am I that old?

Thirty-seven years ago today, on July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first two human beings to step onto the surface of the Moon. In the following three years, ten more men, all Americans, landed on our nearest neighbor in space.

Today, loonies from all walks of life deny that the missions to the Moon occurred and that the landings were faked, part of a vast conspiracy to defraud the American public and the world as to the power and technological might of the United States. These people manage to persuade themselves of the most intricate and unlikely "explanations" as to how all of the literally other-worldly and unreproducible conditions on our sister world were laboriously faked at secret locations here on Earth.

It saddens me to see humanity's greatest achievement disrespected like this. I am not going to rebut the hoax theorists in this post, but if you would like to see these idiotic rants trashed, go to www.badastronomy.com and educate yourself.

On a personal note, because of my own association with the world of astronomy and space exploration, I have had the honor to meet and talk at length with six of the twelve Moonwalkers over the years, and even if there were truly unexplained inconsistencies (which there indisputably aren't) if there is one thing I know, it is that these six men that I had the privilege of meeting and talking to are not liars, and they really did go to another world and return safely.

So, congratulations and health and long life to the remaining Moonwalkers. Thank you for your courage and thank you for your inspiration. May your names live long in history.






Oh, and for the simpleton who told me to "go play with your organ" I have a better idea. You can choke on my organ, you ignorant dropout.