July 20th is the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing of Apollo 11. It was the culmination of over 10 years of U.S. investment in manned space flight that advanced lockstep with the Russians, who were committing their own resources successfully in similar experiments and flights. It was a race and the Americans won it by a nose, at great human and financial cost to both countries.
Apollo 11 didn’t end lunar landings or further space flights after the Apollo program concluded, but it did end the space competition between the two superpowers, at least for now. Indeed, they and other countries did and do co-operate on space exploration through space shuttle (primarily an American initiative) and space station technology, travel and operations.
Humans have always explored new frontiers. It’s part of our intellect to satisfy curiosity, to know more, to seek out new things and new worlds. Most of us wouldn’t be living in North America if it wasn't for Vikings, Christopher Columbus and those that followed. Most of us wouldn’t be beneficiaries of a good standard of living if it wasn’t for scientists and entrepreneurs exploring, pushing, advancing. There are arguments about the excesses of human advancement and alternative uses for the money spent on space exploration, but they’re mostly moot points against our need to explore and discover.
The astronauts who conquered space are the tip of the iceberg, part of a massive team of highly skilled pilots, engineers, scientists, technicians and manufacturers who are responsible for all aspects of planning, design, development, experimentation and flight. The astronauts risk their lives with their flights; however, the risks are mitigated by skill, intensive training and the co-ordinated, detailed work of others. It is perhaps the highest pursuit of human excellence in science and engineering, benefiting from explorations and scientific discoveries that came before, and strewing benefits beyond its direct impact.
Outer space is “the last frontier”, which implies future extraterrestrial colonization. Perhaps, for “across the sea of space, the stars are other suns“, but the main goal of space exploration is to search for knowledge; to learn more about the universe and the Earth’s place in it. We already know a lot about outer space, thanks to geniuses like Aristarchus, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Einstein and Hawking, but much of our knowledge is still based on speculation. Hence, sending humans into space. It always helps to touch something to prove it’s real.
Beyond the science and the universe, beyond fact there is faith; faith in mankind, faith in God. In ancient and pre-modern times, the known and imagined world inspired prophets and others about God. Today it’s the known and imagined universe. Space exploration doesn’t defy God’s existence, it amplifies it. The Apollo 8 crew’s recitation from the Book of Genesis on Christmas Eve, 1968 as they circled the moon was done by design and belief. President Ronald Reagan’s January 1986 eulogy to the lost Challenger crew was poignant and fitting, “…as they prepared for their journey, and waved goodbye, and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God’”.
Roger Jackson is a former deputy minister and a St. Albert resident.
