Centerpiece of a Century      
      
   It's been said that if civilization survives two or three more centuries, the only thing space-traveling people will know or care about the 20th century is our moon landings. The Apollo 11 visit in particular - 50 years ago today - would be known as the first of many, like we remember the Wright brothers for their first flight. 

   [Why anyone wants to leave Earth for more than a few days, we don't know.]

Final notes about the Apollo events:

   Apollo 11 flew just 65 years after the Wright brothers.

   JFK, whose name is on the Space Center, was NOT interested in space. His mission was national security, to out-compete the Soviets however necessary. Remember Sputnik? His successor, LBJ, did favor the space program for its own sake.

   Apollo astronauts brought home moon rocks, but they left behind some things too: lunar landers, moon cars, camera gear, backpacks, flags (now faded), and 96 bags of human waste. Total junk - estimated at 400,000 pounds. 

   Alan Shepard, Apollo 14, left two golf balls on the moon.

   A feather didn't add much, but a three-pound hammer joined the falcon feather in an experiment by David Scott on Apollo 15. He dropped both items from the same height, and both landed together. Scott said this proved Galileo's theory that mass, or weight, doesn't have any effect on gravitational pull. Both items remain on the moon. 

   Charles Duke, Apollo 16 (see yesterday's Views), left a picture of his family, but brought back a picture of the picture.

   And we leave you here, until tomorrow.

       Jimmy