Anniversaries...
Jul. 20th, 2003 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpIn this centennial year of flight, millions of people fly on airplanes daily, The cost of a flight is within the financial capabilities of many, many people.
One can argue that aviation did not make the same strides in its first 12 years as were made in space flight over the same time. By 1915, airplanes had progressed to the point where they were gaining serious acceptance as weapons of The Great War.
Twelve years after Sputnik was lofted into low Earth orbit, and thirty-four years ago today, three humans made a trip to the Moon. It began to appear that the world as described by science fiction writers in the pre-space-flight years was coming to pass. Today, we are still stuck in low-Earth orbit, except for communications satellites that must orbit at an altitude of 36,000 miles or so, from where they can help fatten the coffers of the entertainment industries.
Sommewhere along the line, however, we fell back into one of those cycles that Kipling describes in his Gods of the Copybook Headings:
Well, maybe not all of us.
Cheers...
One can argue that aviation did not make the same strides in its first 12 years as were made in space flight over the same time. By 1915, airplanes had progressed to the point where they were gaining serious acceptance as weapons of The Great War.
Twelve years after Sputnik was lofted into low Earth orbit, and thirty-four years ago today, three humans made a trip to the Moon. It began to appear that the world as described by science fiction writers in the pre-space-flight years was coming to pass. Today, we are still stuck in low-Earth orbit, except for communications satellites that must orbit at an altitude of 36,000 miles or so, from where they can help fatten the coffers of the entertainment industries.
Sommewhere along the line, however, we fell back into one of those cycles that Kipling describes in his Gods of the Copybook Headings:
...the burnt fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire...In other words, we're all more interested in continuing our neverending game of bowb-your-buddy week, where everyone pursues short term goals at someone else's expense, than in any activity guided by long-term vision.
Well, maybe not all of us.
Cheers...
