35th Anniversary - the first man on the Moon, Neil Amstrong

[alexa]

On July 20th, 1969 at 4:18 pm, 35th years ago, Apollo 11 had landed on the surface of the Moon, into the place known by the name, the Sea of Tranquillity.

The members of the crew : Commander Neil A. Amstrong, Command Module Pilot, Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.

http://www.space.com/images/ig205_01_02.jpg

At 10:56 p.m. the same evening and withnessed by a worldwide television audiance, Neil Amstrong stepped off onto the lunar surface and said the famous phrase:

That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind

http://www.space.com/images/ig205_07_02.jpg

[I, Brian]

35 years, eh? Almost extraordinary that the achievements haven't been particularly built upon in terms of human exploration.

[alexa]

It's incredible, isn't it ? After 35 years, there is no Moon base !

I am sure you will laugh, Brian, if I tell you the Canadians didn't say no to a future collaboration with USA to return on the Moon. They said only we don't have enough money. LOL ! A quarter of my salary goes in taxes.

[I, Brian]

Just a quarter? You ought to see how well taxed we are in Britain - only it goes under a wide range of other disguises - VAT, duty, national insurance...

[alexa]

So, it's better for me in Canada. Even, if in Québec we have double taxes, provincial and federal.

Thanks, Brian. I feel great now.

[I, Brian]

Oh, we have national and local taxes, too.

[alexa]

So, if USA propose an alliance for a base on the Moon, U.K. will say no, as there are no money for it ?

[I, Brian]

More like nothing worth spending on. The British government never seems to have made an issue of space funding.

[alexa]

What about the private sector ? You know that NASA, for the first time in history will provide money, as a prize to the winner of X Prize contest ? This year, they are aloud to supply $250,000, but for the next year they'll try to raise till $20 millions.

In this conditions, the winner team recovers their expenses so I think the competition will be rather interesting. Space Ship One will have soon others to follow her trace. Who knows ? Maybe U.K.'s team.

[I, Brian]

Private space funding? Sure - it was called Beagle 2 - and it was flown into Mars on Christmas Day. Literally.

Unfortunately, in typical European fashion, the report into the debacle is kept secret. There's something to encourage future projects.

The USA may set itself up for a lot of criticism - but that's probably as much because it is a much more open society. Here in Britain - and a lot of the EU - things are swept under carpets as a matter of tradition.

[alexa]

I'm really interested in space travel and possible life on other planets, so I'll keep an eye to NASA's activity. If I can find something interesting, I'll let you know.

I had left Europe a while ago, so I can understand what tradition means there.

Good invention, the e-mail, isn't it ?