On JULY 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon, stating:
"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
The second man on the moon was Colonel Buzz Aldrin.
Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on
the moon's surface before redocking their lunar module "Eagle" with the
command ship "Columbia."
With
a Ph.D. from M.I.T., Buzz Aldrin had developed technology necessary for
the mission, especially the complicated rendezvous with the command
module.
Before stepping out onto the moon's surface, there was a planned time of rest for the astronauts.
Buzz
Aldrin asked for radio silence and then for took communion privately,
as NASA was fighting a lawsuit from atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who
had objected to the Apollo 8 crew reading from the Book of Genesis.
Buzz Aldrin stated in his book,
Return to Earth (Random House, 1973) and in an interview with
Guideposts Magazine, October 1970, "An Astronaut Tells of a little-known but Significant Event on the Moon":
"For
several weeks prior to the scheduled lift-off of Apollo 11 back in
July, 1969, the pastor of our church, Dean Woodruff, and I had been
struggling to find the right symbol for the first lunar landing.
We wanted to express our feeling that what man was doing in this mission transcended electronics and computers and rockets.
Dean
often speaks at our church, Webster Presbyterian, just outside of
Houston, about the many meanings of the communion service.
'One
of the principal symbols,' Dean says, 'is that God reveals Himself in
the common elements of everyday life.' Traditionally, these elements are
bread and wine-common foods in Bible days and typical products of man's
labor.
One
day while I was at Cape Kennedy working with the sophisticated tools of
the space effort, it occurred to me that these tools were the typical
elements of life today.
I wondered if it might be possible to
take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was
revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe. For
there are many of us in the NASA program who do trust that what we are
doing is part of God's eternal plan for man.
I spoke with Dean about the idea as soon as I returned home, and he was enthusiastic.
'I
could carry the bread in a plastic packet, the way regular inflight
food is wrapped. And the wine also-there will be just enough gravity on
the moon for liquid to pour. I'll be able to drink normally from a cup.
Dean, I wonder if you could look around for a little chalice that I
could take with me as coming from the church?'
The next week Dean
showed me a graceful silver cup. I hefted it and was pleased to find
that it was light enough to take along. Each astronaut is allowed a few
personal items on a flight; the wine chalice would be in my
personal-preference kit.
Dean made special plans for two special
communion services at Webster Presbyterian Church. One would be held
just prior to my leaving Houston for Cape Kennedy, when I would join the
other members in a dedication service.
The
second would take place two weeks later, Sunday, July 20, when Neil
Armstrong and I were scheduled to be on the surface of the moon.
On
that Sunday the church back home would gather for communion, while I
joined them as close as possible to the same hour, taking communion
inside the lunar module, all of us meaning to represent in this small
way not only our local church but the Church as a whole.
Right
away question came up. Was it theologically correct for a layman to
serve himself communion under these circumstances? Dean thought so, but
to make sure he decided to write the stated clerk of the Presbyterian
church's General Assembly and got back a quick reply that this was
permissible.
And
how much should we talk about our plans? I am naturally rather
reticent, but on the other hand I was becoming increasingly convinced
that having religious convictions carried with it the responsibility of
witnessing to them. Finally we decided we would say nothing about the
communion service until after the moonshot.
I had a question
about which scriptural passage to use. Which reading would best capture
what this enterprise meant to us? I thought long about this and came up
at last with John 15:5.
It seemed to fit perfectly. I wrote the
passage on a slip of paper to be carried aboard Eagle along with the
communion elements. Dean would read the same passage at the full
congregation service held back home that same day.
So at last we were set. And then trouble appeared. It was Saturday, just prior to the first of the two communion services.
The
next day, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I were to depart Houston for
Cape Kennedy. We were scheduled for a pre-mission press conference when
the flight physician arrived and set up elaborate precautions against
crew contamination.
We had to wear sterile masks and to talk to
the reporters from within a special partition. The doctor was taking no
chances. A cold germ, a flu virus, and the whole shot might have to be
aborted. I felt I had to tell him about the big church service scheduled
for the next morning. When I did, he wasn't at all happy.
I called Dean with the news late Saturday night. 'It doesn't look real good, Dean.'
'What about a private service? Without the whole congregation?'
It
was a possibility. I called the doctor about the smaller service and he
agreed, provided there were only a handful of people present.
So
the next day, Sunday, shortly after the end of the 11 o'clock service
my wife, Joan and our oldest boy Mike (the only one of our three
children who is as yet a communicant), went to the church. There we met
Dean, his wife, Floy, and our close family friend Tom Manison, elder of
the church and his wife.
The
seven of us went in to the now-empty sanctuary. On the communion table
were two loaves of bread, one for now, the other for two weeks from now.
Beside the two loaves were two chalices, one of them the small cup the
church was giving me for the service on the moon.
We took
communion. At the end of the service Dean tore off a corner of the
second loaf of bread and handed it to me along with the tiny chalice.
Within a few hours I was on my way to Cape Kennedy.
What happened there, of course, the whole world knows.
The
Saturn 5 rocket gave us a rough ride at first, but the rest of the trip
was smooth. On the day of the moon landing, we awoke at 5:30 a.m.,
Houston time.
Neil
and I separated from Mike Collins in the command module. Our powered
descent was right on schedule, and perfect except for one unforeseeable
difficulty. The automatic guidance system would have taken Eagle to an
area with huge boulders.
