Apollo11

If you are an Apollo 11 nerd like me, you will want to check out a new website created by Ben Feist, a Canadian “software developer and spaceflight data visualization researcher working with NASA.”[1] The site called, “The First Landing on the Moon, Apollo 11, Real-Time Mission Experience,” is a treasure chest of audio clips, photos, and live data of the Apollo 11 Mission. This was the mission which resulted in the successful moon landing and return to earth of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Michael Collins flew the command module in orbit around the moon while other two men made the historic landing, set up experiments on the moon, and brought back rock samples.

By now, most of us will have seen a reminder of the July 20, 1969 landing in some form of media, and CBC has done a great job of retelling the story on their news site. If you want to go deeper and relive the excitement, anxiety, mystery, and joy of humanity doing so much with so little and making it possible for two men to leave footprints on the moon, spend some time on Ben Feist's remarkable website. Only the biggest Apollo geeks (I may be in that category) will enjoy hearing the exact pitch, trim, and roll of the linked Command Module (CM) and Lunar Module (LM) as they came out of radio silence on the far side of the moon, but others will appreciate the radio signals between the astronauts and Ground Control in Houston as they established a secure voice link by switching from one antenna to another. The care and detail of each team is evident as everyone works to get everything just right for the separation of CM and LM and the eventual landing of the LM.

There are also humorous moments in which the NASA crew on the ground joke with each other and challenge each other to rise to the immense discipline and hard work required to make everything function just right. The attention of thousands of people made it possible to do what three men accomplished in orbit around and on the surface of the moon. One of the most striking elements of the audio tapes is the calmness with which every command is given and received. At one point, we hear Houston say that they want to make a correction to data they had previously given. “We made an error on those coordinates. We'd like you to load for latitude in a NOUN 89 plus 01 243, longitude over 2 plus 11 844, altitude minus 001 46 as shown in the Flight Plan. Over.” Collins replies in a calm voice “Okay, Thank-you.” There are many more examples of real-time problem solving that occurred at every stage of the process. One gets the impression that the entire operation was highly disciplined and polished to perfection.

There are amazing full-colour and black-and-white photos associated with the audio transcripts that allow one to have a sense of what the astronauts were seeing as they worked on the details of the landing. There is video of the Houston Control Room where we can see Flight Director Gene Kranz smoking a cigar as he awaits the undocking of CM and LM. The actual landing is shown in detail and we see Armstrong testing his ability to step onto the surface and making sure he can still get back onto the LM steps before he makes his momentous official first words from the surface.

As I write these words, I have the Mission Control audio running in the background. It is almost like experiencing the landing first-hand fifty years ago today. Thank you, Ben Feist, for once again inspiring my imagination. Thank you, NASA for inspiring all of humanity with this remarkable feat of engineering on July 20, 1969.

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[1]BenFeist.com blog site, 2019-07-20

Edwin Aldrin

Edwin Aldrin, better known as Buzz Aldrin, turned 85 last January. If he can celebrate a few more birthdays he will be on track to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing on July 20^th. Aldrin piloted the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) to the surface of the moon and landed it at 20:18 UTC on July 20, 1969. Six hours later at 02:56 UTC on July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and he stepped onto the surface of the moon.

Aldrin, an elder in the Webster Presbyterian Church, had decided to take a home communion kit with him on the flight to the lunar surface. While still in the LM he spoke these words over the radio contact with mission control.

I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way. (Listen to the recording here)

He then read a portion of the Bible to himself, ate a small piece of bread, and drank a tiny chalice of wine as a brief ceremony known as communion. Webster Presbyterian Church in Webster, Texas has the chalice used for communion on the Moon, and commemorates the event annually on the Sunday closest to July 20 with what has come to be known as Lunar Communion Sunday.

Buzz Aldrin has lived an incredible life which has been described in his book Magnificent Desolation. It tells of moments of greatness like his contributions to the Apollo landing and his discovery of an Earth/Mars orbit called the Aldrin Cycler; but it also tells of times of depression, alcoholism, and marital struggle. Aldrin later stated that he has now had second thoughts about how he celebrated the moon landing.

Perhaps, if I had it to do over again, I would not choose to celebrate communion. Although it was a deeply meaningful experience for me, it was a Christian sacrament, and we had come to the moon in the name of all mankind -- be they Christians, Jews, Muslims, animists, agnostics, or atheists. But at the time I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giving thanks to God. It was my hope that people would keep the whole event in their minds and see, beyond minor details and technical achievements, a deeper meaning -- a challenge, and the human need to explore whatever is above us, below us, or out there.

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin is certainly an interesting and complex man. He has the capacity to inspire us to do great things and dream big. He has also learned to give thanks and live a grateful life. May he inspire us to do the same.

Works Cited:

Huffington Post, The Moon Communion Of Buzz Aldrin That NASA Didn't Want To Broadcast; Posted: 07/19/2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/19/moon-communion-buzz-aldrin_n_5600648.html

Webster Presbyterian Church website; http://www.websterpresby.org/content.cfm?id=314

Wikipedia, Buzz Aldrin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin 

Aldrin Cycler

Some people have the ability to think beyond their own time and consider what the world might look like in generations to come. One such person that has recently caught my attention is Colonel Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin.1 Aldrin was the second person to set foot on the moon and has led a life of celebrity since that epic 1969 mission. He is a fascinating person and, in his 2009 biography, Magnificent Desolation, he is open about his personal struggle with depression and alcoholism following his NASA career. He is also outspoken about his Presbyterian faith and is known for having celebrated communion on the moon.

Aldrin has continued to invent and discover new concepts. In 1985, at the age of 55, he discovered an orbit which would allow an object such as a comet or spacecraft to cycle between the earth and Mars. Aldrin proposed that humans could take advantage of this orbit and insert a spacecraft (sometimes called the Aldrin Cycler) into this orbit that could carry men and women to Mars. The cycler would continually orbit between Earth and Mars with periodic close flybys of each planet. One complete orbit would take two and one seventh years, while the trip from earth to Mars would take around five months. Mars missions could rendezvous with the cycler at these strategic flyby points and personnel could ride the cycler between the planets. They would exit at the next close encounter. This would reduce the amount of rocket fuel needed to travel between the two planets as it uses the gravitational tugs of each planet in a gravity assist flyby. Take a look at this video that describes how the concept works.

From a science and technology perspective, it is a fascinating concept. Once the cycler was inserted into its orbit, the initial trips could be devoted to delivering materials to this neighbouring planet. Robotic missions could place living quarters, food supplies, and other things needed for the first missions with humans on-board. Imagine hitching a ride on an artificial comet safely protected from the cosmic rays of space. A rotating living space inside the cycler could generate an artificial, centripetal gravity where travelers could carry out experiments on scientific questions related to space travel as they spent five months on the journey to the planet. Then, when the travelers arrived they could explore the surface of Mars, set up a scientific station on the planet, and perhaps eventually colonize the planet.

The other aspect of this story that is also of interest to me is the mindset of "Buzz" Aldrin.  He is definitely looking toward the future with this proposal. He is now 83 years old and the project would not possibly get started before 2020. He is pioneering and seeking to contribute to something that will benefit future generations. Many times in business, science, and even the church, our vision is very short-sighted. If there is no benefit for our present or for our immediate future, we tend not to think about such things. I like reading about those who are dreaming and creating a vision for the future. We need more of these dreamers. Perhaps I can integrate some of Aldrin's spirit into the work I do. I will give some thought to how I can help build a better future for those who will come after me.

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin