Apollo... but where next?
16 July, 1969. Today cannot pass without some comment.
People may ask why the appears to be getting some kind of special treatment. If that is the case, there are probably a few good reasons. Not that we should really need any - on the CV of Homo sapiens, the Apollo moon landings must surely stand out as one of the truly great achievements.
But it is true that this may be the last major anniversary when we still have all the big players with us; many would be in their late eighties, nearly ninety, when the 50th comes around.
It is also the case that we are at a particular moment in time when major decisions have to be made about what we do next in space; and looking back can also help focus the mind to find the right path going forward.
As chance would have it, those tasked with making some of the big decisions were formally put in post this week. and were as Nasa administrator and deputy by the US senate.
President Barack Obama has initiated a of post-shuttle human-spaceflight plans, to check whether the Apollo-like systems ordered as a replacement for the soon-to-retire orbiter really do meet the needs of a 21st Century space strategy.
Charles Bolden - former astronaut, combat and test pilot - comes into his post at a critical time for the US space agency.
There is no question that the "spacescape" is changing. Privateers are seeing opportunities to move into domains that have until now been the sole preserve of big government programmes.
In that light, it was interesting to see on Monday the company launch its first commercial payload into orbit. SpaceX is one of the that have been asked to provide commercial cargo services to the International Space Station.
And we should also see the first sub-orbital spaceliner unveiled by towards the end of the year. These are just a couple of examples of what some people are calling "new space" activity.
But this doesn't mean governmental space activity, or "old space", is about to be swept aside. Far from it. It does, though, need to set itself a coherent vision.
John Rockefeller, the Senate committee chairman who questioned Bolden prior to his confirmation, said during the hearings:
"People refer to what has been done. Very few refer to what might be done. I need bolstering on Nasa, personally."
Apollo bolstered the entire world. What would do the same today? Going back to the Moon, which is the current goal? Going to Mars, which is what Buzz Aldrin - one of the three men whose achievements we mark today - would like us to do?
But enough of futurology. There's time to wallow in the past. We've collected some bits and pieces into a . There's an insightful essay from space historian and filmmaker and a fascinating feature on the .
A word too for "our man" Reg Turnill, the 91Èȱ¬'s aerospace correspondent in 1969. Reg has forgotten more than journeyman hacks like me will ever know about space. and view his reports in the 91Èȱ¬ Archive.
An external suggestion: try . It has a great Apollo reconstruction on Twitter that you can follow in the next few days.
And an Apollo memory? I was five in 1969 so have no recollection of Apollo 11. But I remember vividly Dave Scott's on Apollo 15. That really did appear to be magic to this little boy.
±õ’m 
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