I meant to post yesterday, but life intruded.  It was the fortieth anniversary of the Moon landing.  For geeks like us it feels like a lost opportunity, but it was still one of the most profound experiences of my life.

I've only had two such moments brought to me courtesy of television.  Moments when I could only sit and cry.  One was Apollo 11, and the other was the night Obama won the presidency.

So what went wrong with NASA?  Tom Wolfe had a really interesting take on the problem here.  We all get the dream, we hear those distant worlds calling to us, but many, many people outside our little science fiction world are deafened by the problems of  mundane life.   

There was nobody to make the case for the wonders that could await us.  I'm afraid that only desperation will drive us to the stars now.