One Small Step (Neil Armstrong 1930-2012)

The image of the moon landing has been shown so many times that I can no longer remember whether I saw it happen or whether it I saw it recorded on television later. Certainly I recall the sound and the black and white of the lunar surface moving beneath the camera. It marks my childhood: the death of Winston Churchill, the Six Day War, the Invasion of Czechoslovakia and Apollo 11. Now, it is an event which seems more astonishing with distance. Looking at the technology it seems so crude, almost improvised. The combination of political determination, technical achievement and individual courage stands at the very pinnacle of what we as humans can do. The epic scale of what was done is something beyond a life or a lifetime. We question now, whether the scientific outcomes justify the endeavour. Science is however, not only about understanding the universe but about coming to terms with our place in it. It is about the observer as much as the observed. The moon landing can only be seen in these terms.

So when I look at the moon, yes, I will think of Neil Armstrong.