It's probably rare in a lifetime for really big events to occur, outside of the periodic warfare that humanity routinely indulges in. I am not talking about the death of eminent or popular figures either. I am talking about seminal, groundbreaking or extraordinary events that change perceptions at the moment they occur and resonate into the future.
One such event occured 40 years ago. I was huddled with my peers in a primary school classroom in Killarney Heights. The teacher had wheeled the cumbersome black and white TV into our room, and we all sat and waited for Neil Armstrong to emerge from the lunar module, descend the ladder and set foot on the moon. The images were grainy, shadowy and hard to make out. Armstrong's words were slightly slurred from the static interference and the delay. But the effect was magical. Something happened that changed the way we thought about our place in the universe. Boundaries were crossed.
For me and many of my friends, the astronauts were heroes. Not just on Apollo 11, but on all the space missions. They caught and fired the imagination. How small-minded, insular and foolish those people then who claim the landing was an elaborate hoax, who produce false science and logic to argue their case. I use the word 'case' advisedly, as even this might confer a modicum of respect on their pathetic delusions.
So to Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. Congratulations. Then, and now.
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