Where is America's vision?

On May 29 I took my grandson, Stanley, to Myrtle Beach to see, and possibly meet, "Buzz" Aldrin, second man to walk on the surface of the moon. Aldrin was there as Grand Marshall in the Memorial Day parade.

We didn't get a chance to meet Aldrin, who I had spoken to in 1989 when I was trying to produce a 20th anniversary radio program on the moon landing.

Stanley was aware of who this hero was and what he had done which, for an eight-year old, was pretty impressive.

A few days ago I was in one of the dollar stores and found a book, "Destination Moon, the Apollo Missions in the Astronauts Own Words" by Rod Pyle. I bought it and will give it to Stanley when next I see him.

However, it got me reminiscing about what it took to achieve what many thought was impossible. I remember president Kennedy challenging us to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.

I remember the exhilaration when Alan Shepard, strapped into a capsule named Freedom 7, rode a Redstone Rocket 116 miles high and 302 miles downrange to become America's first "spaceman." The date: May 5, 1961.

Nine months later, Feb. 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. In a capsule named Friendship 7 he went three times around the globe in 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds.

Mercury then Gemini and then Apollo. Solo flights, two man, then three man missions.

I was working at the Mutual Broadcasting System in New York during the Apollo program. Mutual was the pool network - all communications between the spacecraft and NASA came through our facility and every other network "tapped" in to our audio feed.

If we didn't have an air show to anchor, engineer or produce we were watching the developments of the missions on television. It was an exciting time. "Flash Gordon" was now a reality!

Three missions stand out.

December 21, 1968 saw Apollo 8 soar into the blackness of space on top of the new Saturn Five rocket. It was the first flight designed to leave Earth's gravitational pull. The first flight to the moon. On board were Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman. Who will ever forget Christmas Eve 1968 as the crew read from the book of Genesis as they orbited the moon? And the photo of "Earthrise" as the spacecraft rounded the dark side of the moon. Breath-taking.

July 16, 1969 found Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and the almost forgotten third man, Michael Collins heading towards a moon landing. The eyes of the world were glued to television sets as the Lunar Module eased onto the surface.

April 11, 1970. Apollo 13. It was supposed to be the third moon landing mission but an explosion on an outboard oxygen tank in the Service Module made a "routine" moon mission a life-threatening challenge. The crew was able to survive by climbing into the Lunar Module and using the oxygen therein as the spacecraft was diverted from a lunar landing trajectory to one which used gravity to swing the spacecraft around the moon and sling it towards the Earth. It was nail-biting all the way home. Finally the three parachutes were seen above the spacecraft and the astronauts within contacted mission control.

Apollo 14, 15, 16 and 17 and the program was completed.

Next came the space shuttles and the International Space Station and then...what?

There has been talk of going back to the moon. Others want to go to Mars. But after the space shuttle program ends soon America is going...nowhere! The country that prided itself on innovation, daring, science and vision is putting it all on hold and letting others, the Chinese, the Russians take over. America, once the leader in space technology, the winner in the race with the Soviet Union to put a man on the moon, is quitting the race and will sit on the sidelines watching others go for the glory.

I wonder what the astronaut corps thinks about that? "Buzz" Aldrin made his wishes known in Myrtle Beach. America's next space adventure, he said, should be a mission to Mars.

I hope someone in authority is listening.