I remember that day very well.

My about-to-be-wife Marilyn and I were on our way to a Moonship-watching party at John and Bjo Trimble’s house. We were at a traffic light when they decided to send the LEM down. I remember a moment of panic: Am I sure about this? Nothing will ever be the same.

At the Trimbles, we watched. The LEM landed. Then nothing happened for hours, as the astronauts slept. And finally they emerged. And the world was supposed to be changed forever.

We went to the Moon, and returned, and stopped. There was no moment of disappointment. It just grew over the decades. We were promised the Moon.

Larry Niven is an American author of dozens of science fiction and fantasy novels. He is perhaps best known for Ringworld, which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. He also penned the classic essay on Superman, “Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex.”