Wednesday, February 13, 2008

In The Shadow Of The Moon




"We choose to go to the 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."

JFK.

Between 1968 and 1972 NASA sent 24 men to the Moon, out of them 12 walked on the Moon, out of that 12 only 9 are alive. In The Shadow Of the Moon, a documentary about the Apollo astronauts was released on dvd yesterday. I picked it up, watched it and must say it is excellent. There is a lot of rarely seen footage, example, when Neil Armstrong was looking for a smooth place to land the Lunar Module, it shows the capcom (capsule communicator, always an astronaut by the way) on film talking to Armstrong, very cool. There is lots of interesting film, but the main thing are the astronaut's interviews, what comes across very quickly is the profound affect travelling to the Moon had on each of their lifes.

"Science and technology allowed me to go the Moon, but now what I was feeling, at that moment in time, science and technology had no answers. because there I was and there you are, the Earth, so dynamic, overwhelming, I felt the world had too much purpose, too much logic, it was just too beautiful to have happened by accident, there had to be somebody bigger then you , bigger then me, and I mean that in the spiritual sense, not a religious sense, there has to be a creator of the universe who stands above the religions that we ourselves create to govern our lifes."

Gene Cernan, Apollo 10 and 17 astronaut.

As far as the Moon itself Mike Collins the command module pilot for Apollo 11 stated " I did not sense any great invitation on the part of the Moon to come in to its domain, I sense more, almost a hostile place, a scary place". If you are a Moon or Apollo person or someone who enjoys a good documentary, you gotta pick this one up.




Only one more post after this one before the Total Lunar Eclipse February 20 at 10:00 pm EST.


The show starts at around 8:43 pm EST. so don't miss it , last one till 2010. I have been practicing taking images of the Moon with the Canon 40D, as in the above 28% of full Moon image just in case I have to leave my scope behind, yes I have a plan, if it is cloudy up here in Saskatoon, I plan on heading south towards Moose Jaw, Sk, yes that is a name of a little city, not just pulling it out of a hat, Moose Jaw usually has opposite weather to us, 2 eclipses ago, when it was cloudy here, it was clear in Moose Jaw, being only 2 hrs away, it would definitely be worth it.

I'll leave you now with my most current Lunar image as a gif.


44 comments:

tatyveli said...

Thank you Bob for telling about the DVD and if it gets in the shops here I will definitely buy one :) As for the shots of the Lunar Eclipse - I've been trying it myself with the EOS 40D and have similar pic as yours :) In any case if it's clouded on the 20th here there will be no way for me to go somewhre else - as you plan to do in case it's clouded where you live. I hope to be able to see at least what you come up with on the 20th. Happy valentine's Day to you and yours for tomorrow and {{{HUGS}}}
Tatiana

Swubird said...

Bob:

Nice piece on the astronauts. It's just too bad that people don't support the space program more than they do. We could be doing so much more by now. Did the DVD mention that the first shot of earth from the moon was actually taken by the Soviets?

Looking forward to the blackout.

kml said...

Hi Bob - Gene could not have spoken any truer words. Hopefully someday when we all pass on, we will have all our answers. Great post!

Kathy

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Tatiana, Happy Valentines Day to you and yours as well, lets hope the 20th is good for the both of us, you'll love the movie.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, the beauty of the movie is that no one was saying we did this first or you guys did that first, it was all about the astronauts and what they went through, their feelings and what they are going through today, in fact they were saying that when people talked to them they said WE did it, as in Humankind, awesome show.

Hope you get good weather for the eclipse, should be very cool, they are expecting a light eclipse, makes for good pics.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Kathy, I'm hoping for a tour of the universe when I pass on, first stop the Moon, check out the property I bought for the kids,lol.

Peter said...

Hi! We had a partial solar eclipse on the 7 Feb 2008 but unfortunately for us here in Sydney, the 21.5 per cent coverage by the moon was unable to be seen due to heavy rain cloud.

