Fire, Flesh, Tin and Trust

[phantasm]

Fire and mathematics. Vacuum and atmosphere.

Metal, human flesh, and rocket fuel.

Does all that sound like a good combination to you?

What do you say we throw all that stuff together into one pot?

You might face the wrath of the fickle gods if you make one small misstep.

But in this combination is the raw power of beauty, faith and nobility.

I have just one little question: How far do you trust your fellow man?

Would you like to be locked inside a giant tin can with a couple of people for, oh, several days?

A tin can that's replacing a warhead on a massive rocket?

What about the guy who built the giant tin can? Do you trust him?

And the subcontractor he farmed out some of the work to because it was too hard for him, do you trust that subcontractor?

And you know what, that subcontractor had to hire a couple of subcontractors, too, you know.

What about the guy who makes nuts and bolts for a living? Do you trust him?

And the guy who makes parachutes for a living? Do you trust him?

And the guy who..... well, you get the picture..........

If you can put your concerns to bed, this is the prize you might win:

You get to see the Earth hanging in the deep darkness like a Christmas ornament.

You get to see Earthrise over the horizon of the Moon.

Then cue your favorite music from your playlist and do a moon dance on the surface of the moon.

You made it! You and your buddies made it to the Moon!

Now all you have to do is get back to Earth.......

How does that sound? Would you take the trip?

[phantasm]

Happy 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission!










[OK, so the ships weren't made out of tin. I took some creative licensing on that point... I like the alliteration of 'tin and trust.']

[darkness0within]

I'll tell you, you've got to have a pioneering spirit to do what they did to get to the Moon.

And to think our mobile phones have more computing power than what those astronauts had on the Apollo missions.

An excellent write Phantasm.

[phantasm]

>>And to think our mobile phones have more computing power than what those astronauts had on the Apollo missions.


Kinda sorta. In terms of raw computing power, indisputably. However. That doesn't mean you could grab your USB charger
and just plug it in to some power source and go to the moon using your smartphone. You need to model physics in a fairly
detailed way to get from Earth to the Moon. You can't just "aim and shoot." Well, you could, but it would likely kill you
in the process. You need to understand the celestial mechanics of the moon's orbit. You need to know precisely where it's going
to be ahead of time. That's the real trick. You need specialized software, not just the raw computing power.

[moseley]

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