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This is the Classical Astronomy Update, an email newsletter especially
for Christian homeschool families (though everyone is welcome!)
Please feel free to share this with any interested friends.
IN THIS UPDATE:
- Astronomical Topics
- Overview of the Apollo Program
- Faith and the Bible in the Apollo Moon Program
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him,
sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens
of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. - Psalm 148:2-4
Welcome to the Classical Astronomy Update!
Hello Friends,
We don't usually cover NASA-related topics in this newsletter, but we are once again making an exception since the media is all abuzz about the 40th anniversary of the moonwalk of Apollo 11. It's hard to believe that four decades have gone by, and many who were kids at that time are now grandparents. The Apollo astronauts themselves, who were mostly in their late 30s at the time, are now almost octogenarians.
In the 1960s, there was a strong sense of destiny, as though space travel would become commonplace. Most people would have thought that by the year 2009, there would be colonies on the Moon and manned missions would have explored the solar system. There was a imminent feeling of the "Conquest of Space" as we approached the third millennium of the Christian era.
Of course, that view turned out to be naive and idealistic. No one at the time stopped to consider that manned space travel was very expensive and fraught with all manner of dangers. After the Apollo 11 moonlanding, the fickle American public mostly lost interest in manned space travel and turned its collective short attention span in other directions.
Over the last 40 years, NASA has done some considerable excellent work. Unmanned probes have sent back amazing pictures of the planets of the solar system. We have seen the surfaces of Venus and Mars, and amazing sights at the outer planets and their moons. Our space-borne telescope has shown us beautiful nebulae and remarkable cosmic vistas.
But those of us who were truly inspired by Apollo had higher hopes. We hoped that the human aspect of space exploration would do more than languish in low Earth orbit. It wasn't enough to just learn more about space and gawk at pretty pictures. The true excitement came from having people out there, even if it was expensive and dangerous.
Given the risks, the providential hand of the LORD was surely on the Apollo missions. In this newsletter, we'll take at how the LORD was glorified through Apollo, and how lives were touched by the experience of walking on the Moon.
Astronomical Topics
Overview of the Apollo Program
For those not entirely familiar with the Apollo program, an overview is provided of the goals and objectives of the Apollo missions, along with descriptions of the spacecraft components used.
 In the Apollo program, three astronauts were carried to the Moon using a three-stage Saturn V rocket booster. The crew were carried to and from the Moon in the Command Module (CM), a cone-shaped vehicle that sat atop the Service Module (SM), a cylindrical rocket
component (together referred to as the CSM).
Lunar landing and return was accomplished using the two-stage Lunar Module (LM). The LM crew included the Mission Commander and Lunar Module Pilot. The Command Module Pilot remained alone in lunar orbit in the CSM during LM excursion.
In the early manned Apollo missions, new components and mission objectives were tested in a step-by-step process before committing an astronaut crew to a lunar landing. After the first landing, later missions included more challenging mission objectives on the Moon's surface. The manned missions and objectives of the Apollo program were as follows:
Apollo 7 (Schirra, Eisele, Cunningham - October, 1968) - Earth orbit test of the Command and Service modules (CSM), the primary crew vehicle for travelling to and from the Moon. Launched using a smaller Saturn 1B booster rocket
Apollo 8 (Borman, Lovell, Anders - December, 1968) - manned test of the full Saturn V booster rocket. First manned orbital mission to the Moon.
Apollo 9 (McDivitt, Scott, Schweickart - March, 1969) - Earth orbit test of the CSM using the Lunar Module (LM), the landing vehicle for the Moon. (Command Module callsign "Gumdrop," Lunar Module callsign "Spider")
Apollo 10 (Stafford, Young, Cernan - May, 1969) - Lunar orbital test of the CSM and LM. The LM was flown to within 10 miles above the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Charlie Brown," Lunar Module callsign "Snoopy")
Apollo 11 (Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin - July, 1969) - First manned lunar landing, 21-1/2 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Columbia," Lunar Module callsign "Eagle")
Apollo 12 (Conrad, Gordon, Bean - November, 1969) - Test of precision lunar landing techniques, landing within sight of the unmanned Surveyor 3 probe. 31-1/2 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Yankee Clipper," Lunar Module callsign "Intrepid")
Apollo 13 (Lovell, Swigert, Haise - April, 1970) - Aborted mission, catastrophic failure of the Service Module (SM) en route to the Moon. Safe return of crew. (Command Module callsign "Odyssey," Lunar Module callsign "Aquarius")
Apollo 14 (Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell - January, 1971) - Expanded exploration of rugged lunar terrain, first drive of a golf ball on the Moon by Commander Alan Shepard. 1 day, 9-1/2 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Kitty Hawk," Lunar Module callsign "Antares")
Apollo 15 (Scott, Worden, Irwin - August, 1971) - Landing in a mountainous region of the Moon, first use of the Lunar Rover (i.e., the "Moon Buggy"). 2 days, 19 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Endeavor," Lunar Module callsign "Falcon")
Apollo 16 (Young, Mattingly, Duke - April, 1972) - Landing in a treacherous mountain highland area of the Moon. Extensive exploration with Lunar Rover. 2 days, 23 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "Casper," Lunar Module callsign "Orion")
Apollo 17 (Cernan, Evans, Schmitt - December, 1969) - Extensive geological research of the Moon. Placed a movie camera that recorded liftoff of the LM. 3 days, 3 hours spent on the Moon's surface. (Command Module callsign "America," Lunar Module callsign "Challenger")
Faith and the Bible in the Apollo Moon Program
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the historic first moonwalk of Apollo 11, we will take a look at the prominent role played by faith and the Bible in the Apollo Moon program.