I can't remember the last time I witnessed one but I live in hope!

Thank you for letting me know about the DVD. I hope we can get it here.

Take Care,
Peter

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Thanks for the heads up on "The Shadow of the Moon", Bob. The moon photos are ...romantic!

Happy Valentine's Day and a big WOOT for your wedding anniversary.

Hugs, JJ

Bob Johnson said...

Hi Peter, man that's too bad you didn't see it, Solar eclipses are so cool, never saw one myself, and there isn't gonna be one here probably in my lifetime, I will have to go searching for one if I'm ever gonna see one.

Bob Johnson said...

Your welcome JJ and thanks, Happy Valentines day to you guys too!

gt281 said...

You know,, I think we should start a rumor that Nasa has found huge oil deposits on the Moon…I wonder how long it would take before we went back…two days perhaps?...
Nobody cares about green cheese,, but I’m sure Exxon would
care about oil on the Moon…

“Tranquility base here,, the Eagle has landed”
Days of heroes and fearless men into the unknown aboard rocket ships made of golden tin foil……

Michael J. Kannengieser said...

Hi Bob, I am definitely going to pick up the DVD. Will I be able to see the Lunar Eclipse on Long Island? Thanks for the DVD recommendation. -Mike.

Bob Johnson said...

gt281, joking aside if there was for sure money to be made we'd be there like a shot, love your quote, is that yours?

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Mike, you won't regret the purchase, I'll be watching it over and over again, love it, You are in one of the places that will be able to watch the whole event starting at 8:43 pm EST Wed Feb 20th, totality happening 10:00 to 10:52 pm EST. hope you get good clear weather.

Michael J. Kannengieser said...

Thanks Bob!

MYM said...

Love, love your moon pics. I was just looking at all the stuff you have on flikr...fantastic. Great post! Thanks!!!

I saw this and thought of you. It's one of those generator things you put on your blog...but I thought you'd get a kick out of it.
http://www.justsayhi.com/bb/moon

I'd be interested to see how you do!

gt281 said...

"....golden tin foil"...is my poop...
Wasn't the lunar lander walls as thin as tin foil? So the Astroboys had to be careful not to put a foot thru it....

Anonymous said...

Excellent post Bob. Very well written and researched.
As for that lunar eclipse...hey they are calling for clear here on that day!
Bob, when you have the time feel free to pick up an award that I have dedicated to you on my latest post.
~JD

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Mike glad to be able to help.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks drowseymonkey, I'll take a look at the gen thing, hey you got a peak at some of the photos I just took of the Sun and Moon will be posting about them on Saturday.

Bob Johnson said...

gt281 you are right about the thickness and make-up of the LM, you do beautiful prose by the way.

Bob Johnson said...

Woo Hoo for you JD, take lots of pics, I'll be by after work to pick up the award, thanks so much JD!

Max Coutinho said...

Hey Bob,

I am marvelled at this post, so much that I am almost speechless! First, Kennedy's speech is eternal (I remember that when I studied it for my final High School exams I was amazed by it...don't ask me why).

Gene Cernan's words "(...) there has to be a creator of the universe who stands above teh religions that we ourselves create to govern our lifes" are just inspiring and so true: God stands above religions, which were created to guide people (I call them the schools of soul)!

Mike Colin's words are frightening, aren't they? They reiterate my not wanting to go to the moon lol...God placed me here, and here I will remain *nodding*...

This moon is just gorgeous...I love your moon photos cause they are a promise to a new, magical and brighter day :) [for me the day starts at night]
Happy Valentine's Day, Bob :D!

Cheers

myonlyphoto said...

Bob great post, nice video, great moon photos and the gif is as always amazing. Thanks for the reminder about the lunar eclipse - I guess you really will be on the mission, good for you. Unfortunately I don't think I can do that, but I will look up for it, seems like the timing is good for me this time, just will keep my fingers crossed for cloudless sky. Last night I sneaked few photos of the half moon, since the clouds were still moving around. I like full moons, but I am starting to appreciate the crescents and halves as I can see more in 3D as oppose to flat full moon sometimes. Thanks for sharing, Anna :)

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Max, I agree with this speech, I always loved it, finally found a home for it,lol.

