"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
— Neil Armstrong, astronaut and to walk on the moon
AUBURN, Maine — This date, July 20, 1969, was the day the world’s denizens looked up instead of down on each other.
Three dedicated and gutsy astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins, road a Saturn V rocket all the way to another celestial body — the moon — over a period of eight days.
It was a watershed moment for humanity, where many of us remember where we were when Apollo 11 raced through space at 24,791mph. This daring endeavor kept us staring at that hunk of glowing rock in the sky 50 years ago until all three astronauts safely splashed down on July 24.
Back in Revere, Mass., four sleepy children threw blankets and pillows on the parlor floor at 17 McClure Street and waited impatiently for the brave Armstrong to emerge from the lunar module Eagle, while Collins hovered above the moon in the command module Columbia.
My father, Al Blasi with his wife, Louise, took their usual positions on the couch as four tired children struggled to keep their eyes open in a dark parlor with only a black-and-white TV glowing like a beacon on that historic evening.
Waiting for Armstrong to put his feet on the powdery surface of the moon was agonizing for this drowsy nine-year-old. Every now and then, my father went around the room and nudged us awake, but the sandman cast his sleepy spell on us as we fought a losing battle with him.
When Amstrong stepped out and eventually put his footprints on the moon, my father shook us awake. I just stared at the screen as Amstrong cautious stepped down the ladder and made the world proud. My father understood what was happening 238,900 miles away from Earth, and he made sure his children also understood this was a moment to be witnessed by all humanity.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam war raged, racism had come to a head and three leaders – President Kennedy, his brother, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King were assassinated in a decade where civil unrest was rife and its violence spreading to the streets of America.
America was in need of an event that would bring us together — at least for a few moments.
Despite tumultuous events transpiring across the nation, NASA went ahead with the program that would thrust three human beings across the dark void of space.
Fast forward to now and the country remains widely divided thanks to its own pathetic leaders, whose vitriol has revived racism and all the hate that accompanies this malevolent affliction.
We are at another crossroads and the world seems to be spinning off its access fueled by needless hostility toward one another, and yet, new discoveries are being made despite the stupidity that surrounds us all.
I am sitting here listening to Sinatra’s smooth voice and wondering if another life-changing event is on the horizon to stop the madness.
For naysayers who believe space exploration is a waste of time, I would tell them that it is as necessary as the discovery of fire and the wheel. It is worth the price to see what is out there and serves as a reminder that we are just another small rock in a expanding universe that doesn’t give a damn about us.
So take a moment to look up at the moon to honor three men who put their lives on the line for exploration and discovery, as well as unite earth’s troubled denizens, who are in dire need of coming together again for the sake of humanity.
