{"id":75900,"date":"2019-07-10T13:29:46","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T19:29:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=75900"},"modified":"2019-07-10T13:29:46","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T19:29:46","slug":"on-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/on-the-moon.html","title":{"rendered":"On the Moon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Paranal,<\/a>
Venus, the Moon, and some astronomers at sunset, at the European Southern Observatory\u2019s facility at Paranal, in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first\u00a0manmade object to reach the surface of the Moon from Earth was the\u00a0Soviet Union\u2019s\u00a0Luna 2\u00a0mission, which arrived on lunar soil on 13 September 1959. \u00a0This year will mark the sixtieth anniversary of that still quite remarkable achievement.<\/sup><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But a much more memorable landing occurred when the Lunar Landing Module of Apollo 11 settled down on the Moon on 20 July 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard. \u00a0We are very nearly five decades from that precise date.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A total of twelve men from Earth have reached the surface of the Moon, all of them citizens of the United States of America. \u00a0Although public fascination with space travel has faded considerably (and regrettably), I think it worthwhile here, at least once, to honor those who made the journey to our nearest neighbor in the Solar System:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)<\/p>\n

Buzz Aldrin (1930-)<\/p>\n

Pete Conrad (1930-1999)<\/p>\n

Alan Bean (1932-2018)<\/p>\n

Alan Shepherd (1923-1998)<\/p>\n

Edgar Mitchell (1930-2016)<\/p>\n

David Scott (1932-)<\/p>\n

James Irwin (1930-1991)<\/p>\n

John Young (1930-2018)<\/p>\n

Charles Duke (1935-)<\/p>\n

Gene Cernan (1934-2017)<\/p>\n

Harrison Schmitt (1935-)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sadly, no Earthling has been back since 1972.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eight of the twelve Moonwalkers are dead. \u00a0The four who remain alive as I write are 89 years old (Aldrin), 87 (Scott), 83 (Duke), and 84 (Schmitt).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From the vantage point of 1969-1972, I think that very few serious observers could have predicted that nobody else would go to the Moon over the next five decades.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really quite a melancholy topic for reflection. \u00a0There was a heady spirit of adventurousness and optimism in those days \u2014 I\u2019m just old enough to remember it reasonably well \u2014 that I\u2019m afraid we may have lost.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, with the fiftieth anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon rapidly approaching, here are a few Moon-related links, including one that I shared the other day but that is relevant and that, anyway, you may have missed. \u00a0But, first, a historical photograph:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Me,<\/a>
This photo of me was taken by my friend Will Schryver while I was watching a solar eclipse near Cedar City several years ago. \u00a0(Please don\u2019t hate me just because I\u2019m super cool.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAncient humans used the moon as a calendar in the sky: Cave art and stone carvings reveal early humans\u2019 time-tracking sophistication\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMoons that escape their planets could become \u2018ploonets\u2019: Current telescopes may be able to find the wandering worlds\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSee how visualizations of the moon have changed over time: From Plato to Galileo to Chang\u2019e, views of our lunar neighbor keep evolving\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMoonlight shapes how some animals move, grow and even sing: Behavior can be tied to the lunar phases\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 The first\u00a0manmade object to reach the surface of the Moon from Earth was the\u00a0Soviet Union\u2019s\u00a0Luna 2\u00a0mission, which arrived on lunar soil on 13 September 1959. \u00a0This year will mark the sixtieth anniversary of that still quite remarkable achievement. \u00a0 But a much more memorable landing occurred when the Lunar Landing Module of Apollo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOn the Moon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    The first\u00a0manmade object to reach the surface of the Moon from Earth was the\u00a0Soviet Union's\u00a0Luna 2\u00a0mission, which arrived on lunar soil on\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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