1969 vs 2008
1969
The Apollo 11 landed on the moon, marking one of the most significant milestone in mankind’s conquest into space. It was one of the defining moments in mankind’s history - the sense of awe, hope, humility, and a basket of other indescribable emotions can still be felt through as one takes a walk back through the event transcript:
Then Armstrong said the famous words, “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.”
Shortly after landing, before preparations began for the EVA, Aldrin broadcast that: “This is the LM pilot. I’d like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way.
He then took Communion privately.
At 2:56 UTC on July 21, Armstrong made his descent to the Moon’s surface and spoke his famous line “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind” exactly six and a half hours after landing.Aldrin joined him, describing the view as “Magnificent desolation.”
2008
Fast forward to 2008 - the Phoenix lands, and locates one of the critical factors for possibility of life in space - water on Mars. And here’s the defining moment - a tweet:
The evolution of technology and communication?
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From Armstrong’s generation: poetry. From our generation: “w00t”? I always thought phrases like that were said tongue-in-cheek. Not to describe truly momentous milestones in human history! Sheesh.
I certainly concur. I thought it was interesting when NASA PR tweeted in the first person narrative - that sort of made the space endeavor somewhat more approachable for the common man. But with these types of mission, and particularly when it hits a defining moment in history for all of mankind, it was for me unfortunate to have it permanently crystallized in ‘tw33tspeak’.