Travel to the Moon

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like

On Jupiter and Mars

Lyrics from "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra

My travel buddy captured the moon for me last night to hold forever more.  He knows that full moons are right  up there with sunsets in my Book of Wonders.  After watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon July 20, 1969, I thought by now there would be colonies up there with hotels and a Lunar Cafe.  I thought there would be regular scheduled shuttles flying tourists back and forth from Earth to the Moon.  I was certain I would be one of them!

The American flag Armstrong stuck in the moon has probably fallen over long ago and is buried in dust. With the shuttle program now grounded, it seems unlikely my childhood fantasy will ever come true.  NASA is still planning to use the moon for human and robotic missions to Mars and other destinations, but I have a hunch China, Japan or even India may beat them to it.  Even Russia and Germany have announced future missions to the moon.  There is talk of mining expeditions, so it may be future flights to the moon will be funded by corporations.

I'm not a big fan of Newt Gingrich, but when he promised to create a moon colony by 2020, my ears perked up.  This man has vision.  There must be talk of the possibility in Washington if he dared to announce this "grandiose" expedition.  It gives me hope.  I'll never make it to the moon, but perhaps my great grandchildren will.  By then, every square inch of  Earth will have been explored and space will truly be the final frontier: 

                " . . .to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilization, to boldly go where no man has gone before."