Moon Trek

Childhood is confusing enough without American television and NASA combining to make it worse. That’s what they did to me, when, in the 1960s, they launched Star Trek and the Moon landings in the wrong order. I was little more than a toddler at the time, and having already seen the Enterprise, couldn’t understand all the fuss surrounding Apollo 11. 

     Let’s face it, comparing the Lunar Command Module and the Starship Enterprise is like equating a dinghy with a luxury liner. For example, the Lunar Module took three days to reach Earth’s nearest neighbour; Captain Kirk’s ship went so fast, its crew could stop an interplanetary war at the far end of the galaxy in one hour – or in even less time if there weren’t any adverts.

     There was another let-down when the Module reached lunar orbit. Instead of beaming to the surface like Captain Kirk, the crew descended in something that looked like a robotic dog – which was called the ‘Eagle.’ See what I mean about being confused?

    Neil Armstrong’s first words on the Moon were another disgrace. Instead of “…one small step for man”, he should have said: “Set phasers to stun.”     

    I’m certainly not the only person to be confused by Star Trek. I’m sure there are some people who think Anton Chekhov was a navigator on the Starship Enterprise. And there must have been quite a few letters from all over the galaxy asking for paediatric advice from Mr Spock.

    One final point: Both Star Trek and the Moon landings should have cost much less. Captain Kirk could have gone where no man had gone before by staying at home, taking his ceiling down and walking over it. And the Apollo astronauts could also have stayed on Earth for all they did on the Moon – which was to take a few photos, play some golf and stagger around. They could have done the same things at a stag party in Magaluf. 

© John E. McBride