Repost: What Apollo means to me

[I had some fun, light stuff to post today, but after the shooting in Aurora, Colorado - not 60 kilometers away from where I sit - I think I'll hold off posting them for now. Instead, let me turn your mind to something bigger than all of us, something more positive. Today marks two milestones in space exploration history: the Viking 1 probe landing on Mars in 1976, and the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon in 1969. The former was the first time we had successfully landed a probe on the Red Planet, and the latter was the first time humans ever set foot on another world. For a lot of my readers, Apollo 11 was ancient history, but to me, it's personal. This is that story. I posted this originally three years ago, on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, but it all is still appropriate. And remember: ...