the Moon landing – stuff of legends

We need our myths and legends. We have the little girl in the red hood and the big bad wolf, and we have the moon landing. It has become the stuff of legend, too – pride in our achievements as a race. Look at the language used in it – “one small step …” suitable to any myth or legend.

My sons listen to a song that says “Space may be the final frontier/but it’s made in a Hollywood basement …” More vivid language and another myth about the moon landing – an urban myth.

And now to add to this whole melting pot, the news:

NASA can’t find original tape of moon landing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,”

From a Librarian’s point of view this is very sad. What were they thinking – stuff of myth and they don’t even know where it is!! and why didn’t they put it on microfiche and store it properly? We must preserve our history! We must preserve out mythology!

Tags: Moon landing, Library, Mythology