As a child, I was obsessed with the American space program, which, along with its unparalleled collection of rollercoasters, was one of the many things that initially attracted me to the United States and convinced me that it was better than everywhere else. I can remember reading about the Apollo missions in awe, but also being shocked to learn that, by the time of the later excursions — Apollo 15, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17, in particular — the general public was no longer interested. This, frankly, astonished and annoyed me. Naturally, nothing was going to beat Apollo 11 in the popular imagination, and, for obvious reasons, Apollo 13 had its own grim televisual appeal. But these were manned missions to the moon! How could the whole world not have be transfixed during every single one.

The best case I could come up with was that, in 1971 and 1972, Apoll0 11 had been recent. Amazing, yes. But amazing a couple of years ago. Humans are impatient, complacent, and easily bored, and the moon landing was so 1960s. Oh look, Dick Cavett’s on!

But what, pray, is the excuse for indifference now? Today, from Cape Canaveral here in Florida, NASA is sending humans back to the moon.........

© National Review