40 Years Since the First Moon Walk

I wish I could say that I was in as celebratory mood as the media is over the 40th anniversary of an American being the first human to step foot on the moon. The unfortunate fact is that it will be all too soon when the the 40th anniversary of the last human to walk on the moon will quietly come and go unnoticed (for the record, December 17, 2012 will be that sad date). The unimaginative ponder the waste of money that is exploring worlds beyond Earth. The visionaries wonder how this species will survive the day when nature (not man) makes this rock uninhabitable. Yes, that time is probably a long time away; there is no guarantee that man will continue this trajectory of technological growth that has occurred over the past 100 years, however. As it stands, we've not even scratched the surface of the knowledge we'll one day need for our descendants to survive beyond this lonely rock.