♫ Good Question!♫
January 8th is the birthday of David Bowie
a musician who refused to be tethered to earth
so this week we decided to pick a question we think he would have liked.
An anonymous tumblr user asked:
Can you tell me how long it would take to walk to the moon?
Could I make it there in my lifetime?
Well, let's set aside the obvious problems of gravity, and temperature, and oxygen, and food, and boredom ...
do I have it in me to travel that distance?
the moon is more than 200,000 miles away
could I or you or David Bowie make it there in a lifetime?
Well, I'm going to try - right now.
But first we need a little change in perspective.
To keep things simple - from now on the earth will be back here
the moon -- where I'm headed -- is that way
and the sun is behind you, just rising now
One more thing - let's say I'm taking my first few steps on July 11, 1969.
That's the day that David Bowie -- 22 years old -- released his first big hit: "Space Oddity"
♫ "Ground Control to Major Tom.♫
Appropriate, because this is the same month that the Apollo 11 mission
is bringing humans to the moon for the first time.
♫ "Check ignition and may God's love be with you!"♫
At the end of the first day I've made it 24 miles
crossing the ozone layer into the stratosphere
I'm pretty tired out though - I'm not sure what pace I'll be able to keep all the way to the moon.
Here's a reference point - adventurer Sarah Marquis walked 12,000 miles
from Siberia to Australia - crossing tundras and mountains and deserts
and she averaged 18 miles a day.
I'm not that tough though - so from now on I'll aim for 15 miles a day
And I'm going to give myself a day off once a week to rest
9 days in - July 21st, 1969
Neil Armstrong just walked on the moon
But I've got a long way to go, I'm only 144 miles up!
Nearly a month in now and I've just reached the area of space where the Hubble Telescope will one day orbit
It won't be launched though for another 21 years
2 and half years in - it's 1972
The earth is finally starting to look a little smaller
Back there David Bowie is releasing his latest hit from the album Ziggy Stardust
It’s called ”Starman"
♫ "There's a starman waiting in the sky" ♫
And the moon is about to receive its last human visitors - the Apollo 17 astronauts.
Its last human visitors until I arrive.
I'm five years and 22000 miles in - its 1974.
David Bowie, 27 years old, just released "Rebel Rebel"
And I've reached the altitude of "geostationary orbit"
That's a point in space where satellites can hover above a single spot, matching Earth's rotation
And here comes one now - a weather satellite
♫ "... pressure! ..." ♫
♫ "... Let's dance ..." ♫
♫ "Streaking cathedral spire … They say" ♫
It's 2005 and I've been walking for 36 years - it's lonely out in space
Back on Earth, David Bowie is silent - he's recovering from a heart attack
But look we've reached the point where the moon and the earth appear to be the same size
It's 2015, David Bowie is 68 and I've walked more than 200,000 miles
And here I am, about to jump onto the surface of the moon
Look down - you can see a footprint left by Buzz Aldrin 46 years ago.
And look up - there's a tiny Earth, where David Bowie is about to release
O ne last single before his death before his death - “Lazarus”
♫ "Look up here, I'm in heaven" ♫
He died on January 10th, 2016.
So yes - you can walk to the moon in a lifetime.
Or you spend that time doing something just as amazing on earth.