration can ever be said to have "ultimately" achieved anything since the processes they themselves engender, whether they are adjudged beneficial or not, have no "ultimate" end. In fact one can just as justifiably argue that no single project of exploration can itself be divorced from all the others which have preceded and followed it, but collectively all of them can be used to illustrate a human capacity to prioritise the satisfaction of curiosity over the mere pursuit of a more tangible or material gain. In that sense the Apollo project, just like all the others, was and still is worthwhile in that it is evidence of an ambition on the part of mankind which transcends short-term or short-sighted material want.
A society which is not capable of realising the importance of this ambition in terms of maintaining an optimistic future for mankind is one, in my view, which is condemned to regress.
Per ardua ad astra. -
Message 5
Posted by Mike Alexander (U1706714) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
In my view it's greatest ultimate achievement was enabling people to look back at our planet from space, and see what a beautiful, rare and fragile thing it is. Velcro and non-stick frying pans are rather small fry compared to this, IMHO.
Of course, it also settled the argument over who had the better intercontinental ballistic missile technology, which is why it got the funding. -
Message 6
Posted by Mike Alexander (U1706714) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
Ouch - I meant "its", not "it's". Smack my ungrammatical wrists (and wish for an "edit" feature).
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Message 7
Posted by Jak (U1158529) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
Thanks! Your post (IMHO) is well worth repeating:
From Mike Alexander:
In my view its greatest ultimate achievement was enabling people to look back at our planet from space, and see what a beautiful, rare and fragile thing it is. Velcro and non-stick frying pans are rather small fry compared to this, IMHO.
Of course, it also settled the argument over who had the better intercontinental ballistic missile technology, which is why it got the funding.Μύ -
Message 8
Posted by giraffe47 (U4048491) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
Like a lot of things, it was politics - all about dogs p*ssing on lamposts.
And it proved the most vital point of the 1960s -
the Yankee dog could p*ss on a bigger one than the Russian dog, if it put it's mind to to it. And that was very important to Western Europe over the next 20 years! -
Message 9
Posted by White Camry (U2321601) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
Amphion:
It is probably regarded as the most remarkable of human achievement that men walked on the moon, but ultimately what did it really achieve?Μύ
The notion that it could be done. -
Message 10
Posted by George1507 (U2607963) on Wednesday, 26th January 2011
The Apollo missions also gave us the best, and most famous mission statement of all time. A million management consultants have struggled to come up with something as concise as this in the last 50 years.
This nation should dedicate itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.
Μύ
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