Moon Mission

Moon Mission

1987 10 October 8-9 Moon Mission (541) In this world of competition it is necessary to enter the, field fully prepared. If you enter it Inadequately prepared, little else but failure will await you.

American Astronaut, Neil Armstrong, stepped on to the moon for the first time in July, 1969. The moment he set his foot on the moon, the control mission in America received these words uttered by him:

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Armstrong and his two colleagues were selected from amongst the top 30 astronauts of the U.S.A. He possessed to a very high degree all those qualities which were necessary for this difficult, historic mission extraordinary skill in flying, intelligence, strength, ability to absorb information, mental and emotional balance and the courage to accept challenges unhesitatingly. Once selected, he had to undergo rigorous training, for instance, having to remain in deep water for long periods 1: so that he would become used” to weightlessness. So that he could deal with every possible emergency, he did elaborate course in astronomy, space flight, rocket flight, the physics of the moon, etc., all with the help of computerized space data.

The 3100 ton Apollo 11 seemed a giant. It was as high as a 36storey building, having 8 million parts and 91 engines installed in it. On the top was the comparatively small machine, the Columbia, on which the astronauts were seated to set off on their historic journey.

The space machine was duly blasted off, circling the earth for two and a half hours. Then its speed increased to 403 miles per minute and on reaching an altitude of 3000 miles the Columbia separated from the rest of the machines. It was so equipped that the seating space for the astronauts was only as much as in an ordinary taxi. Finally they alighted on the moon from where they gathered 46 pounds of moon-earth, leaving equipment worth 5 lakh pounds behind them. They also left their foot prints on its surface which, hopefully will remain intact for half a million years.

It was only after such highly elaborate preparations that the “small step” could be taken which was going to result in such a “giant leap” for mankind.

At the Olympic Games held in Los Angeles in July-August 1984, about 62 Indian sportsmen participated. When the games were over and they returned to New Delhi on August 16, 1984, they received a chilly welcome, as they had failed to win a single medal, neither gold, silver nor bronze.

What was the reason for this failure? According to a report published in the Times of India (August 1, 1984), “Lack of scientific and systematic training was the main reason for India’s poor showing. We did our best but that, unfortunately, was not good enough. The training of Indian teams should start before an event and not just three months beforehand”.

What has been said about the Olympic games applies to all walks of life.

In this world of competition it is necessary to enter the field fully prepared. If you enter it inadequately prepared, little else but failure will await you.

Your preparation should conform to two requirements: it should be organized and it should be consistent with the standards of the times. If it is not so, you will fail to make your mark and you will be unable to keep in step with modern developments.