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Space Pioneer avatars in Second Life, Starfarer and Visinda in their Apollo space suits stand by the Saturn V Moon rocket and look toward remembering the Moon landing with the First Step event ~

FirstStep remembered in Second Life.
First step remembered in Salt Lake City.
Fatima Dyczynski remembered ~ an aerospace engineer on her way to Australia who perished in Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

In an otherwise excellent article in The Conversation, Flinders University academic Dr Alice Gorman wrote ~ “Sunday marks the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, after multiple Apollo lunar missions unfolded through the 1960s in front of an awestruck global audience.” [1]

If Dr Gorman had been writing in the United States, this statement would be accurate, but The Conversation is published in Australia, where the 1969 Moon landing happened in eastern Australia at 12.56pm on Monday 21 July.

This is a different date to the United States because the Apollo 11 Moon landing was a truly global event, from the Moon to Earth and our planet has 24 hours in the day, meaning 24 time zones over two days for a live event.

This year the Moon landing anniversary is happening on the same days as in 1969, on Sunday 20 July in the United States and Monday 21st in Australia.

I remember Neil Armstrong step onto the Sea of Tranquility and pronounce those haunting words ~ “That’s one small step for man: one giant leap for mankind.” [2]

The images from the Moon were received through Australia and broadcast around the World to an estimated audience of half a billion people.

This year Space Pioneers will be remembering the Moon landing in Second Life, with quiet reflection on that momentous event in human history.

The first Moon landing may also prove to be the last great feat of human exploration beyond Earth, as increasingly intelligent robots take on this role, leaving humans to catch up.

Our FirstStep remembrance will be followed by a Giant Leap discussion, to consider what our next BIG step in space exploration and development will be.

The Utah Space Association will also be celebrating FirstStep in Salt Lake City at Trolley Square at 8.56pm Mountain Daylight Time, showing a film of Neil Armstrong taking that first step onto the lunar surface in sync with this global moment. ‘[3]

We will also remember the loss of a bright young 24 year old aerospace engineer aiming to go to Mars, who perished on her way to Australia in the loss of Malaysia Airline flight MH17. [4]

We can now but imagine what vigour and vision Fatima would have brought to space development Down Under with her view ~ “don’t let gravity hold us back.” [4]

Fatima’s spirit and vision lives on in the YouTube of her presentation at Tedx in the Netherlands last year, where she declared ~ “Let’s make space personal for you and you and you and you.” [5]

On the Moon there remains a plaque left by the Apollo 11 astronauts that reads ~ “We came in peace for all mankind.” [6]

When I attended the International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles in May I was able to meet the second man to step onto the Moon, Buzz Aldrin and hear him speak of his life.

I watched him once, 45 years ago, on a TV in Tasmania and now then circle connected in LA.

I am now convinced that we must expand into space, if we are ever to win peace on Earth and avoid tragedies like the loss of a passenger flight over a war zone.

On Earth there are too many people demanding too many resources and this is leading us all into conflicts that could become a third world war.

If the whole world could focus on space and expansion beyond Earth, we could relieve the tensions that lead to conflicts on this planet and there are plenty of resources in space, including energy from the Sun.

If we wish to have peace on Earth from killer asteroids, we need to expand into space to build the defences.

At FirstStep we can reflect on peace and space and follow Fatima’s call to not “let gravity hold us back.”

NOTES ~

1. ‘Apollo 11 changed the way we felt about the moon, 45 years ago’
Alice Gorman, 18 July 2014, The Conversation
http://theconversation.com/apollo-11-changed-the-way-we-felt-about-the-moon-45-years-ago-29049

2. An explorer from Earth steps onto another world in 1969 ~
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMINSD7MmT4

3. Utah Space Association celebrate the Moon landing with a FirstStep remembrance ~
http://www.utahspace.org/news/index.html

4. ‘Vibrant life of young space engineer cut short on MH17 flight’
Amy McNeilage, 20 July 2014, Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/world/vibrant-life-of-young-space-engineer-cut-short-on-mh17-flight-20140720-zv0wy.html

5. Fatima Dyczynski’s presentation at TedxGroningen in Netherlands on 31 October 2013 ~

6. Apollo 11 plaque on the Moon ~
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_plaque

Media coverage of FirstStep last year ~
‘Virtual footprint to land on moon’
Richard Bruinsma, 22 July 2013, Sunshine Coast Daily http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/virtual-footprint-to-land-on-moon/1953480/

Media coverage of our adventure in the United States ~ ‘Expert’s reaching for the stars to save life on Earth’
Megan Mackander, 30 April 2014, Sunshine Coast Daily http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/experts-reaching-for-the-stars-to-save-life-on-ear/2243972/
Kim Peart