It's the 40 year anniversary of the moon landing and I'm jealous of people who care. The event is remembered with such fond reverence by everyone who lived through it and I wish I could somehow share in the excitement. But for me, as a 25 year-old, the moon landing exists as a sort of isolated feat of hubris. More a monument to the era's pathological competition with the Russians than a testament to man's ingenuity.
   Don't get me wrong, I think astronauts are amazing. Anybody who has the guts to literally go where no man has gone before (yeah, that's a lame reference but it applies) deserves our admiration. And to come up with the "One small step line...." Shakespeare eat your heart out. But four decades later Neil Armstrong has earned a spot as one of history's greatest dare devils, more Charles Lindbergh than Christopher Columbus.
   Armstrong's position in history is no fault of his own. But exploration only stands for something if it is built upon. If Lewis and Clark trekked across the country, took a dip in the Pacific, and nobody every went back, their wouldn't be a college named after them. Unfortunately the space program has lagged to the point that it no longer has any connection with people under 30. To prove my point, in a recent survey by the electronics magazine E&T, 11 people out of 1000 said Buzz Lightyear was the first man to step on the moon. Which if you think about it, is actually wrong on two levels.
   I understand that most people aren't actually that ignorant, but the survey is reflective of the apathy that has arisen surrounding the space program. In the last three decades the seminal NASA moment was the Challenger disaster. The only reason space shuttle launches are still shown live on television is because people are worried something catastrophic is going to happen. Watching just to make sure no one is killed isn't a sign you've captured the imagination of the public.
   I fully admit my stance sounds like sour grapes from an ignorant member of the iGeneration. I understand there is no way I can fully appreciate the gravity of the lunar landing, the sense of accomplishment and closure it gave people following Kennedy's assassination. It makes me wonder if those types of communal television experiences are even still possible. The only two times I remember everyone glued to the television was right after 9/11 and the OJ verdict. These days it takes either shocking tragedy or circus level spectacle to get us to unplug our earbuds. Overwhelming accomplishment just doesn't get the ratings it used to. 
    In this economy it hard to imagine us spending billions, much less trillions, on something as far fetched as a mission to Mars. But for my money I'd love to see us invest our technological savvy in something besides the latest smart phone. How about we go back to the moon and this time do something useful, set up a space station, look for new energy sources, seriously answer how far we can hit a golf ball. Anything that gets kids to look up at the sky and start dreaming again.