Indeed, it can be hard to explain to a young person today the importance of Christian faith in American life in the 1960s. Though many people, then as now, were simply nominally religious churchgoers, it was nevertheless very common to hear public prayer, professions of Christian faith and expressions of thanks to God in the public square.
Such demonstrations of faith were also found throughout the Apollo program, though mainstream history today is throwing these into the "memory hole." It was in that turbulent time period of the 60s that the ACLU was beginning to remove public demonstrations of faith, as we will see.
Apollo 8
Since the lunar module was not yet ready for testing, NASA officials made the bold decision to fly a manned crew around the Moon to test the Saturn V booster. This historic flight was the first time that humans had reached beyond the confines of the Earth's orbit. This was the first time that people had seen the Moon up close. Moreover, it was the first time people had seen the Earth from the distance of the Moon, as a small blue marble amidst the blackness of space.
Apollo 8 orbited the Moon on Christmas Eve, 1968. In a special TV report viewed by people around America and the world, the crew of Apollo 8 sent a Christmas greeting, and a special message -- a reading from the first chapter of the book of Genesis. The first message ever received by astronauts visiting another world was the Biblical account of the first three days of Creation.
For a detailed discussion of the mission of Apollo 8 and the Genesis reading, with related links, click on our newsletter article from last December, Apollo 8 40th Anniversary.
Apollo 11
Though nearly forgotten today, one of first acts performed on Apollo 11, after first landing on the Moon, was a celebration of the Lord's Supper by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Upon landing on the Moon in the Eagle LM, Buzz made the following announcement to Mission Control:
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, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.
The God and Science website includes the following report from Buzz Aldrin as to what happened next:
In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture:
I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.
I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute Deke Slayton had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hair, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly...
Eagle's metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements.
Buzz also gave this version of the story in his book, "Return from the Moon."
During the first idle moment in the LM before eating our snack, I reached into my personal preference kit and pulled out two small packages which had been specially prepared at my request. One contained a small amount of wine, the other a small wafer. With them and a small chalice from the kit, I took communion on the moon, reading to myself from a small card I carried on which I had written the portion of the Book of John used in the traditional communion ceremony.
 It is especially fitting and poignant that Buzz also read Psalm 8: 3-4:
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
The actual card that Buzz carried with him to read from the Moon was up for auction in 2007. The accompanying image is from this article from USA Today.
Buzz Aldrin's communion on the Moon is depicted in the excellent HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon. No sources are readily available that indicate Neil Armstrong's opinion of the lunar communion, or whether Buzz had invited him to participate. Buzz Aldrin did report that "Armstrong looked on with an expression of faint disdain (as if to say, what's he up to now?)." However, I would imagine that Neil Armstrong was aware of Buzz's intentions beforehand, since Buzz had already cleared the communion celebration with the NASA authorities, and it seems unlikely that Armstrong would be unware.
In 1969, Buzz Aldrin was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church in Houston, where he was given the communion kit that he took to Sea of Tranquility. Each year since 1969, Webster Presbyterian holds a Lunar Communion service to commemorate Buzz Aldrin's celebration on the Moon. This article gives more info on the 2009 service. The program for the 2008 service is found here.
Apollo 13
After the catastrophic failure of the Service Module on Apollo 13, it was miraculous that the crew made it back alive to the Earth. However, this success is usually "officially" attributed to human ingenuity and determination rather than divine intervention. While hard work on the part of the NASA crew cannot be denied, nonetheless, calls for prayer were made everywhere at the time, including the mainstream news media and in the halls of Congress. Churches everywhere offered up prayers for the crew of Apollo 13. Whatever means the LORD used, it is evident that the prayers on behalf of Apollo 13 were answered.
On the website What Really Happened to Apollo 13, NASA engineer and Christian Jerry Woodfill gives an insider's view of the events of Apollo 13, and how an "unseen author" scripted the events so as to return the crew safely. After reading Jerry's account, one must have to be a strong believer in pure chance to think that the miracle of Apollo 13 was merely the result of human effort.
