Sometimes it amazes me how easy it is to become jaded, to allow the extraordinary to become at best commonplace and at worst unnoticed. 39 years ago today Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Lunar Module Eagle on the surface of the moon. This achievement, in my opinion one of the more amazing of human accomplishments, may get a 30 second mention on the news this evening.

I know, the world has more pressing concerns. The middle east is poised to turn into even more of a mess than it already is. The US economy is in a nose dive. Houses are being forclosed on at an amazing clip. And it goes on and on….

Today, just a minute or two, stop and think about what an accomplishment it was on so many different levels when the words below were being sent between Houston, Texas and the Sea of Tranquility on the moon.

Aldrin: Altitude-velocity light. 3 1/2 down, 220 feet, 13 forward . forward. Coming down nicely. 200 feet, 4 1/2 down. 5 1/2 down. 5 1/2 down, 9 forward. That’s good. 120 feet. 100 feet, 3 1/2 down, 9 forward. Five percent. Okay. 75 feet. There’s looking good. Down a half, 6 forward.

Mission control (Duke): 60 seconds

Aldrin: Lights on … Down 2 1/2. Forward. Forward. Good. 40 feet, down 2 1/2. Kicking up some dust. 30 feet, 2 1/2 down. Faint shadow. 4 forward. 4 forward. Drifting to the right a little. Okay. Down a half.

Mission Control (Duke): 30 seconds

Armstrong: Forward drift?

Aldrin: Yes. Okay. Contact light. OK, engine stop.

Armstrong: Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.

Mission Control (Duke): Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We’re breathing again. Thanks a lot.

Sixty three years ago today the world’s first atomic bomb was detonated in Los Alamos, New Mexico. These days, people like to jump up and down and talk about how September 11th changed everything; take a moment to think about how much was changed by this event and the subsequent decision to use these weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This test - codename Trinity - moved Dr. Robert Oppenheimer to quote from the Bhagavad Gita. The citation is usually shortened to the second sentence, but it deserves to be read in full:

“If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.”

The National Archives has in it’s collection an eyewitness account of this event by Nobel Laureate Dr. Luis Alvarez. As someone who grew up during the sabre-rattling years of the cold war, I find the description to be detached; the implications anything but.

After the hemispherical cap had emerged through the cloud layer tone could see a cloud of smoke about 1/3 the diameter of the “parachute” connecting the bottom of the hemishpere with the undercast. This had very much the appearance of a large mushroom.

When Alex was in second grade, his class spent time learning about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In an effort to reinforce the lesson - and to instill the importance of these documents, the two of us went online to the National Archives to look at what the Archives refer to as the “Charters of Freedom”. The site is really quite excellent - you can view the text of these documents, you can view high quality scans of the document. You can read about the signers of the Declaration, the framers of the Constitution. You can read about the impact these documents had and continue to have, both in this country and around the world.

In short, the National Archives website is a fascinating place. Almost as good as seeing it in person.

I read the full text of the Declaration to Alex that day, explaining when he asked questions. Reading these documents is something that every American should do; these are, after all, the bedrock upon which our country was built. Read them and put yourself back in the time of our country’s founding. Read them and judge current events by what was written 200 years ago.

The words resonate across the centuries; Jefferson’s prose is stirring and majestic, not only documenting the case for American self-rule, but serving as a call to action for his fellow countrymen.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

I’ve read these words many times, yet they never fail to move me.

After I read Alex the Declaration, we followed a link on the site to “Join The Signers“. The link lead to a little flash application that allowed you to pick a pen and add your name to the 56 signatures on the Declaration. I explained to Alex about the very real risk taken by the signatories - men like John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, and Samuel Adams. They were committing treason against the crown, and would most likely have swung from the hangman’s noose if Britania had been victorious.

After my little speech about treason, I asked Alex if he was still willing to sign. I doubt I will ever forget the determination in his moist eyes as he grabbed my hand and choked out a “yes, dad”.

In some small way the Declaration of Independence became a little more real for both Alex and I that day.

Every child in America should be acquainted with his own country. He should read books that furnish him with ideas that will be useful to him in life and practice. As soon as he opens his lips, he should rehearse the history of his own country.

– Noah Webster, On the Education of Youth in America, 1788