Thirty-eight years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the Moon, the first humans to stand upon an alien world. It’s one of those moments that you can recall where you were and what you were doing. I was six years old. My family (Mom, Dad, and a sister) were traveling cross country to visit relatives in Phoenix. We were staying in a Howard Johnson Motel that night, though I don’t remember what town. I was transfixed by the grainy, ghostly images on the TV set.

If you were fortunate enough to be alive during the lunar landing program, you know how electric that moment was. If you were born after the Apollo program shut down, well, there’s nothing I can think of that comes anywhere near the magic of the moment - when the eyes of an entire planet gazed upward in wonder, and the future seemed deep and wide.