Ever Since Seeing The Moon Landings On A Television Set As A Child I Have Been Completely Intrigued By Space Exploration And There Is A Whole Lot More Of The Universe Still To Be Discovered
As a youngster I can remember being permitted to stay awake until very late one evening with my father and watch on an ancient black and white TV as Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong made history by taking those first few steps on the surface. The preamble prior to the moon landing and the many news reports about the so-called ‘Space Race’ between the Americans and the Russians made a very big impression on me when I was a child and in fact I am still intrigued by space and space travel. I certainly can’t claim to be an expert about any of it, but the idea of a universe so massive that we can’t even start to understand its size is very humbling. We humans really are extremely insignificant creatures when considered in the context of everything else that exists.
Mankind has been mesmerised by the skies since the dawn of time. Most ancient civilisations had rites and traditions influenced by the movements of the stars and planets, and even in the 21st Century our activities are affected by the sun and the moon much more than we truly recognise. Over many millennia, humans must surely have gazed up at the skies and debated what the other planets were like. In fact, there is an entire industry that has been built on the suggestion of life elsewhere in the universe – aliens, little green men, unidentified flying objects, the entire science fiction genre of cinema and literature, impossible weapons with light pulsing from a Laser eye – would any of these ideas exist if there wasn’t anything visible in the sky for them to supposedly come from?
With huge advances in technology in the last few decades, the wish to venture into space and visit other planets slowly changed from a dream to a potential reality and the Cold War competitiveness between the USA and the USSR led to the fairly rapid production of machines which could travel further than the earth’s atmosphere. The V2 rocket, built by the Germans was the first man-made weapon which could travel into space without mechanical problems, and after the end of the Second World War, when both the United States and the Russians had gained knowledge of the technology, their first development work had the intention of using the knowledge for weaponry. But when the Russians managed to launch a human into space in 1961, the Americans immediately made the decision to move ahead with their own plan for manned space exploration.
The first American to travel into space did so just one month after Yuri Gagarin and from that day onwards, both countries began to consider the moon as their aim for exploration. During the 1960’s unmanned crafts were landed on the moon and sent back intelligence about its surface, and the Russians also successfully navigated an unmanned craft into orbit around the moon, which gave us the earliest images of the far side of the moon.
Not many years later, the USA launched the first manned spacecraft to actually reach the moon. Apollo 8, launched in 1968, orbited the moon and returned safely to earth. It’s amazing to realise that it was actually the following year when Apollo 11 fulfilled the human dream of safely setting down on the moon meaning that two people could actually walk on its surface. It’s an even more incredible feat when you know that the complete journey to the moon and back to earth was achieved with less computer capacity than my home PC, a games console, Laser eye surgery equipment or many mobile phones!
Apollo 11 is one of the first proper news stories that I can remember being aware of, particularly I suppose because it received so much attention, but I was truly fascinated by the whole thing and have carried on taking an interest in space related news to this very day. But it’s a sad demonstration of the media’s influence as to what is treated as news, that just two missions later, Apollo 13 was only treated as newsworthy when things went wrong.
Questions raised by the disaster (and eventual triumph) of Apollo 13, as well as the financial burden of the space programme led to a slow wind-down of manned space flights, and the most recent man to stand on the moon did so in 1972. Since the 1970’s, of course, countless unmanned craft have been rocketed into space by a number of counties and the International Space Station is orbiting the earth at the moment, and is very visible if you are located in the right place at the right time – a streak of light travelling across the sky as if shot from a Laser eye beam.
As science and technology move on (just think how far we’ve travelled in the past century – from the Ford Model T to the Bugatti Veyron, bi-planes to supersonic jets, fountain pens to computers, monocles to Laser eye surgery – the list is endless), humanity will keep on launching spacecrafts further and further into the depths of the universe and in the future will no doubt come across numerous things which are beyond the capability of our imagination at this moment in time. But I can definitely say that ever since that late night when I saw Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, I will always be fascinated by the latest discoveries about the universe.
Islamic Cartoon for kids: Ramadan Moon 2
|
|
Moroccan Foulard Tapestry-Tablecloth-Unique-Many Uses $32.99 MOROCCAN FOULARD TAPESTRY ~ Beautiful Moroccan Foulard tapestry. Made of 100% cotton offering a strong, durable weave. Measures approximately 7 feet x 9 feet. This gorgeous tapestry is color fast and can be machine washed separately on cool/gentle and tumble dried. Essentially, foulard is a lightweight fabric that is created by using a spinning and weaving process to produce plain woven sh… |
|
|
Medina Yaad Aata Hai Vol.3 – Islamic Naats $8.99 … |
|
|
Zameen Maili Nahin Hoti Vol. 7 – Islamic Naats $8.99 … |
|
|
Mere Sohniya Madine Vich Rehn Walia Vol. 6 – Islamic Naats with Duff $8.99 … |
|
|
3D Golden Islamic Symbol – 24H x 24W – Peel and Stick Wall Decal by Wallmonkeys $33.99 WallMonkeys wall graphics are printed on the highest quality re-positionable, self-adhesive fabric paper. Each order is printed in-house and on-demand. WallMonkeys uses premium materials & state-of-the-art production technologies. Our white fabric material is superior to vinyl decals. You can literally see and feel the difference. Our wall graphics apply in minutes and won’t damage your paint or l… |
|
|
Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Elegant Ottoman calligraphy from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Elegant Ottoman calligraphy. Lovely example of elegant Ottoman calligraphy, topped by a cresent moon. Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our American lab…. |
|
|
Photo Jigsaw Puzzle of Fantasy Postcard on Turkish Empire from Mary Evans $29.99 Photo Puzzle, Fantasy Postcard on Turkish Empire. Fantasy postcard by Raphael Tuck featuring aspects of Turkish art, script and produce Date circa 1906. Chosen by Mary Evans. 10×14 Photo Puzzle with 252 pieces. Packed in black cardboard box of dimensions 5 5/8 x 7 5/8 x 1 1/5. Puzzle image 5×7 affixed to box top. Puzzle pieces printed on RA4 paper at 300 dpi. This item is shipped from our American… |
|
|
Islam Crescent Moon and Star car bumper sticker window decal 4 x 4 $3.99 BRAND NEW sticker is made of highest quality vinyl with up to 5 year outdoor guarantee. Sticker is die cut around the contour and easily removable. It will not leave behind residue or damage the surface when removed. Sticker can be applied to multiple surfaces, including bumpers, car windows, lockers, mirrors, metal, wood, or any other flat surface. All stickers ship within 24 hours of payment cle… |
|
|
Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror $3.50 Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror is a best-selling book authored by human rights activist Nonie Darwish. First published by Sentinel in 2006, the book discusses among other topics Darwish’s change in attitude toward Jews and Israelis, Islamic extremism in the United States and Narwish’s trip to Israel. The book has made Dawrish “one of the … |
|
|
Epicenter: Why Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future $3.50 With over one million novels in print, New York Times best-selling author Joel C. Rosenberg has been called “eerily prophetic” and a “modern Nostradamus” for his uncanny ability to write political thrillers that come true. In his first nonfiction book, this evangelical Christian from an Orthodox Jewish heritage takes readers on an unforgettable journey through prophecy and current events into the … |
Tags: moon islamic, moon islamic art, moon islamic calendar, moon islamic dates, moon islamic faith, moon islamic flag, moon islamic holidays, moon islamic month, moon islamic religion, moon islamic symbol