Earthrise

[In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, I am re-posting some previous entries inspired by some of NASA's achievements. - CK]

Until the Apollo missions with NASA in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we had not seen the earth from the vantage point of space. We did not know how blue and beautiful we were from afar. For the first time, we saw an image of one earth. It was different from those world maps we had seen in geography textbooks, or the globes that sat in the classrooms. Those were contrived by artists and showed divisions, countries, and boundaries. For the first time, we saw through the astronaut’s lens a single, beautiful, living thing – a lovely oasis of life illuminated in the darkness of space. Though we did not feel it down on the ground, with all our conflicts and divisions, we could see it in that photo taken from the moon.

Even now, all these years later, it is difficult to realize what was seen so clearly from space. We are one planet, one people, one life, one earth. We indeed have a treasure to celebrate and preserve.



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The First Apollo Moon Landing

[In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, I am re-posting some previous entries inspired by some of NASA's achievements. ~ CK]

This Week in History

Where were you on July 20, 1969? That was the day when we realized the goal set forth by President John F. Kennedy “to put a man on the moon in this decade.” I know, some of you had not even been imagined yet, but if you're a boomer, you probably know where you were that night.

It was on a Sunday, and in my hometown at the First Baptist of Dadeville,  Alabama, some petitioned the preacher, Rev. Murray Seay, to cancel the Sunday night service so we could all watch. He came to our Training Union class to announce that the first step on the moon had been delayed and we would have time for worship and the moonwalk.

Our family gathered around the black and white TV. The moment came at 9:56 p.m. Central Daylight Time.  We heard Neil Armstrong declare, “That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind.” We were all amazed that two guys were actually up there walking around on the moon. We watched along with Walter Cronkite, of course, as he anchored the CBS News desk.

The first Apollo mission had ended in tragedy when a flash fire engulfed the capsule during a test run the day before the scheduled launch. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed that day. Then later, there was the dramatic mishap on Apollo 13 in which the crew were fortunately brought back safely after a rupture disabled the service module of the Apollo spacecraft on the far side of the moon.
 
In the years that followed, I was dismayed that the Apollo missions became so routine that there were no network interruptions to carry sustained coverage. It was treated as old hat, when I wanted to follow each mission as it unfolded.

Later we would see the Space Shuttle program, the deployment of the Hubble telescope, the building of an international space station, and missions to Mars with the robot rover explorers, “Opportunity” and “Curiosity.” You can see it all at NASA’s website, https//www.nasa.gov. 

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Monday Music.: Faith of the Heart (Star Trek Enterprise Theme)

July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing by Apollo 11. During the month, I'll be posting some of my previous writings that celebrate our space exploration, including a few "poems from space."

When Star Trek Enterprise aired, they used a popular song as the theme (which some die-hard Trek fans objected to). I loved the theme, but I especially liked the visuals which created a continuity between the actual history of exploration and the fantasy of what space exploration could look like in the future. Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, definitely pinned his hope upon the better angels of our nature.

This version is sung by vocal artist Russell Watson. You can hear Rod Stewart's version here: https://youtu.be/t1sYjDc8i4I (It was used on the soundtrack for the movie, Patch Adams).


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Saturday Haiku: Poems from Space: Apollo 8

[In celebration of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing, I am re-posting some previous entries inspired by some of NASA's achievements. The Apollo 8 flight was the first time humans had orbited the moon. "Earthrise" is an iconic photo that was shot during that moon mission which inspired the haiku that I re-post today.]

Our first moon orbit;

we explored far reaches, yet

turning, saw ourselves.  

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Image: "Earthrise" (NASA photo)



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