the morning of Christmas Eve 40 years ago, for the first time in human history, three astronauts were able to see with their own eyes the hidden face of the Moon: Frank Borman ( Commander), Jim Lovell and William Anders, reached and circumnavigated the Moon. 
They left 3 days before from Cape Canaveral, the number of the Apollo 8 mission, and the first with human beings from the top of the giant Saturn 5 rocket.
In fact, this step so risky for the Americans was expected later, but for a number of technical reasons and partly political, it was decided to anticipate the launch, reducing the total number of flights and bringing the Man on the Moon after only three other missions.
Among other things, the commander of Apollo 8 was to be initially a certain Michael Collins, command module pilot of the 'Columbia' precisely during the historic Apollo 11, but a hernia operation forced him to land the disc. Frank Borman took his place, of the backup crew (the other two reservists were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Al drin ....).
Everything went well, the first pictures of Earth's man-made sunrise were taken, the tests for the first moon landing went well. All this served to create a better climate to accelerate even further the program of conquest and bring lunar landing only 7 months later.
In fact, this step so risky for the Americans was expected later, but for a number of technical reasons and partly political, it was decided to anticipate the launch, reducing the total number of flights and bringing the Man on the Moon after only three other missions.
Among other things, the commander of Apollo 8 was to be initially a certain Michael Collins, command module pilot of the 'Columbia' precisely during the historic Apollo 11, but a hernia operation forced him to land the disc. Frank Borman took his place, of the backup crew (the other two reservists were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Al drin ....).
Everything went well, the first pictures of Earth's man-made sunrise were taken, the tests for the first moon landing went well. All this served to create a better climate to accelerate even further the program of conquest and bring lunar landing only 7 months later.
Vietnam was America, the America of Martin Luther King assassinated six months before, and that he saw the student movements become increasingly tumultuous: he was only partly built by the John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A difficult time. Some time after returning home, Frank Borman received a telegram from an unknown person who best summarizes the reality of that year, saying: "Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968. "
The most poetic of the mission was that which occurred during the lunar orbits, when the crew read the first 10 verses of the Bible:
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the abyss and the spirit of God hovered over the water.
God said 'Let there be light'. And there was light. God saw that the light was good and God divided the light from the darkness and called the light Day and the darkness Night. And the evening and morning were the first day.
God said 'Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water'. God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And so it happened. God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and morning were the second day.
God said, 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place, and it appears the' dry '. And so it happened. God called the dry land Earth, and sea water. And God saw that it was good. "
40 years ago, on the morning of Christmas Eve, for the first time in Humanity history, 3 astronauts could see the hidden face of our satellite with their own eyes: Frank Borman (captain), Jim Lovell and William Anders, reached and circumnavigated the Moon .
They left 3 days before from Cape Canaveral, with mission number 8 based on Apollo program, and the first one with human beings to leave on top of the giant rocket Saturn 5. To tell the truth, this risky step for the Americans was planned later but, for a number of technical reasons and partly also political ones, it was decided to anticipate the launch, reducing the total number of flights and bringing the Man on the Moon after only other three missions.
Among other things, the commander of Apollo 8 was to be originally a certain Michael Collins, pilot of the command module 'Columbia' during the historic Apollo 11, but a herniated disk forced him to the ground. His place was taken by Frank Borman, one of the backup crew members (the other 2 backups were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ....).
Everything went well, the first pictures ever of Earth’s dawn made by a man were shot, the rehearsal for the first moon landing went well. All of this was useful to create a positive climate to speed up even further the conquest of the moon and land on it only 7 months later.
It was the America with soldiers in Vietnam, the America of Martin Luther King assassinated 6 months earlier, and the one where students’ riots became increasingly tumultuous: it was only in part the one dreamed by John Fitzgerald Kennedy. A difficult moment.
Some time after returning home, Frank Borman received a telegram from a stranger who best summarized the reality of that year, and that said: "Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968 ".
The most poetic part of the mission happened during lunar orbits, when the crew read the first 10 verses of the Bible:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said: ‘Let there be light!’ and there was Light. God saw that the Light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness he called Night’. And there was Evening, and there was Morning—the first day.
And God said: ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water’. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘Sky’. And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said: ‘Let the water under the Sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground Appear '. And I know It Was. God Called the dry ground 'Land' and the waters he Gathered Called 'Seas'. And God Saw That It was good. "
Some time after returning home, Frank Borman received a telegram from a stranger who best summarized the reality of that year, and that said: "Thank you Apollo 8. You saved 1968 ".
The most poetic part of the mission happened during lunar orbits, when the crew read the first 10 verses of the Bible:
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said: ‘Let there be light!’ and there was Light. God saw that the Light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘Day’ and the darkness he called Night’. And there was Evening, and there was Morning—the first day.
And God said: ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water’. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘Sky’. And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
And God said: ‘Let the water under the Sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground Appear '. And I know It Was. God Called the dry ground 'Land' and the waters he Gathered Called 'Seas'. And God Saw That It was good. "
0 comments:
Post a Comment