Those days as a kid, glued to the TV watching it all on the back and white set. The minute by minute boy excitement of the moon exploration age. Those moments of achievement as man walked on the moon, one step for mankind and all that. My childhood imagination at a look to the future. What would this mean, man regularly visiting the moon for holidays?, our own little space cars as we whizz off to work everyday? . The mind boggled as USA beat Russia to the post and claimed the moon and placed the stars and stripes on its surface.

   Forty or so years time where would we be with moon exploration? the days as a boy we experienced the future. Man actually walked and rode that silver machine on the moons surface . Gathered several chunks of the moons surface for close examination. Some one actually bought a piece in to our school to let us see it, I don’t remember who it was now after all these years but someone did and gave a little talk about what it could mean to us and mankind’s future. Michael Jackson leaves his legacy, a dance dedicated to the moon walk.

    Then nothing…somehow the future became the past. My sons in their early twenties missed it all. The future happened before they were born. How can this be?. Mans greatest achievement of actually walking on a surface that is not of the earth. Amazing then and promised so much…yet now!! what now? What will it take for the future to catch the imagination of the present young generation? now they wonder if it all really happened. The future no longer is the future but is well and truly planted in the past and non existent to those that were born after its events, no longer catching their imaginations.

   The supersonic age, thirty years of the Concorde. The fantastic British and French achievement. Against financial and technological barriers still built the most advanced super fast aeroplane man could presently achieve. Britain managed to build what the Americans could not. Travelling faster then a bullet. Thirty years of Political, environment and financial  opposition finally killed off economical confidence in the Concorde . Never able to make the number expected to recoup the money spent on her development. Not to mention Boeing at the time squeezing more bums in larger planes making more economic sense and did a lot to destroy Concorde and yet it was Concorde that still forms nostalgically in British hearts. Some travellers giving life savings to ride in her tube will always remember her with tears in their eyes as they now only adorn museums to mans amazing achievements .

      Beautiful, characteristic ,futuristic, exiting and just planely a technological marvel that will probably not ever be matched again in air travel in our life times at least. The supersonic age of the future again, well and truly buried in to the past. Somehow this was not the right time for Concorde…and somehow it may never be. Mans achievements not restricted by what he can achieve but by what he can afford and by what makes economic sence.