INSTEAD OF A PILOT, WE SHOULD HAVE SENT A POET.
TAKE A LOOK.
>> Reporter: THE EARLIEST
AMERICANS, NATIVE AMERICANS,
USED THE MOON AS A CALENDAR.
IT KEPT TIME.
THE ANCIENT GREEKS, ROMANCE, AND
EGYPTIANS ALL BELIEVED THE MOON
WAS A GOD.
FOR AS LONG AS WE HAVE LOOKED TO
THE HEAVENS, THE MOON HAS
ENGAGED OUR IMAGINATION, OUR
DREAMS.
DREAMS. >> WE CHOOSE TO GO TO THE MOON.
NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE EASY, BUT
BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD.
>> Reporter: WHEN PRESIDENT
KENNEDY SAID THIS, NO AMERICAN
HAD EVEN ORBITED THE EARTH.
YET, BEFORE THE DECADE WAS
THROUGH, THIS.
THROUGH, THIS. >> THREE, TWO, ONE, ZERO.
>> Reporter: GOING TO THE MOON
WITH THE APOLLO PROGRAM WOULD
REQUIRE THE RESOURCES OF THE
MOST POWERFUL AND
TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED NATION
THE WORLD HAD YET WITNESSED.
AND A PRICE TAG OF A THEN
STAGGERING $25 BILLION.
AN 18-YEAR-OLD I KNOW HAD JUST
GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL.
HE WATCHED THAT SUMMER NIGHT AND
BELIEVED ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE.
THE GREATEST GENERATION HAD WON
A WORLD WAR, THEN LIFTED UP OUR
BROKEN ENEMIES, AND BEATING THE
RUSSIANS TO THE MOON WAS A BIG
DARN DEAL.
DARN DEAL. A BATTLE WON IN OUR LONG COLD
WAR.
WAR. BUT IT DID NOTHING TO HEAL OUR
BROKEN CITIES, WHICH WERE
BLEEDING FROM RIOTS, AND DID
NOTHING TO STOP THE U.S. FROM
DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE TRENCH
OF DESPAIR THAT WAS VIETNAM.
50 YEARS LATER, OUR MOTHER EARTH
IS BURNING UP FROM ABUSE AND
NEGLECT.
NEGLECT. THOSE MEN WHO LEFT EARTH’S
ORBIT, THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS,
THEY LEARNED SOMETHING FROM
THEIR PERCH ABOVE THE PLANET.
THEY SAW WHAT WE COULD NOT.
MIKE COLLINS WAS THE PILOT OF
THE APOLLO 11 COMMAND MODULE.
>> I SAID VERY CASUALLY ONE
TIME, HEY, HOUSTON, I GOT THE
WORLD IN MY WINDOW.
THAT LEADS ME TO THINK WE ALL
HAVE THE WORLD IN OUR WINDOW.
WE SHOULD LOOK AT IT AS A
FRAGILE OBJECT OF GREAT
IMPORTANCE TO US.
WE ARE SOMEWHAT RESPONSIBLE FOR
WHAT WE SEE AND THE GOOD AND THE
BAD OF WHAT WE SEE.
>> Reporter: NEIL ARMSTRONG ONCE
SAID, IT SUDDENLY STRUCK ME,
THAT THAT TINY PEA, PRETTY AND
BLUE, WAS THE EARTH.
I PUT UP MY THUMB AND SHUT ONE
EYE, AND MY THUMB BLOTTED OUT
THE PLANET EARTH.
I DIDN’T FEEL LIKE A GIANT.
I FELT VERY, VERY SMALL.
BILL ANDERS IN APOLLO 8 SAID,
THEY HAD GONE TO STUDY THE MOON,
AND THEY HAD REALLY DISCOVERED
EARTH.
EARTH. HE TOOK MAN’S FIRST WHOLE EARTH
PICTURE.
PICTURE. >> IT WAS NOTHING BUT BLACKNESS
AROUND IT.
AROUND IT. IT SURE SHOWED THAT THE EARTH
WAS A VERY BEAUTIFUL BUT QUITE
FRAGILE PLACE.
FRAGILE PLACE. >> Reporter: DID WE MISS
SOMETHING 50 YEARS AGO?
