Appollo programmet er nok det videnskabelige projekt der har skubbet hårdest på teknologiens grænser. I dag finder vi det måske knap så fantastisk, fordi vi jævnligt ser opsendelser af satellitter, men nutidens teknologi er mange hundrede gange mere avanceret en 60’ernes. Kommandomodulet havde faktisk ikke mere elektronisk regnekraft end der nu er i chippen fra et musikalsk fødselsdagskort.
De havde selvfølgelig øvet sig lidt. Både med Mercury projektet og med det efterfølgende Gemini projektet, der begge skubbede teknologiske grænser og indsamlede nødvendige data, men det er altså ikke det samme som at flyve til månen. Desuden skulle man jo gerne have astronauterne tilbage, og det sidste var man altså ikke sådan 100% sikker på man kunne.
Alle der var involveret i projektet kendte risikoen, og det var nok bare den beundrende verdensbefolkning der ikke helt forstod indsatsen. Chancerne for at strande på månen var anset for så høje, at Nixon fik William L. Safire til at skrive en tale – just in case.
Heldigvis gik det jo ikke så galt, men jeg syntes alligevel talen bør læses. Bemærk at talen er skrevet til at blive læst, mens de to astronauter stadig er i live, men deres skæbne forseglet.
“Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.
These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.
They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.
In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.
In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.
Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.
For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.”
