Today marks the 45th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. If you need to filter it through social media, NASA has what you need. Then there’s @reliveapollo11, this year’s version of @apolloplus40. The latest Tweet:
While most of us are looking back (or listening to those who were around back then) NASA is trying to look forward. The next big human mission is around a few corners. The path to Mars, at least for now, will be traveled by robots. The U.S. will finally have independent access to the International Space Station by 2017, and send humans past Earth orbit roughly five decades after the last Apollo mission returned from the moon.
There is plenty to look forward to, but I sometimes wonder about our patience to wait for it. Congress has pushed back on the asteroid mission for years, and it’s hard to recall the last time that Congress and a President were on the same page about how to proceed with humans in space. Maybe if companies like SpaceX continue to expand and take over the more mundane aspects of space, politicians can stop getting in our own way and make it easier to get back to the final frontier.
Pasco Phronesis 