Moon Shmoon - What Have You Done for Me Lately?

This is not going to be just another one of those "I remember where I was" stories -- this time, about where I was 40 years ago today when a human being first stepped upon the surface of another celestial body in the solar system. I was eight, it was summer, I was sleepy and I wanted to go to bed. Both my mother and father insisted I stay up (what time was it?) and watch a human being step foot on the moon.

I was too young, the image too grainy, and -- did I mention? -- I was tired and wanted to go to bed. But, they made me stay up and (of course) I am glad because I got to see something few others got to see (well, if "few" is defined as the estimated 250,000,000 people who watched).

But, what have we done lately? Okay, we put a lander on Mars in 1976, and countless probes went out into space around and past most of the planets -- and we have even had a few more probes land on Mars. I understand these are big technological achievements, but, seriously, why -- 40 years later -- do we not have humans living on Mars?

Sure, you could blame Nixon for massive cuts to NASA (and a few hundred other things), you could blame Vietnam, the economy, stupid people in general -- but, really, why do we not have humans living on Mars?

We had a great start -- beating the Russians (hell, beating everyone) to the moon; so, what, we sit on our laurels for a few decades and finally, in just the past couple years, perk up and say "Hey, wait. Weren't we going to keep on to Mars, or something?"

According to all those science fiction stories we should have been living on Mars AND other planets by now. Flying from solar system to solar system, galaxy to galaxy. Man, talk about a wasted opportunity.

Sure, people said then (and, surprisingly, still say today) "Why go into space when we have so many problems at home?" Well, that's a pretty stupid question. We went into space for the same reason humans went past that large outcropping of rocks, crossed that river, sailed over that ocean: to see what was over there.

We went into space and invented tons of neat technology that we USE EVERY DAY. Imagine what inventions are in store as we try to find a way to have humans live on Mars, and get water and oxygen from the surface, or the motors we will build to use small amounts of electricity from the distant sun. Imagine how our world will change once we get off our butts and get back into space.

Imagine, 40 years ago, the wonders that an 8-year-old boy thought when, through sleep-filled eyes, he watched a man step on the moon -- and imagine the disappointment he feels today.