We choose to go to the moon

Well, obviously I am a day late, but yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. And again, obviously, I wasn't alive when it happened, but watching the footage 40 years later was still pretty amazing. It almost made me cry. I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience that in real life.

All my life, I have been interested in astronomy, although my fear of flying, crappy vestibular system, and lack of physics knowledge pretty much killed all my dreams of ever becoming an astronaut. But it's still pretty amazing to think about all of the planets and stars and all of the other solar systems in our universe.

I'll admit, I have always had my questions as to whether or not the moon landing really did occur or if it was orchestrated by NASA to appease the American people. I mean, there ARE a lot of questionable things about it...

1) If there is no wind on the moon, yet still enough gravity for men to stand on it, how was it possible for the American flag to stick straight out after it was put in the ground?

2) Why does Neil Armstrong refuse to talk about it?

3) If you have ever been to the space station in Florida and seen replica of the "lunar module" that was used, I think you know where I'm going with this...It looks like it was made out of aluminum foil. And the pictures of the real thing look like that too. It's pretty hard to believe.

4) If NASA really has sent men to the moon, why are we wasting our time with the space shuttle program just having them circle the earth? Shouldn't we have progressed to bigger and better things by now?

5) Was Apollo 13 orchestrated as well, just to get the American people "excited" about going to the moon again?

But, with all these questions, I still do believe that it actually happened. Maybe I just want to believe it, but it was a dream that actually came true and something great that was accomplished by American citizens. It should be motivation for all of us, that we can actually accomplish our dreams, no matter how difficult they may seem.

And I will leave you with part of the speech given by President John F. Kennedy, which is now one of my favorite quotes of all time:

"[We do these things] not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one that we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win..."