The average non-technical person does not understand what an achievement the Apollo missions were. Many people think the space shuttle traveled to the moon. They think someone has a space vehicle that could take people to the moon and back if we wanted to go there now, 50 years later. There was no power/weight budget for backups and extra safety. Those astronauts tossed a coin as to whether they would die alone in a smelly capsule or return as heroes. The engineers must have come across countless times when they felt stuck and just pushed on.

It's a great example of why we could use a human achievement day.

Humankind - Happy Human Achievement Day.

I think we should take some other holiday that in some way involves achievement, maybe Presidents' Day, MLK Day, or Labor Day, and replace it with Human Achievement Day, a day for people to take a long weekend and enjoy some of the fruits of human progress.

This article was from seven years before I read Ayn Rand. If I had seen it, I probably would have thought this article was out of place because I thought Ayn Rand was about how god-awful life is and identifying the bad guys who make life awful. I was shocked to find the first book I picked up was about exactly the opposite.

Thanks for the post. It was a good pick-me-up.

That is a great idea. I hope it catches on. I remember the day vividly, as I was driving up to the northern peninsula of Michigan to visit my sons at sleepover camp. I stopped off at a place for lunch and the TV behind the counter was playing images from the moon. Imagine that! It was breathtaking. I had images of the beginning of space exploration, Mars, Venus, hoowee. Oh well........

I was recently ranting to my 45 year old niece about how a man gave only credit to god for the recovery of his son from three gunshot wounds. I said that all those who took time throughout history to find out how treat wounds and fight infection should be the ones thanked. She said t maybe but god had to be thanked too.
In the case of government science such as the Apollo missions, all the technologists, engineers, scientists, businesses involved in making the vehicles work reliably are the ones to thank. Those working for NASA who contributed to design and science, etc. should be thanked. The politicians who looted the taxpayers should be told to clean up their acts or get out.
It is time to start recognizing those who actually have something to do with advancing humanity rather than some supernatural non-entity which demeans humanity.

Also among the greatest achievements is Ayn Rand's choice to tell humans you are free to choose your future and then to give the artistic vision of the best possible future: man as his own achievement, a heroic vision. Then she defined the solution to the greatest obstacle to rational thought, how to form a concept from observation. Thanks humans of achievement.

The more I study the past, history and mankind's achievements I am in awe of our species evolution against all odds.
Mankind is at his best if allowed to be. Traditionally, except in a few instances throughout history...we have not been allowed to be, constantly cut off at the pass. But those of us more obstinate are good, creative and represent the best of our species regardless of the obstacles placed in our way. That is the "Objective" way that Ayn appreciated most.

Huzzah!