40 years ago today we aimed high

On July 16th, 1969, three brave men sat in a tiny capsule strapped to the most powerful rocket ever built, pointed at the sky. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins (not that Michael Collins) started their journey that would end in history being made. Four days later, they would reach the moon, and Armstrong's name would be added to the list of people who broke the boundaries of exploration. Polo, Columbus, Magellan, Lewis and Clark, The Wright brothers, Yeager. If you're history is a little fuzzy, Google it.

I wasn't alive in 1969 when man first stepped foot on the moon, I wasn't alive in 1972 when we last went there, but as a kid growing up in the 80's, space always held a fascination for me. Sure, I loved Star Wars and Star Trek, and that had a big influence on me, but reading about the space shuttle, supernovae and black holes was just as interesting.

These three men are true heroes.

As a society I think we have taken for granted the amazing achievement walking on the moon is. When I was a kid, MTV had an ad that had an astronaut planting a MTV flag on the moon. It had become product placement. Even Rolling Rock tried a stunt by writing an ad with lasers on the moon last year. But to me, this achievement shows that we as a species have the potential to take flight from our home planet and continue that driving force of exploration that is at the core of humanity.

Think about it: humans explore constantly. It's hardwired into our DNA. Hundreds of years ago we wanted to know what was just beyond the edge of the map. So we explored, and eventually mapped the globe. We wanted to know what was just beyond what we could see. So we explored, and discovered molecules, atoms, and quarks. We wanted to know what was in the sky, so we built balloons, airplanes, and rockets that took us to the skies and beyond.

40 years ago today, we wanted to know what it was like to walk on a body not of this Earth. And so we went...