One Small Error For Nasa*, A Giant Blunder For All Of Mankind Poem by Joe Rosochacki

Two score of years ago today,
-man set foot on the moon.
Having been pondered by all cultures, poets, astronomers and kings,
Man did set his foot on talc texture lunar surface,
-a technological boon.
Beginning from Icarus,
-drawings by da Vinci,
-the fabricated bi-plane by Wright Brothers,
From ‘B’ movies that featured the moon,
To the songs; Moon Dance,
Harvest Moon,
Moon River,
Moon Shadow,
And Michael Jackson’s Moon Walk of many things,
From Kitty Hawke to the Sea of Tranquility,
And there were others.
From Egyptian hieroglyphs to many of an amusement park ride,
The moon was often the subject of mystery,
Outside.
The Apollo XI mission was recorded on VTR** tapes
- that were put in storage.
NASA had faced cutbacks after the lunar landings were no more.
NASA attempted to be frugal about it’s expenditure for upcoming missions,
And needed tape for recording them,
- in the bowels of NASA’s basement they would forage.
NASA had come some tapes that did not have labels.
NASA electronically erased them; I wish that what I read weren’t fables.
The original footage of Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin was lost forever.
For three years NASA had tried to find them all over the earth;
But alas, to avail.
Hollywood stepped in, to ‘remaster’ the video that beamed throughout the globe.
Through the use of computer enhancement the pictures became more clear.
I wonder of this technological achievement was destroyed by not using writing.
Hieroglyphs, mechanical drawings, all led to this -it is simply amazing.
But today, we can celebrate the idea that man continues to venture forward,
In technology and science.
The International Space Station,
-the quest to eradicate diseases,
But somehow, all this doesn’t matter,
-when the world contains wars and famine.
Rogue states that threaten world peace,
Because the eventual end of this all is a no win,
-situation.
I wish that I live long enough to see physically a man, or woman, set foot on Mars.
Because there are no borders in space,
-no geographical boundaries,
It may space that finally pulls mankind together.
I hope NASA records the landing non-rewritable DVD,
- or at least a secured flash drive.
I hope the mankind, in the future,
-will eventually find how to travel to the nearest stars.
Leif Erickson, Ferdinand Magellan, Yuri Gagarin,
Neil Armstrong and “Buzz” Aldrin,
Have all come together in different ‘histories’.

7-20-09

*NASA- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (for all that may not be familiar with this US government agency)
**VTR- a reel to reel video tape recorder that preceded Beta and VHS devices.