When Neil Armstrong stepped on the Moon on July 20, 1969, he uttered a sentence full of epic that would mark an era: “That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” As the past is romanticized and idealized through nostalgia, we believe today that the mission's objective to the satellite was the knowledge or conquest of space. But it was born out of pure rivalry with the Soviet Union. It was simply a geopolitical positioning within the space race.
Perhaps that is why, once a winner was proclaimed, no astronaut has set foot on the Moon again since Apollo 17 in 1972.
In recent years there have been robotic missions, orbiters, unmanned modules, and the Artemis program has been prepared, but the technology needed for a human to step on the satellite was abandoned in the 70s. The project is now diffuse.
The new journey to the Moon has ended with a handful of spectacular photos that, in the age of AI, we receive without a lasting impact. Before, we went to the Moon to make history. Now, to make content: material to share on social networks.
These are not times to waste public multimillion-dollar budgets on space excursions, but since it is the United States, it will perfect the formula to privatize exploration and turn it (when safe) into another experience for the very rich.
The problem is no longer having lost the capacity for surprise, but that capitalism has learned to monetize it. Mystery is now spectacle. Conquest, a product. The Moon is not an impossible but a destination to exploit.
The fascination with the sky and space, however, remains intact. As proof, this summer's eclipse which hotels are already capitalizing on in Mallorca with exorbitant rates for the day in question. The same sky as always, turned into a seasonal event.
In the end, progress has not been to keep looking up, but to have learned to put a price on what we see. Even the fact that darkness, when extraordinary, now requires a reservation.
I doubt I will live to see the day man reaches Mars (in theory, trips to the Moon are also a preparatory test), but I don't care one bit either. Just like the eclipse. We have enough to survive the sun rising daily. And the moon.
