Long road of confusion on ‘one small step for man’

Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landings. That was when man first walked on the moon and Buzz Aldrin uttered those unforgettable words ‘that’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’.

Since virtually every television station is awash with news and background information about the moon landings of 1969, I don’t think there is a need for me to reiterate what they are saying. However, that being said, in some circles of skeptics there are numerous conspiracy theories surrounding that moon landing. For example, the first is whether or not that moon landing actually took place. Some reckon it did not and that it was one humongous hoax played on the world by NASA who set up a Hollywood like stage and televised it for the rest of the word. Why they would do that is hard to tell but something did strike me as being odd yesterday.

One astronaut who was part of the Apollo 11 mission was being interviewed on a news channel. He was asked to describe his feelings and what he saw when he stepped out of the lunar module for the first time. I was expecting some amazing description of what he saw when he looked up but to my consternation, and in my humble opinion, for an astronaut who’d been on the moon he wasn’t able to say much about what the sky was like or what the moon was like except that the sun was very bright! I think we could all say that without ever having to leave our living rooms!

The second conspiracy theory states, yes, they did go to the moon but they are hiding what they saw. Some conspiracy theories reckon that aliens had set up base on the far side of the moon, that the Apollo 11 astronauts had seen them but are hiding that encounter from the rest of the world. My response would be that if aliens had indeed set up base there, why had they not contacted earth in 50 years? Or why had no one, especially SETI, picked up any signals from the moon?

The third puzzling question many skeptics are asking is if they did go to the moon in 1969 when technology was in its infancy, in the 50 years since, with the astronomical advances in technology, why have they not gone again!

So with that said, did they or didn’t they? I think you should decide. But if you do think that it was all a hoax, I strongly believe you should say it out loud in case people think you a kook.

But 1969 wasn’t only the year of the moon landings. Amidst the background of the landings there were other events that also took place which were probably also in the news. For example, Richard Nixon was president of the United States. Years later, at the insistence of his Republican party, he was forced to resign amid the Watergate scandal. For him it was a choice between being impeached and leaving office. He chose the former.

It was also the year when Senator Edward Kennedy was driving along a road when his car plunged into a pond. Later when the car was recovered a woman’s body was found in the passenger seat. This was dubbed the Chappaquiddick affair. It also highlights how unfortunate and tragic the lives of the Kennedy men have been. Now since Donald Trump has been president, many of his critics have taken numerous pot-shots at him and his family for not serving in the military yet wanting his military parade. The pot-shot are about the excuses he’s made for not serving. In fact, as a joke, they’ve told him that even HM Queen Elizabeth, a woman, has served. She entered the armed service in 1969.

1969 was also the year that the PLO was founded to fight for the Palestinian cause, when the death penalty was abolished in the UK and when the first Cash Machine (or ATM) was introduced into America. It was also the year that the concord took its maiden flight and when the very first human eye transplant was performed.

Now if you were a Beatles fan at the time you might also have been quite dismayed that when they released their album ‘Abbey Road’, it was their final one. But on the upside it was also the year that ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ was released along with the John Wayne classic ‘True Grit’. And of course, we all love Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy who, despite being a pig, is the cutest Muppet of them all. 1969 was also the year that Jim Henson’s ‘Sesame Street’ made its debut. It made a huge difference to the education of children around the world and still does today.