December 2007 – Last Man on the Moon: On the 14th of December 1972, Captain Eugene Cernan left the moon to return to Earth. He had no idea that, 35 years later, he would still be the last man to have left his footprints on the lunar surface. Dr Chris Lintott travels to the Johnson Space Centre to talk to the Commander of Apollo 17 about his memories of being on the moon.
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Filed under: The Sky at Night
Been waiting for a break at work to enter a few thoughts…
I have to admit I've never really gotten this lib/destiny argument – maybe it's the analogies to cars, coaches, eggs, etc…my brain needs real-world examples. And I'm not sure the Race to the Moon is such a good one. Wasn't it initiated by a Kennedy and nurtured by LBJ? (Johnson Space Center, anyone?). And if we've failed to follow that tremendous arc in the years since, it can't be ALL because of those liberals; in the 40 years since the last man on the moon, there've been Republicans in the WH much more than 50% of the time. So where was the pro-destiny conservative leadership during all that time?
And when your argument moves to capitalism, destiny gets downgraded from the highest sort of scientific achievement (hey, I loved the moon race, too!) to man's natural right to accumulate as much stuff as possible, without being restrained by liberal shackles like environmental impact or disproportionate consumption of resources. We do have a disagreement here, but do you really want to call that destiny?
I actually have an example for this one: everyday driving home on over-developed Rt 1, I pass a lone patch of woods — or actually, I used to, because I've watched it get ripped up and replaced by a new Audi dealership. I know I'm supposed to say, “Hooray! Another car dealer gets to fulfill his destiny of selling more overpriced cars!” But I liked looking at the woods and I feel bad for the animals that were displaced. And if an initiative comes up that makes that kind of thing illegal, I'll definitely vote for it. I say I'm choosing aesthetics and quality of life — you say I'm thwarting man's destiny. But do we also disagree on which one (woods vs. another concrete monstrosity in NJ) makes the world a better place to live in?
And finally, I think my overall discomfort with your concept of man's destiny has more to do with religious agnosticism than my liberalness…here's a clarifying Aristotelian question: do all animals have a destiny, or just man?
I would recommend a book that will tell you something about the character of Dr. Harrison Schmitt. It is “The Last Man on the Moon” by Captain Eugene Cernan (St. Martin’s Press) who was Schmitt’s commander on Apollo 17. Cernan wasn’t very fond of Schmitt at the beginning. They were two very different personalities. Cernan was the gregarious Navy pilot and veteran astronaut. Schmitt (or “Dr. Rock” as Cernan called him) was a scientist … and a rookie! But as the men worked together here on Earth, as well as on the Moon, Cernan came to respect Harrison Schmitt enormously. “I trusted him without question,” Cernan wrote. “We were a doggone good team.” And he concluded, “Jack Schmitt … more than proved his worth.” Not just as an astronaut, but as a human being. “Jack is a rare and talented individual.”