Apollo 11 Archives - Chris Carosa

The Secret to Getting Anything You Want

By Chris Carosa on August 16, 2022

History’s Greatest Quest

“TELL ME, O MUSE, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy. Many cities did he visit, and many were the nations with whose manners and customs he was acquainted; moreover he suffered much by sea while trying to save his own life and bring his men safely home; but do what he might he could not save his men, for they perished through their own sheer folly in eating the cattle of the Sun-god Hyperion; so the god prevented them from ever reaching home. Tell me, too, about all these things, O daughter of Jove, from whatsoever source you may know them…”

(BOOK I, The Odyssey, Homer ca 800 BC)

Before embarking on the journey you are about to take, some self-doubt is normal and healthy. But it shouldn’t hold you back. The very nature of self-discovery resides in your blood.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll reveal how and why this is so. I’ll explain to you why your Continue Reading “The Secret to Getting Anything You Want”

Posted in Business Tips, Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 2001: A Space Odyssey, Aeneid, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Ancient Greece, Apollo 11, Apollo 13, Arthur C. Clarke, Ben Franklin, Christopher Columbus, David Bowman, Delphi, discovery, Friedrich Nietzche, Homer, Know Thyself, Kryptonite, Lifetime Dream, Man on the Moon, Odyssey, Phaedrus, Philebus, Plato, Poor Richard's Almanack, Richard Strauss, Socrates, Superman, Temple of Apollo, Trojan War, Virgil, voyage

It Can’t Be Both: It’s Either Science or Marketing

By Chris Carosa on July 14, 2020

This is going to sound like it’s coming out of left field, but it isn’t.

It is somewhat related to this day in history (July 16^th).

No, it’s not that it’s the day after my birthday. It’s the anniversary of the liftoff of Apollo 11. Man’s landing on the moon should be the greatest case study of inspiration, project management, and engineering. It already stands as the greatest achievement in the history of mankind.

Think about the above paragraph as you read this column.

Now, on to the real story.

Again, it’s going to sound like I’m coming out of left field, but don’t give up. Keep reading and the dots will coalesce into a constellation that makes it all clear.Continue Reading “It Can’t Be Both: It’s Either Science or Marketing”

Posted in Business Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Apollo 11, Aristotle, Einstein, Galileo, marketing, Millennial, NASA, Newton, science, stock, Zoom

Home, Sweet Home: The Joy of Our Return to Space

By Chris Carosa on June 2, 2020

I sat fixed in front of what seemed a massive TV screen, my eyes glued to the shreds of white steam shooting from the rocket’s body.

My own body remained tense. “Would the mission be scrubbed at that last minute?” “Would there be an in-flight ‘anomaly’?” “Is there any Tang left?”

What year is it?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

1968? It was a terribly bad year.

1969? It was a joyful year of ascending achievement.

Today? Well that’s an interesting idea.

Let’s return to the beginning. If you’re a member of the “space age” generation (like me), you’ll enjoy (and reflect) on this brief trip down memory lane. If you’re too young to remember the 1960s, you’ll appreciate the eerie similarities that might have you question Continue Reading “Home, Sweet Home: The Joy of Our Return to Space”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Age of Exploration, Andrew Chaikin, Apollo, Apollo 11, Apollo 15, Apollo 8, Buzz Aldrin, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Donald Trump, Doug Hurley, Falcon 9, Frank Borman, Galileo Galilei, Houston, James B. Irwin, John F. Kennedy, Mars, Moon, NASA, Rice University, Robert Behnken, Space Age, Space Generation, Space Policy Directive 1, space shuttle, SpaceX, Tang

Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?

By Chris Carosa on July 30, 2019

I‘ve always been puzzled by this thought: Was I born 50 years too early or 50 years too late? This thought resurfaced this week as I rode the train back and forth to Chicago while the rest of the world dazzled itself with remembering the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

It reminds me of a skit I once did as Cubmaster for Peter’s pack. We had our meetings in the cavernous Mendon Firehall. It was always filled to capacity. Filled with boys, their parents, and their siblings.

That night I donned a pair of Buzz Lightyear “wings” (actually they were my young nephew’s and I don’t know how I fit them over my shoulders without overstretching them). After strutting a few steps with those wings, I added a Woody hat on top of my head.

Maybe one of the Toy Story movies was out that year.

In either case, I asked the pack to guess who I was. Some of the boys says “Buzz” and some said “Woody.” I said “Nope” to each guess. Then I looked up to the parents in Pack 105 and said – in a distinct John Wayne kind of voice – “Well, pilgrim, some people call me a ‘The Space Cowboy.’”

