Abandon In Place

I’d meant to post this yesterday, the 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, but forgot. It’s a column I wrote on the 30th anniversary in 1999, and sadly, there’s little need to update it five years later.

Yes, there is cause for hope, what with a private spaceflight movement aborning and the prospect for a long-needed evolution at NASA something more than laughable for a change, but in my darker moments, I fear all that’s really happened since I wrote that piece is, we’ve lost a space shuttle.

There’s been more, and much of it good, but it’s now half a lifetime since Armstrong and Aldrin. That’s far too long for a high-water mark to stand.

UPDATE: NASA has posted a gallery of newly-digitized photos from Apollo 11, and they are magnificent. Be prepared to spend some time and bandwidth before you click here.