Wikipedia commons
Forty-six
years ago today, the first man stepped on the moon. At the time I was serving
on HMS Zulu and we were berthed in Bahrein 21-29 July. It was a momentous event
for most of us.
Neil
Armstrong became the first to step onto the lunar surface
six hours after the landing, on July 21. Broadcast on live TV to a world-wide
audience, Armstrong said, ‘One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’
He spent about two and a half hours outside the
spacecraft, Aldrin who followed spent slightly less, and together they
collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material for return to Earth. Expensive rock samples
– and yet in their way paradoxically priceless. It seemed as though a new space
age had dawned, though of course that isn’t what happened, because of political,
economic and safety reasons. Yet mankind’s future is among the stars – perhaps after we’ve attained ‘world
peace’ – as envisaged by Gene Roddenberry.
And I wonder how the fiftieth anniversary will be marked.
My take on Armstrong’s quotation can be found in this
previously published sci-fi short story, 'A Gigantic Leap':