Neil had to steer Eagle to a more suitable terrain. With only seconds worth of fuel left, we touched down at 3:30 p.m.
Now
Neil and I were sitting inside Eagle, while Mike circled in lunar orbit
unseen in the black sky above us. In a little while after our scheduled
meal period, Neil would give the signal to step down the ladder onto
the powdery surface of the moon. Now was the moment for communion.
So
I unstowed the elements in their flight packets. I put them and the
scripture reading on the little table in front of the abort guidance
system computer.
Then I called back to Houston.
'Houston,
this is Eagle. This is the LM Pilot speaking. I would like to request a
few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening
in, wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the
events of the past few hours and to invite each person listening,
wherever and whomever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events
of the past few hours and to give thanks in his own individual way.'
On
World Communion Sunday, October 4, 1970, many Christians through the
world will unite in spirit as they-each in his own church, according to
his own tradition-participate in celebrating the Lord's Supper.
For me this meant taking communion. In the radio blackout I opened the little plastic packages which contained bread and wine.
I
poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the
one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up
the side of the cup. It was interesting to think that the very first
liquid ever poured on the moon, and the first food eaten there, were
communion elements.
And
so, just before I partook of the elements, I read the words, which I
had chosen to indicate our trust that as man probes into space we are in
fact acting in Christ.
I sensed especially strongly my unity with our church back home, and with the Church everywhere.
I
read: 'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, and I
in him, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.'
Webster
Presbyterian Church on NASA Parkway near Houston, Texas, keeps the
chalice used on the Moon and commemorates the event each year on the
Sunday closest to July 20.
Buzz Aldrin's popularity was the inspiration for the character "Buzz Lightyear" in Pixar's animated movie
Toy Story (1995).
As they were returning to Earth, July 23, 1969, Buzz Aldrin stated via television:
"This
has been far more than three men on a mission to the Moon...Personally,
in reflecting on the events of the past several days, a verse from
Psalms comes to mind.
'When I consider the heavens, the work of
Thy fingers, the Moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is
man that Thou art mindful of him?'"
Neil Armstrong added:
"To all the other people that are listening and watching tonight, God bless you. Good night from Apollo 11."
American Minute - Notable Events of American Significance Remembered on the Date They Occurred
At Mission Control in Houston, Charles Duke had been NASA's CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) during the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Growing
nervous as the lunar module almost ran out of fuel avoiding rocky
terrain on its descent, Charles Duke stated upon their successful
landing:
"Roger,
Twank...Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of
guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!"
Charles Duke later flew to the moon on the Apollo 16 mission.
On April 21, 1972, Astronauts Charles Duke and John Young explored the moon's rugged Descartes region.
Years
later, Charles Duke spoke at a Prayer Rally during the Texas State's
Republican Convention in San Antonio's Lila Cockrell Theatre, June 22,
1996. His remarks were printed in the book,
Charles Duke: Moonwalker (Rose Petal Press, 2nd edition, 2011, p. 256-261):
"I
have been before kings and prime ministers, junta leaders and
dictators, businessmen and beggars, rich and poor, black and white...
One
of the most touching times was in the office of one of the cabinet
ministers in Israel...After the introduction I was asked to share my
walk on the moon with the Israeli minister.
'Mr. Minister,' I
began, 'I was able to look back at the earth from the moon and hold up
my hand and underneath this hand was the earth. The thought occurred to
me that underneath my hand were four billion people. I couldn't see
Europe, America, the Middle East.
I
couldn't see blacks or whites, Jews or Orientals, just spaceship
earth. I realized we needed to learn to love one another, and I
believed that with that love and our technical expertise, we could
solve all of mankind's problems...'
The promises of the Bible
are true and, I believe, speak the truth in every area - whether it be
in spiritual matters, nutrition, history, or even science.
In 1972 aboard Apollo 16, I saw with my own eyes what is written in the Scriptures.
In Isaiah 40:22 it says 'It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth."
And in Job 26:7, it is written 'He hangeth the earth upon nothing.'
Who told Isaiah that the earth was a circle?...And how did the writer of Job know that the earth hung upon nothing?...
This is the Lord I love and serve. This is the Lord who transformed by life. This is the Lord who transformed my marriage.
I
used to say I could live ten thousand years and never have an
experience as thrilling as walking on the moon. But the excitement and
satisfaction of that walk doesn't begin to compare with my walk with
Jesus, a walk that lasts forever.
I thought Apollo 16 would be my
crowning glory, but the crown that Jesus gives will not tarnish or
fade away. His crown will last throughout all eternity..."
Miracles in American History-32 Amazing Stories of Answered Prayer
Charles Duke continued:
"Not
everyone has the opportunity to walk on the moon, but everybody has
the opportunity to walk with the Son. It costs billions of dollars to
send someone to the moon, but walking with Jesus is free, the Gift of
God.
'For by Grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
boast.'
You
don't need to go to the moon to find God. I didn't find God in space -
I found him in the front seat of my car on Highway 46 in New
Braunfels, Texas, when I opened my heart to Jesus. And my life hasn't
been the same since.
Now I can truly look up at the moon and the
stars and with the prophets of old exclaim, 'The heavens declare the
glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.'"
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