One Small…. Ooops!

"The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork."
Oscar Wilde

The 40th anniversary of one of the most impressive scientific achievements ever is upon us. At the urging of JFK the US spent a gazillion dollars, employed a quarter-gazillion big brained scientists and miraculously over a period of less than 10 years managed to get bodies on the moon and bring them back. We take it for granted now, but really, what an astounding thing to do.* It might be argued that at 10:17 pm EST, July 20, 1969, America reached its crowning glory, the culmination of 300 years of unheard of economic, military, social and scientific progress, and everything since has been anti-climax.

For me, though, whenever something reminds me of the event, it is not the achievement, the iconic visual image of Armstrong, looking like the Michelin Man, taking that step, or geopolitical implications, it is that Armstrong blew his line. "One small step for man…." How many times have we heard that? And how often, if ever for most people, does it occur to one that it was a mistake. "Man" and "mankind" both being synonyms for "humanity", the first words spoken from the surface of that bleak satellite were self-contradictory drivel. (I also find this a fascinating point because many Asians and others whose languages have no definite or indefinite articles often question the necessity of them.) Armstrong did at some point later indicate that he had intended to say "That's one small step for a man…".

Perhaps I wax too imaginative or poetic, but I can't help but see this trifling slip as the perfect encapsulation of modern America: At the end of an awesomely spectacular journey that few could have imagined much less attempted, history's greatest ever social/political/economic experiment achieves a celestial apex - then blows it's line.

(*All this means nothing, of course, if you are one of those delightfully wacky people who are convinced the whole thing never happened. Conspiracy theories? I'm all for them! I figure pretty much everything we see is a part of or function of one utterly unbelievable conspiracy or another. But the moon landing shot on a movie lot? Even for this card carrying tin foil hat wingnut, this is a stretch.)

[Another related quote I like:
"September 11 defines a generation that was not around when JFK was assassinated or when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Therefore, those old enough to have witnessed the event will never forget images from that day." - Jeff Kiley
No idea who this guy is but I like his line.]