The Good Earth
As many of you know, I am taking a course at SUNY Albany called "Exploring Space", it is aimed at non-majors who need to meet a science requirement. I have always been fascinated by flight, space travel, the moon, and what lies beyond our planet in general. On October 10, (about a month since the terror attacks, for those counting) we were watching a video called "To the Moon", a Nova special about the race between the United States and the USSR to reach the moon. The film told about the Apollo space program, whose goal was to reach the Moon. It is general knowledge that Apollo 11 was the first manned space flight to put a human being, American Neil Armstrong, on the moon. And by now, we've all heard of Apollo 13, thanks to the movie. But a lesser known flight (at least to members of my generation, I'm sure my parents and members of their generation remember it vividly) that was also part of the Apollo program, Apollo 8, was also of great significance, in that it was the first time that man had travelled around to the dark side of the moon, in a lunar orbit. Now, that may not sound so fantastic, but it was the first time in history that humans had left Earth orbit. Frank Borman, Bill Anders, and Jim Lovell (aka Tom Hanks' character in Apollo 13) were the first to bear witness to one of the most beautiful sights that I have ever seen.
They were coming around the dark side of the Moon, into the side that faced the Sun, and consequently, the Earth, and they saw, above the barren, bleak, gray surface of the Moon, the tiny, blue and white sphere that we call home, the planet Earth. Set in the vast, black blanket of space, was this tiny blue gem, they called this vision "Earthrise", and the photograph of which is now one of the most famous images taken from space. The astronauts all said that they were so moved by this, they nearly forgot about the actual mission.
During this same flight, on Christmas Eve, 1968, the astronauts were broadcast live to millions across the world, in what was one of the most watched broadcasts ever. They were asked to say something to the world below, but rather than come up with something on their own (remember, these were Air Force pilots, not poets), these three men, Americans, from the Planet Earth, simply chose to read a passage from the Book of Genesis, from the Holy Bible. Here is a transcript of the beautiful words they said:
"For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you".
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."
"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."
"And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth."
And watching this video, showing beautiful images of the Earth taken from high above our tiny, humble home, narrated by these three simple human beings, heroes of our nation, of our entire planet, I felt incredibly moved, and reminded of just how beautiful our planet really is, and I just felt I should share it with you all. Now, I know we have problems. When this broadcast was made, the world was in turmoil, what with Vietnam, the Cold War, and the civil rights struggles in our United States. But even now, with the makings of what could quite possibly turn into World War III (which sends shivers down my spine just thinking that), I still think, that we are all truly blessed to live on this beautiful planet. That being said:
God Bless Us All.
Geoffrey V. Waltz, 10/10/01
PS: I would like to add, that as much as I appreciate the beauty of this world, those dirty sons of bitches need to pay.
Note: Above image taken by Apollo 11
FOOTNOTE: Anyone who knows me knows me, knows how anti-religious I am, and how out of character it is for me to put a Bible passage on my website. I think organized religion is a crutch, it has been a major factor or cause of some of the greatest tragedies in our planet's history. However, organized religion has been beneficial too, it has helped millions of people find happiness in their lives, and has been a guiding light through dark times. And these, my friends, are some of the darkest times that our country, and our planet, have seen in a long time. And so yes, even I, this staunch "anti-theist" that I am, have found some comfort the words of the Holy Bible the words were just so fitting to the moment.
All images courtesy of NASA