Moon Shadow

Last week I saw the documentary In The Shadow of the Moon

It documents, through the recollections of some of the astronauts who went to the moon and returned safely "home", the story of the NASA's Apollo Space Program. Among their observations were "it was a time when we did great things" and that when Apollo 11 landed on the moon people all over the world said "we did it" ... "we" meaning, in the latter case, all mankind.

So, to me seeing this very well-made movie was bittersweet. It reminded me of a time when America did do "great things" that benefited people everywhere ... a time when our reputation among other nations was good and people everywhere widely admired America.

The Apollo story has personal meaning for me, as during my college days I hoped to work for NASA after getting my degree from NYU in aeronautics and astronautics. Unfortunately, by the time I had entered my senior year, NASA's recruitment of aeronautical engineers was very limited, as the manned space program (or at least the engineering effort to support it) was starting to wind down.

Several Apollo missions to the moon were scrubbed because of political lack of interest and desire to spend money on other efforts. Such as the Viet Nam conflagration.

As a result of NASA's diminished recruiting effort and my continued desire to work in the public sector, I wound up working after graduation at the Naval Ordnance Station, Indian Head, MD. My early years at work included testing and evaluating the performance of rockets used in escape systems of Naval aircraft. I like to think my efforts helped save the lives of pilots who had to eject from stricken or malfunctioning aircraft.