Elections Have Consequences…

Also, 40 years ago this month, Mary Jo Kopechne breathed her last when Ted Kennedy’s car ran off the Dyke bridge on Chappaquiddick Island. Kennedy didn’t report the accident for 9 hours. He’s never served any jail time for manslaughter….

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@Cary:

I posted this on the other thread.

I found it interesting.

Fortunately, Nixon never had to give this speech:

An Undelivered Nixon Speech

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. The following speech, revealed in 1999, was prepared by Nixon’s then speechwriter, William Safire, to be used in the event of a disaster that would maroon the astronauts on the moon:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.
These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind. (Source: Watergate.info)

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@Aye Chihuahua:

Very good point, Aye. Especially since it was only two years later that we were on the moon. This further strengthens my point that the tragic casualties endured are not enough to justify a u-turn of the program, considering the benefits.

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@Cary:

Does your total of 14 include Grissom, Chaffee, and White?

I would say that event would have to be included in the disaster count as well.

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@Cary:

Great Space Program link! Too many have no idea how much we have benefited from NASA research and development.

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@Aye Chihuahua:

Thanks, Aye. So in the entire history of the Space Program, there have been two disasters and one near disaster, resulting in 14 deaths. That’s less than the amount of casualties endured while building the Brooklyn Bridge.

As an aside, I got a chuckle when I read on the NASA website I linked in #23, that they use the term “humankind”! LOL

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@Cary:

and Columbia.

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@Mike’s America:

That and the shuttle Challenger, which I think pushed back civilian space travel consderably, no matter what happens in the future. An unfortunate tragedy which goes beyond the loss of those lives.

I’ve heard it argued that since there is “nothing” in Space, we are wasting our efforts and money by investing in the Space Program. Yet, what I find most compelling in the article I cited above, is that, as the Apollo 11 Astronauts point out, we recieved 30 times our investment back. I can’t think of anything that we’re doing that does that today, nor even which stimulates the Nation’s morale nearly as much.

A list of much of the return on the Space Program investment can be found here:

http://techtran.msfc.nasa.gov/at_home.html

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@Cary: I’m not going to get hung up on a single letter either.

And as you say, there were other concerns on that mission.

Watching the History Channel the last few days I learned that the switch to enable the start up of the rocket to get them off the moon broke on it’s circuit board in the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM). If they had not been able to get the circuit to work by jamming a pen in the hole, they might never have lifted off.

It was a miracle that we got six crews to the moon and back without any loss of life. Apollo 13 showed just how dangerous these missions were.

That might be part of the reason we haven’t gone back.

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@MataHarley:

Actually, I had a teacher show us The Who’s Tommy and have us dissect it’s meaning. Til this day, I don’t know the educational value in having done that, or that Tommy is that particularly profound (great music, though!). Planet of the Apes might have been a better choice, I don’t know! LOL

I agree with you that given all of Armstrong’s accomplishments, creative writing or even public speaking is not on that list, so it’s a bit silly to hold him to such strict grammatical standards. However, I do find the phrase to be inspired, poetic, and powerful. Though I’ve never actually sat and wrote an “analysis” of it before this thread, and was just doing so in response to Toothfairy’s comment. (not sure where you’re getting the “philosophy lesson” bit from, but I agree that too much is made of it.)

Like I said, if a single one letter word was the only thing he blew on that entire mission, I think it’s rather ridiculous for anyone to be up in arms about it!

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