Neil and Apollo

 

                I was out of town when the news hit that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, had passed away.  Quite stunned, I sat there for a few minutes thinking about the grainy moon images we have all seen and wondering what it felt like to climb down the steps of the lunar module.  Neil couldn’t tell us anymore.  In fact, the number of people who can describe that feeling to us are quickly dwindling.  

                The United States race to the moon began with a speech by JFK.  At age 16, I bought what was arguably the most defining book in my life: “A Man on the Moon” by Andrew Chaikin.  It was the first non-fiction book I ever devoured willingly and the first time my mother said, “That’s an odd book.”  (This phrase has been uttered by her countless times in my life since.)  My library has grown since that book to include nonfiction and fiction books on all topics, but none stand out to me quite like this inaugural tome.  And inside, you’ll find that I diligently outlined JFK’s inspiring words.  At this point, it’s almost unnecessary for me to read them; they are devoted to my memory:

                We choose to go to moon!  We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things – not because they are easy, but because they are hard.  Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our abilities and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win… (pg 2)

               

                What I found most fascinating about the early Apollo astronauts was that they were not scientists.  Looking up at the moon or Mars these days, most people want to know what is there, is water present, has life ever scurried its way across the surface?  We can all agree that these are scientific questions that need to be probed in thoughtful ways.  However, the Apollo program was simply about getting to the moon.  Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins (forgotten Mike!), Jim Lovell, Ken Mattingly, etc. were all military pilots.  Their skills were in flight.  They offered up their talents to try and progress Kennedy’s message and push themselves to limits beyond Earth.  Simply reading the passages describing the Eagle’s landing is enough to remind you that, at least in these early days, scientists had no place on the moon yet.

                Fifty feet above the moon.  Now thirty.  Eagle was drifting slowly backward and Armstrong did not know why, but he knew he must not land while he could not see where he was going.  He pulsed the hand controller, struggling to arrest the unwanted motion.  He was displeased with himself, sure that he was not flying Eagle smoothly.  He wished he could buy more time, but he was too low on fuel to slow the descent any further.  Twenty feet to go.  He’d stopped the backward drift but still wrestled with a sideways motion that had crept in.  They were flying the dead man’s curve now, too low to abort if the engine quit, but in the back of his mind, Armstrong knew that if that happened, they’d be okay, they would just fall to the moon… (pg 199)

                Once landing on the moon, there was the complicated reunion with the command module to plan and then a trip through the Earth’s atmosphere down to the Pacific Ocean.  The fact that we landed on the moon at all is a testament to so many things: human ingenuity, desire to break through barriers, skill at designing and flying machines, team work, and just plain courage.  Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are only the most visible of that program.  Thousands of people worked to get them there and many egos were on board to fulfill this dream.  By all accounts, Armstrong was a quiet, humble and shy man.  I don’t believe that they could have picked a better person to become the face of discovery.

                Harrison Hagan Schmitt, called Jack, was the first geologist to turn astronaut.  Five other geologists joined Schmitt in training and they were all outsiders to the other pilots.  These men first needed to learn to fly, which many of them did, but they face challenges at being accepted.  After earning some respect, the tragedy of Apollo 13 followed, further pushing the desire for a scientist-turned-pilot on these missions to farthest corners.  Instead, geologists trained the astronauts on geological points.  Dave Scott, in particular, carried the rally cry of the scientists, was their advocate, and pushed the core to train appropriately for a scientific, not merely a flying, mission.  Jack Schmitt finally flew to the moon on Apollo 17, the final mission for the program.  

                Since then, the merging of science and flight has come a long way.  Almost every shuttle mission had scientific experiments that were carried out while the Internal Space Station is continually probing the confines of space.  The Apollo missions helped shape the mold between pilot and scientist and began a lifetime of working together.  If the Apollo program doesn’t inspire you, then at least be inspired by the idea of what humans can do when they put their might to a task.

                In Mattingly’s mind what stands out most is what happened to him not in space but on earth.  “It was being part of a team that was dedicated to something that transcended individual aspirations.  That’s what Apollo was.  It was thousands of people who were willing to work day and night… You can’t imagine what that’s like compared to an everyday experience. (pg 579)

I believe we’ll go back to the moon one day, whether by force or interest.  We hardly learned enough on our time there.  While Mars is a bit more “sexy” at this time, I think what we learn on Mars will force us to ask questions about the Earth and the moon.  Some people say that we shouldn’t waste money on NASA when there are problems on Earth to be fixed.  The same could have been said during the times of Columbus or Captain Cook.  Exploration is natural.  Questioning our reality helps us understand ourselves, our world, and our existence.  Sometimes you must step outside your own surroundings to understand the bigger message.

Thank you to Neil Armstrong, all the Apollo, Gemini, Mercury and Space Shuttle astronauts.  You inspired so many to think beyond what we all thought was possible.

 

REFERENCES

Chaikin, Andrew. “A Man on the Moon.” 1994, Penguin Putnam Inc.  New York, New York.

                The forward of this book was written by Tom Hanks

                This book serves as the basis for the HBO mini-series “From the Earth to the Moon.”