And so it has been in my life. Teetering on the precipice of “born too early” while simultaneously straddling the ledge of “born too late.” Some might view this as a Continue Reading “Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Amtrak, Apollo 11, Apollo 13, astronomy, Buzz Lightyear, Catarina, Cesidia, Chicago, Cubmaster, Hamburger Dreams, History, John Wayne, Mendon Firehall, Miss Powell, Pack 105, Pat, Peter, space, Space Cowboy, Toy Story, train, Woody

To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective

By Chris Carosa on July 16, 2019

To boldly go…
The Quest…
Man’s calling…
To boldly go…

As simple as opening the door to a strange room.

As complicated as unlocking the key to a new science.

The urge impels us all to take that first step into unchartered terrain.

Some would rather give others the initial chance.

But there comes a point when human nature drives us to follow those pioneers into a new land of innovation and invention.

That’s when we undertake The Quest.

The Quest.
To discover the undiscovered.
To explore the unexplored.
To know the unknown.

* * * * *

I wanted to write something special, something personal, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of mankind’s greatest voyage of exploration since Columbus… so far. It didn’t take me long to realize I had already written it and it had already appeared in The Sentinel. This Commentary originally appeared as “The Thrill of Beyond” in the July 20, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel to mark the 20^th anniversary of America’s lunar landing. Here it is in its entirety. (Click the link in the title to see the original in text form.)
Continue Reading “To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Apollo 11, Galileo, International Year of Astronomy, moon landing, RIT, Strasenburgh Planetarium, United Nations, Yale

First Man – A Titanic Odyssey of The Right Stuff

By Chris Carosa on October 30, 2018

What could be more fitting that, on the heels of the month where we celebrate the incredible voyage of Christopher Columbus, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on the movie First Man. The film depicts the life of Neil Armstrong and culminates in his historic voyage to the moon, a feat of exploration that, at the time and even today, has been compared with Columbus for its historical significance.

Imagine combining 2001: A Space Odyssey with The Right Stuff, then throwing in a pinch of Titanic at the end. That describes First Man.

First things first. Speaking of 2001, there’s a joke going around that Stanley Kubrik allowed Continue Reading “First Man – A Titanic Odyssey of The Right Stuff”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, Movie Reviews, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 2001: A Space Odyssey, Agena, Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin, Christopher Columbus, Chuck Yeager, First Man, Gemini 8, Gordon Cooper, moon landing, Neil Armstrong, Saving Private Ryan, Space Race, Stanley Kubrik, Steven Spielberg, The Blue Danube, The Right Stuff, Titanic

Such is Fame: The Real Enduring Legacy of Niagara Falls

By Chris Carosa on September 6, 2012

In crafting a list of hidden gems of Greater Western New York, it’s apparent one must define what one means by the word “hidden.” Of course, if one of these not-so-hidden gems turns out to have inspired something truly outstanding, well, that would be worth writing about. Before I get to that, though, let me share with you my methodology for compiling this list, but allow me to do this by showing you, not telling you (assuming that’s even possible in the format of the written word).

For example, we have plenty of gems that have received broad national attention. Indeed, several people, events and activities from, in and around the Greater Western New York region have found themselves honored with places in our history books.

What school-aged child doesn’t know the name of Continue Reading “Such is Fame: The Real Enduring Legacy of Niagara Falls”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 50 Hidden Gems, Abraham Lincoln, Alex de Tocqueville, American Falls, American Falls Turned Off, Apollo 11, Bethlehem Steel, Buffalo, California Gold Rush, Charlotte, DeWitt Clinton, Erie Canal, Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden, Frederick Douglass, Frederick Law Olmstead, Genesee River, Grand Canyon, High Falls Gorge, Joseph L. Sax, Josiah Dwight Whitney, Lackawanna, Lackawanna Steel Company, Mariposa Grove, Niagara Falls, Pan-American Exposition, Rochester, Rochester Shale, Sam Patch, Seneca Falls, Susan B. Anthony, U.S. Army Core of Engineers, Ulysses S. Grant, underground railroad, War of 1812, West Seneca, Womens' Rights Conference, Yankee Leaper, Yellowstone, Yellowstone Park Act, Yosemite, Yosemite Grant

The Thrill and Beyond

By Chris Carosa on July 22, 2010

[This Commentary originally appeared in the July 20, 1989 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

From a camera perched atop a tall skinny structure of skeletal steel, you look down upon the narrow tubular body of mostly white with hints of black. The “steam” of super cooled liquid oxygen gushes from various vents along the surface of the slender cylinder. You view the not-so-crisp TV picture in your living room, anxiously awaiting the final moment.

“T-minus 20 seconds and counting…,” says a tin can voice over a PA system not much Continue Reading “The Thrill and Beyond”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Apollo 11, astronomy

The Secret to Getting Anything You Want

History’s Greatest Quest

It Can’t Be Both: It’s Either Science or Marketing

Home, Sweet Home: The Joy of Our Return to Space

Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?

To the Moon and Back: A Personal Retrospective

First Man – A Titanic Odyssey of The Right Stuff

Such is Fame: The Real Enduring Legacy of Niagara Falls

The Thrill and Beyond

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History’s Greatest Quest

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