Hard to believe that 50 years ago today, one of the coolest accomplishments in the history of our country took place. It was 1969 and it was a difficult time. The Vietnam War and the United State’s involvement in that war was extremely controversial. Anti War protests were everywhere and racial discrimination and bias was still extremely high. The country needed a source of hope, and a source of pride in winning something, anything really.
Cue the space race with Russia! The Cold War was also still burning hot on paper in the 1960’s and as the US fought to keep up with the Russian space program. Russia was the first to put a man in outer space, and throughout the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects, NASA sought to beat Russia to the bigger prize, landing a man safely on the moon and bringing him back to Earth in one piece. This had been the goal since John F. Kennedy stated so in 1962. Apollo 11 was the mission that would accomplish this feat as the three man crew of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins would make their names in history.
That Sunday, July 20th, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the lunar module, Eagle, on the surface of the moon. Michael Collins remained on the shuttle Columbia orbiting the moon. Initially Armstrong was supposed to rest and wait to make the historic walk, but naturally he was too excited to wait. So at 10:39pm EST, Armstrong opened the hatch and began to descend the ladder to the moon. At 10:56pm he planted his foot on the powdered surface and said the famous words “that’s one small step for a man and one giant leap for mankind”
Aldrin joined him down the surface at 11:15pm where they planted the US flag, took some pictures and ran some scientific tests and spoke with President Richard Nixon via Houston. Finally a great joy could be felt back home on the soil of America! We had beaten the Russians to the moon! A time when our nation so badly needed a win, so badly needed a sign of hope that better days would be ahead of us, the crew of Apollo 11 did all of that with the ‘giant leap’ by an American Astronaut.
Neil Armstrong also made Ohioans everywhere proud, as he was from the small town of Wapakoneta in west central Ohio. While I wasn’t alive back in 1969, I have heard the stories of those who were, and the tremendous excitement and wonder his steps gave folks. I also have always loved the fact that we did explore outer space. As a Christian, I believe God wants us to explore the vastness of the universe so we can see and marvel at how big He is, and how small we are. While it had it’s share of controversy in the 1960’s as many felt we could spend millions of dollars in better ways, and they had some legitimate points, I maintain that those resources were still well spent, and the landing on the moon was exactly the source of hope that each American needed to see at that point in history.
One lesser known fact, Buzz Aldrin, a quiet but strong Christian and elder in his church, took communion privately on the moon from a kit given to him by his pastor. He felt there was no better way to show his thanks to God, for the opportunity to take part in something so amazing! NASA had stated they didn’t want any religious affiliated words spoken since the Apollo 8 crew had read the first chapter of Genesis during their televised trip around the moon on their mission, so Aldrin honored that at the time, but wrote about this in his autobiography.
Another lesser known fact with an Ohio connection is then up and coming English rock band Led Zeppelin performed a show at a small venue in Warrensville Heights called the Musicarnival that Sunday evening. Cleveland based blues band The James Gang opened for them. After the show, the band went into a small building located on the site grounds and watched the moon landing together, sharing in the wonder of the historic event!
In recent times, President Trump has quietly restarted the Space Program and wants to begin exploring the reaches of our galaxy, with rumors of a goal of a manned flight to Mars in 2033. I hope that I live to see the day that happens. For today though, let’s reflect on the joyous event of 50 years ago, and remember the three gentlemen who made history, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.
