For the 50+ crowd. Wright Bros., Sputnik and Today

[edhopper]

Something to think about. More time has passed since the launch of Sputnik to now than the time from the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to Sputnik.

1903-1957-2013

Not sure if it means anything more than I feel old

[liberal N proud]

1. You knew it had to happen

[edhopper]

3. I knew i would get old

I just don't like feeling old.

[raccoon]

16. I didn't think I ever would. I was wrong. nt

[liberal N proud]

23. When I was 17, I asked a good friend if he thought we would still listen to rock n roll at 60

Now look how old some the rock legends are.

We are just becoming classics.

[pinboy3niner]

34. Of course we do

But these days when we crank it up, it's because we have to.

From one classic to another...

[BarbaRosa]

2. That's kinda like when I realized,

I was closer to 21yo when I was born than I am today. (and that happened almost 21 years ago)

[JI7]

4. and soon more time will have passed since the moon landing also

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Did you ever go out and look for Sputnik as it crossed the nighttime sky?

Our local weatherman used to announce when it would be visible in our area. I can remember watching the sky for a small, moving light. It was such a novelty.

[TheCowsCameHome]

14. Heck, I remember when the sky was invented

......or sometimes I just feel that way.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. So, instead of older than dirt, you're older

than *clouds*!!!!!!!

I have to tell you, I'm impressed.

[TheCowsCameHome]

20. Not to worry, I won't rain on your parade.

[Arkansas Granny]

21. Thanks. Rain can be pretty messy when one is older than dirt, like moi.

[PCIntern]

18. Yes, and Echo I and Echo II nt

[Arkansas Granny]

22. It was pretty fascinating stuff.

[Art_from_Ark]

28. I was fascinated with the Echo I stamp

What also struck me as interesting is that this stamp came out in 1960, and there is a glaring omission on the globe of a large island just south of Florida

[Junkdrawer]

6. Here's a related phenomena to ponder: Date a movie by it's cars....

The 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s each have instantly recognizable autos...

After that, a mechanic or car buff might be able to do it, but a 90s car and a 2010 car look alike to me....

[MindPilot]

7. For the first time, I'm older than the president.

That makes me feel old.

So does running outside to look at Sputnik--I still watch for the ISS as it passes over--remembering that as a kid I can remember running outside to look at airplanes with no propellers and that big mushroom cloud.

[Scuba]

8. If you were around for Kitty Hawk, you are old.

That said, I remember Sputnik quite well.

[HockeyMom]

9. I just plain don't dwell on the past at all

Yes, I remember these things, but I also live in 2013 and am very comfortable with all that entails. I sit sometimes with my husband and realtives my age and all they talk about is the past. Enough of that. It bores me. Get over it and live in the PRESENT.

[edhopper]

11. I would quote

George Santayana here.....

[olddots]

10. To me it looks like humans are devolving

I know its partially the aging process but our grand parents witnessed science and humanity evolving and progressing whether they liked it or not . Everything seems to be based on convenience now instead of innovation and exploration ,we don't strive for the stars anymore
but strive for an easier way which may be destroying our sense of human purpose .

Wow that was cheerful .

[denbot]

12. Get off my lawn!!!!!!

Dang punk.. Snort.. Zzzzzzz

[edhopper]

13. How i used to think about those oldsters when I was a kid

who were around for the Wright Brothers.
Now look at me.
It will happen to you too.

[Brigid]

24. You win.

[WCGreen]

17. I was born about a month after the launch...

What I take from this passage of time is that this country that looked out and said what can we do has now become afraid of the future.

[Art_from_Ark]

26. I started becoming afraid of the future at a tender age

Around 1968 or so, with the political assassinations, the never-ending Vietnam War, and Walter Cronkite's "The 21st Century", which sometimes painted a dystopian view of the future. Then there was that Zager and Evans song that came out the next year, "In the Year 2525", and then required reading of novels like "Brave New World" and "1984" in school.

[WCGreen]

30. "If man is still alive...."

Zager and Evans song made many of us almost teenagers examine the pure heaviosity of the world.

Then Kent State and then every thing hit the shit.

[Cirque du So-What]

19. When I was a kid

I figured we'd be sending expeditions to distant worlds by now. I was 11 when Star Trek debuted, so I expected a 'wagon train to the stars' in years to come.

[baldguy]

25. Where's my jet pack? Where's my flying car? Where's my hoverboard?

WHERE'S MY FRIKKIN' VACATION ON THE MOON?

[HiPointDem]

32. also, automation was going to end work & we'd all spend our time barbecuing & taking vacations

to interesting places.

well, it's sort of ended work, but the barbecue is the middle class...

[elleng]

27. Sputnik, October 4, 1957,

a date that shall remain framed in my family's mind, as it was the beginning of a great family trip, to EUROPE!!! AND NEPHEW born on October 4, 1987!!!

(Trying NOT to 'feel old.')

[Purveyor]

29. I was born Dec. '57. Just checking in. Godspeed. eom

[CK_John]

31. I was 17 and at the rifle range in Parris Is boot camp. They had us up all

night looking for it.

[SwissTony]

33. I was looking for Sputnik. Don't know if I saw it (I was 6 at the time).

How technology has changed. One hundred years ago, the Wright Brothers made flights of 120, 175, 200 feet before essentially crashing the plane after a flight of 852 feet. Now, we get onto huge planes that hold hundreds of passengers and fly thousands of miles.

Astonishing, if you think about it - and not just planes.