"That jewel of Earth was just hung up in the blackness of space."
-Charles M. Duke Jr., Astronaut, describing the view from the moon
Imagine what it's like to see Earth from afar, as an object in the distance. It's one thing to see the photographs which are amazing enough but to actually be there and feel its presence in the distance must be another thing entirely. I think this still must be THE perspective of the contemporary experience, as of 2009. The Human Genome Project is obviously incredible but it's not as breathtaking, it doesn't have quite the same dramatic effect.
Several years ago while I was in grad school in Los Angeles I got really into reading Astronaut's personal accounts of what it was like to leave the planet and to see it from afar. First of all, I was surprised by how little information there seems to be available for public consumption. I mean, I'm sure there are hundreds of hours of audio with these guys that they did with NASA and the military relaying their experiences of space but there's surprisingly few books and the interviews that are available mostly focus on their material experience: What was it like going to the bathroom in zero gravity? What was it like eating in zero gravity? What was it like changing your clothes in zero gravity, etc.
I was more curious about the astronaut's (for lack of a better word) spiritual experience. I mean, no human, no life form (as far as we know) had EVER left the planet, after all. You'd think there'd be the possibility of some real full-fledged Awe and Wonder mixed in with these men's experiences.
As it turns out there was.
To be cont...
Charles Duke is only one of twelve men to have walked on the surface of the moon.
Duke walking on the moon April, 1972.
No comments:
Post a Comment