Today, I am thankful for those that never keep still.
Our incessant quest for knowledge have helped propel the human species forward for more than 50 millennia. Every day we awake, we read the newspaper, scroll through our Twitter feeds, and ask probing questions of our family, friends, and colleagues with one goal in mind – further enlightenment. This unceasing pursuit of truth catapults us to explore everything and anything that we possibly can.
On this day (July 16) over 50 years ago, the United States set out for the one celestial body Earth calls its own – the Moon. When President John F. Kennedy inspired the nation in the early 1960s by proclaiming his quest to put a ‘man on the Moon’ before the end of 1969, he did so knowing this daunting task was not going to be a walk in the park: “We choose to go to the Moon in this decade, among other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard … because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.” Of course, some of this zestful yearning was boosted by our expanding understanding of aviation science (including advances in rocket technology, astrophysics, and computerized electronics), while some of it was based solely on national pride. Some of it was also driven by human curiosity.
The Apollo 11 mission was extraordinary for many reasons, but what is most remarkable is that this spectacular endeavor was completed successfully on its first attempt. When the Surveyor V rocket launched the Apollo 11 mission into space on July 16, 1969, no one was definitively sure whether the spacecraft (nicknamed Columbia) and the lunar lander (nicknamed Eagle) would successfully land on the Moon. But when Neil Armstrong proclaimed that ‘The Eagle has landed’ approximately 4 days later (on July 20, 1969), the world celebrated (and let out at collective gasp). NASA would successfully repeat the lunar landings on 5 other occasions (with Apollo Missions 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17), which were conducted between November 1969 and December 1972.
What attracts humans to maintain a never-ending pursuit of knowledge? In the case of the moon expedition, was it our competitive nature against the Soviet Union, our innate curiosity, or some compelling force within us that drives to succeed new heights as a species? Or maybe it’s just that we have been staring up that celestial body in the sky for nearly 50 millennia night after night, wondering I wonder what it’s like up there?
Truth be told, the moon pulls us to it. When we visit the beach, we are reminded by the presence of the waves of the interminable gravitational pull of the moon. As these tidal waters rise in the far distance and then crash upon the shore with varying force (depending on the extent of wind), we are reminded of the moon’s intrinsic attraction on each of us. Most of us love to go to the beach to see, hear, and smell the water, as it ebbs and flows with each crest of the wave. We’ll pack up our sun umbrella, Yeti ice cooler, and folding chairs, along with a surplus of colorful towels, footballs, and shovels, and stare for hours in a mesmerizing fashion at the majestic waters in front of us. Even with a book, beer, or suntan lotion in hand, we never take our eye off the alluring shoreline.
Like each one of us, each wave is unique in its own way. At times, a wave may be mellow, tranquil, and serene, and, then, at others, it may be intense, unyielding, and all consuming. Our interests and emotions rise and fall like the tides, with their own set of peaks and nadirs. Beneath it all, we have some indiscernible undertow - intense, complex, and, at times, unpredictable – pulling us into deep reflection. Like each one of us, the waves are a reminder that we never stand still. We are in perpetual motion, in a constant state of flux, as we seek, explore, and uncover new discoveries about ourselves and our world that were previously unbeknownst to us.
So, today, I’m grateful that, like the waves, we never stop moving. May we continue to make waves that thrust us and all of humankind forward.
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