PERHAPS THE HEROIC EFFORT
REQUIRED TO GET TO THE MOON
SHOULD HAVE BEEN LESS A TAH-DAH
MOMENT THAN AN AH-HA MOMENT.
IT PROVED THAT IMAGINATION,
DETERMINATION, AND MONEY CAN GET
BIG THINGS DONE, BUT MAYBE SPACE
IS JUST EASIER TO CONQUER THAN
OUR PROBLEMS HERE AT HOME.
POVERTY, INEQUALITY, DISEASE,
CLIMATE CHANGE.
CLIMATE CHANGE. WE WONDER, 50 YEARS LATER, WHAT
BIG THING COULD WE, SHOULD WE,
ACCOMPLISH NOW?
ACCOMPLISH NOW? >> WELL, HARRY, YOU ALWAYS PUT
IT IN PERSPECTIVE.
IT IS EASY TO ROMANTICIZE THIS
ACCOMPLISHMENT, AND WHY NOT?
IT WAS INCREDIBLE.
>> EXACTLY.
>> EXACTLY. >> ALSO TO LOOK AT THE WORK
THAT’S UNFINISHED IN THIS
BEAUTIFUL PLACE.
BEAUTIFUL PLACE. >> WITHOUT QUESTION.
ALSO, TO THINK OF THE
DETERMINATION OF THIS COUNTRY,
TO SAY THIS IS THIS THING WE
WANT TO DO, AND THAT, AS A
PEOPLE, SO MANY PULLED TOGETHER.
TENS OF THOUSANDS ACROSS THE
COUNTRY, IN ALL DIFFERENT KINDS
OF WALKS OF LIFE.
REMEMBER THE WOMEN THE OTHER
DAY?
DAY? >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> SEWING THE SPACE SUIT.
MARGARET HAMILTON.
MARGARET HAMILTON. THERE WAS NO SUCH THING AS
SOFTWARE.
SOFTWARE. THEY’RE INVENTING SCIENCE AS
THEY GO ALONG, IN ORDER TO
ACHIEVE THIS GOAL.
IN U.S. DOLLARS, IT WAS ABOUT
$25 BILLION BACK IN THE DAY.
PROBABLY TODAY, MORE LIKE A
QUARTER OF A TRILLION.
WHAT COULD THAT DO NOW?
>> ALSO THE VISION, THE DARING
OF IT.
OF IT. WE’RE DOING IT NOT BECAUSE IT IS
EASY BUT BECAUSE IT IS HARD.
>> AUDACITY.
>> AUDACITY. WHERE IS OUR AUDACITY AND SENSE
OF COMMON PURPOSE?
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> YOU KNOW, IT’S ALL THE
TECHNOLOGY CREATED OUT OF THAT
PROGRAM.
PROGRAM. >> WITHOUT QUESTION.
>> EVERY DAY.
>> COMPUTERS THE SIZE OF A BREAD
BOX.
BOX. PHONES NOW ARE A MILLION TIMES
MORE POWERFUL.
MORE POWERFUL. >> GPS.
>> GPS. >> EXACTLY RIGHT.
>> I THOUGHT --
>> THE LASER BEAM THAT CAN GET
SHOT TO THE MOON BECAUSE THEY
LEFT REFLECTORS UP THERE.
WE STILL USE THEM.
>> THIS WHOLE EXPERIENCE HAS
DONE NOTHING TO DIMINISH
CARSON’S CRUSH ON YOU.
HE’S LOOKING AT YOU WITH STARS
IN HIS EYES.
>> WE WANT YOU TO HOLD US,
HARRY.
HARRY. >> I DID THE VOICEOVER WORK FOR
THE ROCKS PIECE YESTERDAY.
I SHUT MY EYES, AND IT WAS MY
BEST HARRY SMITH IMPRESSION.
>> WE LOVED THE JOURNEY.
>> I’M THE FORTUNATE ONE.
>> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
REMINDING US, THAT WE ARE
CAPABLE OF DOING BIG, GREAT
THINGS IN THIS COUNTRY.
>> WHY NOT?
>> BIG, GREAT THINGS.
>> THANK YOU, HARRY.
>> THANK YOU.
>> MY ME PLEASURE.
>> THANKS, UNCLE HARRY.
>> THESE TWO.
>>> WHAT YA GOT, AL?