Mr. Armstrong died today.
I am honoured to have walked the earth at the same time he did. I fear, though, that he – and the other Apollo astronauts – are going to be the last of the great explorers for a long, long time.
If so, an entire epoch of human civilization, starting from Christopher Columbus, is ending.
I hope I’m wrong, and that we are just in a hiatus for a century or less. But, without any way to make space profitable, and without portable and cheap fusion (for now), we’ve hit the ceiling of the possible. As it is, the Kessler Syndrome is more likely to cut us off completely from space for a generation or four.
I’m glad that Neil Armstrong made that step, but I’m saddened that so very few were able to follow him.
This is due to the shortsightedness of our leaders, both elected or otherwise…
It happens. I root for the private sector, but it’s going to be a long time till they can find a way to profit from the moon…