If the human race endures, and expands beyond the Earth — two conditions which may be inseparable — the twentieth of July, AD 1969, will surely be remembered as one of the greatest days in history. The fourth of October, 1957*, and the twelfth of April, 1961†, are both important, and both are now commemorated, the one officially and internationally with World Space Week, the other by space enthusiasts as Yuri's Night ; but both events were fundamentally Earthbound. The Apollo 11 landing is a thing of a different kind.
The achievement of placing a man on the Moon is a marvellous thing, and worthy of celebration purely for its own sake. For those who have vision, however — and particularly the adherents of the Luna Project — it is far more. The first human footprint on another world marks the beginning of a new era, in which Man is no longer a creature of one planet only, but an inhabitant of the whole Universe. Keeping this holiday, we remember that we are indeed living in the Space Age, and we remind others.
With the passage of two generations, and wondering how many of the Apollo astronauts, advanced in age as they are (though mostly quite vigorous), will live to see the 50th anniversary, and especially considering the hope of a new foundation in the work of the Luna Project, we think it wholly justified to extend our observances throughout the anniversary year, & this site will be maintained accordingly.
Let us know about events you are organizing or participating in, and we will list them here. Whatever sort of celebration it is, a little extra publicity, and contact with others doing the same, can only be to the good.
*Launch of Sputnik Zeymli 1, the first artificial
Earth satellite
†First human space-flight, by Yuri Gagarin in
Vostok 1 ; also, twenty years later to the day, STS-1 (first flight of
Space Shuttle Columbia)