All these astronauts felt something very profound, Gene's words were how he felt, from the heart, truer words were never spoken.

Mike's words just add to the mystery of the Moon for me, there is a lot of unknowns out in space, even the Moon, right now still alien to us, still wanna go so bad,lol.

The day starts at night for me too, Happy Valentines day to you and yours as well.

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Anna, thanks, hope you get good weather for the last Total Lunar Eclipse till 2010.

The cool thing about the Moon not being full is you get the shadows cast on the landscape and the detail jumps out at you, makes the Moons character come out, adds another dimension. I'd like to see your Moon shots, you take beautiful ones.

Lynda Lehmann said...

Bob, all your gifs are mesmerizing and make your site so relaxing to visit! I feel meditative as soon as I get here, and ready to settle into reading your great posts!

Hope I get to see the eclipse and you get to photograph it!

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks Lynda, glad you like the atmosphere here, hope it is clear skies for the both of us Feb 20th.

RW said...

Bob you write the greatest stuff & you take the coolest photos. Have a great day!!

Bob Johnson said...

Hey Roger thanks buddy, Geeze, every time I look at your picture I get a sore back,lol.

myonlyphoto said...

Thanks Bob, agree with you on the half moons. Yeah its been long since posting moon pictures. I think I will do that for this weekend. Thanks for the ideas and nice comments. Anna :)

© Paul Anthony Ramsden 2023 said...

I hope you like my take on the moon
http://share-my-art.blogspot.com/search/label/Lunar.

Oswegan said...

Nice shot. I'll have to check out that show. There was also a cool show on pbs last night about the cancelled spy station programs.

Max-e said...

That definitely sounds like a DVD worth getting hold of - I followed all the early lunar landings as a kid.
I remember when the first manned module went around the moon. My grandfather was dying of cancer at the time and was so fascinated that it gave him a new lease on life. Shortly after it landed he had a relapse and passed away.

Bob Johnson said...

No problem Anna, looking forward to your moon pics!

Bob Johnson said...

my-art, that was very cool, thanks for dropping by.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks oswegan, I saw the same show, I mean really, any show that has astro and spys in the same sentence has got to be awesome.

Bob Johnson said...

Hi max-e I'm sure you'll like the dvd, it's great your grandfather got a new lease on life even if it was short lived, I followed every Apollo mission as well.

Livingsword said...

Hi Bob;

I have just placed “In The Shadow Of The Moon” on my must get category…

Mr. Cernan’s words echo Scripture:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
- - Romans 1:20 TNIV

My wife and I went for a wonderful walk in the mountains and along the river, to any that are willing to see it His creativity surrounds us, yet many truly do not want anything to do with Him because if there is a God then He owns the place and we are answerable to Him, like children in their parents home….

Very cool images Bob, I like the way you creatively expressed your thoughts here….

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks livingsword, you will really enjoy the movie.

So true, I think we are able to let things go on and on the way they are not think about God and spiritual things, until it is either too late or we have a life changing incident like Gene did.

I can only imagine the totally different perspective someone would have about the Earth, life and God when looking at the Earth from thousands of miles away, one astronaut said he could put his thumb up and towards the Earth, and it was gone,just like that.

Swubird said...

Bob:

Good idea to put the video clip of Kennedy on your blog. I remember that speech on television - I still miss the guy. No one since him has had such a fantastic vision, and the guts to make it a reality.

Nice post.

Bob Johnson said...

Thanks swubird, I hear ya, Kennedy gave us the Moon, I love that speech, united a country.

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

I found my homepage on Blog Catalog by clicking on my icon on other blogger pages. Heavens!

Hugs, JJ

Bob Johnson said...

Way to go JJ.