On Thursday night, I made a fire in my backyard and hung out with two friends as the moon endured a total eclipse. The shadow crept from the bottom left corner until the Earth's shadow blocked out the sun. The moonlight flickered and pulsed as it gradually lost all of its luminous qualities. It was both impressive and disheartening. A thought kept cropping up in my mind as the moon was swallowed by a hazy shadow--why aren't we up there?

Five years before I was born, Neil Armstrong landed on the moon making one small step for man. Thirty years later, I'm not sure how giant the leap was for mankind. I can't consciously remember any mission to the moon. I know about space shuttles, robots on Mars and the Challenger explosion.

I'm not sure why we stuck the American flag in the ground up there. Did we claim it in the name of Thomas Jefferson and Davey Crockett? If so, I think we've done a pitiful job with what we claimed. We bought the Louisiana Purchase, and then we had the curiosity to actually hang out in the land we acquired. We went to the moon and brought back moon rocks. There's a moon rock in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. It's been touched so many times that it's been rubbed completely smooth. When are they going to get a new one?

We're paying for missions to Mars and space station floating freely, but where is the moon headquarters? If NASA and the astronauts aren't interested in using the moon, let's declare it a national park where visitors (with deeeeeeeep pockets) can experience the moon in all of its natural splendor. If you're out there saying 'but the moon is just a bunch of rocks and barely any gravity,' I counter with this. Mount Everest is just a bunch of rocks up high covered with drifts of snow, and people believe it's worth risking life and limb to walk around on it. I see a bunch of rocks and little gravity as a fantastic natural playground.

Since no one else is declaring this, I might as well be the one. I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO THE MOON. I have absolutely no qualifications. I'm not a school teacher. I'm not a scientist. I have no experiments or tests to do. I just want to get in the space suit jump around on the moon's surface for an afternoon or two. Just for fun. Just to do something on the moon. If you'd let me, I'd even stick a New Mexican flag next to the U.S. flag (a couple inches shorter, of course) and claim one of the canyons in the name of Nancy Lopez and D.H. Lawrence.

So what do you say, NASA? Why don't you scratch one of your man-less missions to Mars and hook me up with some astronauts and a brand spanking new vessel (and maybe one of those moon rovers)? I'll be a great spokesperson for your company. I know how to speak to the common man. I could sell your new national park to the public. Think of the market! All of those people who own SUV's booking passage on the Moon Express. You could actually make some money (instead of using expenditures from our taxes) to fund your next crazy project.

Just because the space program isn't interested in the scientific aspects of the moon anymore doesn't mean you should hog the whole sphere for yourself. Give the rest of us a chance to appreciate it up close. I'm not the only one who thinks this way. I'll wager that there are thousands of people who would gladly give up a year of their lives for a three day stay at moon headquarters.

Because when I gazed at the moon while my planet blocked out the sun, all I could think of was 'why aren't we up there?' So tell me the answer. Why aren't we up there? It's been thirty years and you guys have done squat. Who's running the show? Who do I need to talk to?

Am I asking too much? Is the moon closed? When will it be open again?

Chris Jungle is tired of reading science fiction. He wants some action!