The Bible on the Moon
The Apollo Prayer League was a group of NASA engineers, scientists, administrators and astronauts. The League was headed by Rev. John Stout, a NASA Information Scientist and chaplain who worked closely with the astronauts and NASA personnel.
 The Apollo Prayer League created a microfilm Bible and 300 microfilm copies were carried to the lunar surface. The microfilm is about 1.5 inches square, and yet contains all 1,245 pages of the King James Bible. These pages so small that they must be read under a microscope. This Lunar Bible is the only complete copy of the Bible to have flown to the surface of the Moon. The above image and some of the above information is from the Collect Space web site.
The microfilm Lunar Bible was flown on three Apollo missions. It was packed onboard Apollo 12 spacecraft, but was mistakenly left on the Command Module. It was then placed onboard Apollo 13, and was with the astronauts during their perilous return to Earth after the explosion of the Service Module. The Lunar Bible copies were finally carried to the Moon in the pocket of astronaut Edgar Mitchell on Apollo 14.
The Faith of the Moonwalkers
A total of twelve men walked on the Moon from 1969 through 1972. Most of these moonwalkers were modern men of science who viewed the moonwalks as triumphs of technology and the human spirit. However, some of the moonwalking astronauts were touched on a spiritual level by their experiences on the Moon. Two astronauts in particular -- Jim Irwin of Apollo 15 and Charlie Duke of Apollo 16 -- gave their lives to Jesus Christ and one specifically credited his unique experience on the Moon to leading him to Christ.
According to Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell, the Lunar Module Pilots had less work to do on the Moon than the Mission Commanders, and had more of a chance to "look around." Here's how Mitchell describes the spiritual impact on the Lunar Module Pilots walking on the Moon:
We had more time to be introspective, gawky tourists. Virtually all of us had a profound experience out of that. The interesting thing is, we expressed it in different ways.... For example, Jim Irwin, now deceased, is well known; he became very Fundamentalist and expressed his experience in very traditional religious terms. Charlie Duke, Apollo XVI, did the same thing, relatively speaking. Alan Bean on the other hand, on Apollo XII, turned to his art and became a lunar artist. Myself, being more steeped in science and with doctoral degrees in science and engineering, turned more to philosophy and the science of it to express and find out what was going on. But we all had very similar experiences.
Actually, one might not agree that the distinguished Dr. Mitchell's response was entirely scientific. Even though he was the one who carried the microfilm Bible to the Moon, Mitchell turned to mysticism and UFO-ology following his return from the Moon. Alan Bean from Apollo 13 has indeed made some wonderful paintings in which he attempts to convey the sense he had while walking on the Moon.
Jim Irwin of Apollo 15 felt the presence of the LORD during his 67 hours on the Moon's surface. In his autobiography Destination Moon he wrote:
Before the flight, I was really not a religious man. I believed in God, but I really had nothing to share. But when I came back from the moon, I felt so strongly that I had something that I wanted to share with others, that I established High Flight, in order to tell all men everywhere that God is alive, not only on earth but also on the moon.
In describing seeing the Earth from the Moon, Irwin wrote:
The earth was very small, the size of a marble. I thought it the earth is that small, how small am I? Just a speck in the universe, but yet significant enough that God would love me and create me and love me enough to touch my life....I felt privileged like an angel to get God's view of the earth.
Following his return from the Moon, Jim Irwin became an inspirational speaker. In 1982, he led an expedition to Turkey and climbed Mount Ararat in a search for Noah's Ark. Jim Irwin died in 1991.
Like many of the Apollo astronauts, Charlie Duke of Apollo 16 found his personal life in a wreck following his return from the Moon. Charlie was not directly moved by his experience on the Moon, as he describes in this article:
Though I had gone to church all my life, I had all of God I needed in that one hour every Sunday morning. Even the moon had not been a spiritual experience. I wasn't looking for God. I knew Jesus the way you know the United States presidents--in name only.
Though his relationship with his family was on the rocks, Charlie Duke and his marriage and family were restored through a personal relationship with Jesus. His famous quote:
It cost the government $400 million for me to walk three days on the moon and its over. But to walk with Jesus is free, and it lasts forever.
Charlie Duke also gives a powerful personal testimony of Jesus in the secular documentary of the Apollo program, In the Shadow of the Moon, produced by Ron Howard. In addition to Charlie Duke's contributions, this is the best retrospective documentary about the Apollo program that I've seen. Charlie Duke's website is at http://www.charlieduke.net/.
Though we may not hear specific reports in the news media, we can be confident that the LORD's people are still active in NASA and that the LORD is still moving His hand through the lives of many in the space program.
Coming in future Classical Astronomy Updates:
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In 2009, we will (try to) celebrate the Quadricentennials of Galileo and Kepler.
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The bright planet Jupiter will reach opposition on August 14, 2009, and will be visible in the evening sky for the remainder of the year.
Til next time, God bless and clear skies!
-jay
The Ryan Family
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3,4, a Psalm of David
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