Man once walked on the moon
But he hasn’t been back in nearly 50 years.
Why?
Welcome to America Uncovered.
I’m Chris Chappell.
The Moon.
Sponsored by MOVA globes.
This episode is, I mean—not the Moon itself.
50 years ago, on July 20, 1969,
Americans first landed on the moon,
in a NASA mission known as Apollo 11.
“One small step for man.
One giant leap for mankind.”
Unless of course you believe Stanley Kubrick
faked the whole thing,
and the Shining was his confession.
Over the next three and a half years,
America’s NASA space program achieved five
more successful moon landings.
And then...we stopped.
That’s it.
1
972 was the last time a human landed on the
moon.
So what on Earth happened?
Well, for starters, a lot of Americans simply
lost interest after the first one.
When Apollo 11 first landed on the moon,
it had a TV rating of 93 out of 100.
Which raises the question:
What were the other 7% of people watching?
Beverly Hillbillies?
As many as 150 million Americans were watching
as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
became the first humans to set foot on the
moon.
The three big American TV networks plus four
radio stations pooled resources
to transmit the historic event.
Combined, they spent $13 million dollars—
or close to $100 million in today’s money—
for that one broadcast.
But by later missions,
the TV viewership had dropped significantly.
I mean, you’ve heard of Neil Armstrong and
Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11.
But have you heard of John Young and Charles
Duke from Apollo 16?
In 1972, they spent nearly three days on the
moon a
nd drove this awesome lunar rover.
And Americans barely tuned in to watch.
Although I assume that’s in part due to
those extended Beverly Hillbillies marathons.
Now if you put the Beverly Hillbillies on
the moon,
that would get ratings!
Of course, the Apollo missions weren’t about
TV ratings.
They were about politics!
Do you think the US government spent $25 billion
dollars
just to produce television entertainment?
Or even more ludicrous, to produce science?
C’mon.
It was to beat the Soviet Union!
And we did it.
We got humans to the moon first,
and whooped their Soviet butts.
’Murica!
But after six rounds of Soviet butt-whooping,
and waning public engagement,
Congress lost interest in funding NASA at
such extraordinary levels.
I mean, there’s only so many Stanley Kubrick
films you can watch
before you can’t stand it anymore.
Which is a statement totally unrelated to
the moon.
At its peak, NASA took up more than 4% of
the federal budget.
But there were other priorities Congress wanted
to throw money at,
like losing the Vietnam War.
So by the early 70s,
Congress reduced NASA’s funding to below
1% of the federal budget.
And they told NASA to stop those silly manned
moon missions,
and instead focus on Skylab, America’s first
Earth-orbiting space station.
Which eventually led to the International
Space Station.
But the real reason we didn’t go back to
the moon wasn’t the cost.
It was aliens!
We discovered aliens on the moon and they
were very aggressive and...
Wait, what’s that, Shelley?
Transformers *wasn’t* a documentary?
Well, I guess I’m sort of relieved.
Especially since America’s nearly 50 years
of not going to the moon
is about to be reversed!
In December 2017,
Trump announced the revitalization of NASA’s
manned moon missions.
He called it Space Policy Directive 1.
“This time we will not only plant our flag
and leave our footprint.
We will establish a foundation for an eventual
mission to Mars
and perhaps someday to many worlds beyond.”
Basically, Trump wants NASA to build a moon
colony.
And hopefully, a bouncy castle.
Because that would be awesome in low gravity.
For science.
It’s for science.
Speaking of science, the next group of astronauts
could have the fun job of collecting the “96
bags of human waste
left behind by the six Apollo missions”
to see if any forms of life survived.
America’s new manned lunar program is being
dubbed Artemis.
In Greek mythology,
Artemis is the moon goddess,
and the twin sister of Apollo.
Artemis will include not only a base on the
lunar surface,
but also a space station that orbits the moon.
It’s called the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.
It will help with getting equipment on and
off the moon,
as well as future launches to Mars.
Of which the moon is a part.
“The first piece of [the Gateway’s] 55-ton
outpost...
is currently scheduled to lift off in 2022.”
And, “If everything works out,
NASA astronauts could set foot on the moon
before the end of the 2020s.”
Hopefully, they’ll remember how to make
it more TV friendly.
And this episode has been sponsored by MOVA
Globes.
You, too, can get one of these limited edition
Apollo Moon globes.
It has all the cool features of a regular
MOVA globe.
It rotates on its own without batteries or
cords—
powered by ambient light.
Plus it features features the six Apollo landing
sites.
Order now while supplies last.
Or check out one of MOVA’s other cool globe
designs.
And when you buy a MOVA globe,
you’ll also be supporting your favorite
show about America...
that stars me, Chris Chappell.
So click the link below.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell.
Thanks for watching America Uncovered.
