Text of "Don’t Shoot…I’m Retarded" Meme
"Don't Shoot...I'm Retarded. Prove it. We landed on the moon in 1969 but we destroyed that technology and we can't go back. But going to Mars no problem."
Meaning of "Don’t Shoot…I’m Retarded" Meme
This meme is referencing the fact that the resources and people that built the space program in the 1960s and 1970s are now gone via various means. To quote this article in Forbes "How We Lost The Ability To Travel To The Moon, "So, when the Apollo program ended, the factories that assembled those vehicles were retasked or shut down. The jigs were disassembled. The molds were destroyed. The technicians, engineers, scientists, and flight controllers moved onto other jobs. Over time, some of the materials used became obsolete." For further context, this meme would not be possible without this quote from astronaut Don Pettit: "I'd go to the moon in a nanosecond. The problem is, we don't have the technology to do that anymore. We used to, but we destroyed that technology and it is a painful process to build it back again." For full context on what he meant, read this Quora post.