45 years ago we escaped the true "surly bonds of earth"

bruno

15-Year Member
Retired Moderator
Joined
Feb 2, 2008
Messages
3,059
on this day in 1968 Apollo8 was launched.This was the first "all-up" flight for the Saturn V stack as well as the first time that human beings left the pull of Earth's gravity and the first time humans saw the dark side of... the Moon.
Crew was composed of Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. It was a phenomenally exciting time for a 12 year old boy and for almost all of America as well.
Today NASA doesn't have any rockets- we rent space from the Russians- nor are we supposed to even mention God in public much less issue a stamp such as this one below. So pardon me if I am somewhat less than convinced that we have progressed all that far in the past 45 years.
27498_xl.jpg
 
I'll never forget that Christmas Eve telecast with the extended family, having our usual Christmas Eve get together, gathered around the television set. It gave the reading of Genesis a new meaning to me.
 
on this day in 1968 Apollo8 was launched.This was the first "all-up" flight for the Saturn V stack as well as the first time that human beings left the pull of Earth's gravity and the first time humans saw the dark side of... the Moon.
Crew was composed of Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders. It was a phenomenally exciting time for a 12 year old boy and for almost all of America as well.
Today NASA doesn't have any rockets- we rent space from the Russians- nor are we supposed to even mention God in public much less issue a stamp such as this one below. So pardon me if I am somewhat less than convinced that we have progressed all that far in the past 45 years.
27498_xl.jpg

There are several stamps with the virgin Mary and family as well as Hanukkah and Eid stamps! Don't have to look too hard. So I find that hyperbole silly. On the first point, however, I'm in complete agreement. Sad we have to rely on the Russians these days for space travel.

http://tinyurl.com/7fletj5
 
Last edited:
Those Apollo missions were exciting. I remember being in the lower grades of grammar school in the late 1960s. Our teachers would turn on the big black and white TVs on the high stands to watch the Apollo launches. We learned to count backwards. You would here a chorus of all 350 kids in the school at launch. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6....




1966lincolnplan02.jpg
 
Bruno, thank you for reminding us of the Apollo 8 anniversary. I remember the suspense of losing radio contact as they passed through the dark side. Didn’t they sign off afterwards with something like, “Merry Christmas and God bless you?” Regarding the Russians, it is hard to watch them and the Chinese keep their space programs going and ramp up their militaries while we dither. I find it even harder to watch God being pushed away from the Christmas season.

There are several stamps with the virgin Mary and family as well as Hanukkah and Eid stamps! Don't have to look too hard. So I find that hyperbole silly. On the first point, however, I'm in complete agreement. Sad we have to rely on the Russians these days for space travel.

http://tinyurl.com/7fletj5

So, Hornet, this God stuff is “silly hyperbole”? Really? By the way, we used the USPS “Holy Family” stamp this Christmas. There are no words written on the stamp, certainly not “God”. Nor is “God” written on the Hanukkah stamp. A thought for this season… don’t be the Dog in the Manger. http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-dog-in-the-manger.htm
 
I remember sending a letter from my class in Lakenheath Village Primary School...to "Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders..."

And a month or so later receiving a really BIG package of color pictures from the Apollo 8 mission and a nice letter from the crew.

Probably a LOT of schools received those then...but to US in the UK then??

It was MANNA from the GODS!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
So, Hornet, this God stuff is “silly hyperbole”? Really? By the way, we used the USPS “Holy Family” stamp this Christmas. There are no words written on the stamp, certainly not “God”. Nor is “God” written on the Hanukkah stamp. A thought for this season… don’t be the Dog in the Manger. http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-dog-in-the-manger.htm

Yes, it is hyperbole. I quite enjoy the season, as I always have. Perhaps your the fable you tell is more a look in the mirror than a judgement on me. Merry Christmas.
 
I remember sending a letter from my class in Lakenheath Village Primary School...to "Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders..."

And a month or so later receiving a really BIG package of color pictures from the Apollo 8 mission and a nice letter from the crew.

Probably a LOT of schools received those then...but to US in the UK then??

It was MANNA from the GODS!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

A good friend of mine has over a year in the Space Station and is training for yet another mission next year. He spends most of his time in Russia these days- and is quite fluent at this point in Russian. I just find it incredible that NASA has no manned launch capability at this point- it seems to me as though we have ceded the future of Space exploration mostly thru mismanagment and lousy leadership from the top - stretching thru multiple administrations and parties. In the words of Apollo 13- "Houston - we have a problem" and IMHO it's a huge problem symptomatic of lots of other problems that we have- no vision or leadership that can set a challenging goal, harness the nation and then do what it takes to accomplish the mission.
 
I remember sneaking out the Gate at Kessler during the night after curfew and watched the landing with Tater Tots and pitchers of beer. We used the Star Of Bethlehem and Holy Family this year also. Wife said "Where did you get this one?"
 
A good friend of mine has over a year in the Space Station and is training for yet another mission next year. He spends most of his time in Russia these days- and is quite fluent at this point in Russian. I just find it incredible that NASA has no manned launch capability at this point- it seems to me as though we have ceded the future of Space exploration mostly thru mismanagment and lousy leadership from the top - stretching thru multiple administrations and parties. In the words of Apollo 13- "Houston - we have a problem" and IMHO it's a huge problem symptomatic of lots of other problems that we have- no vision or leadership that can set a challenging goal, harness the nation and then do what it takes to accomplish the mission.

We don't see space as a competition anymore, which is largely why the nation ceased to care. We chose to go to the moon because we could beat the Soviets.
I wish we could find a reason to explore, other than national prestige, but it doesn't look like it.
 
Bruno, thank you for reminding us of the Apollo 8 anniversary. I remember the suspense of losing radio contact as they passed through the dark side. Didn’t they sign off afterwards with something like, “Merry Christmas and God bless you?” Regarding the Russians, it is hard to watch them and the Chinese keep their space programs going and ramp up their militaries while we dither. I find it even harder to watch God being pushed away from the Christmas season.



So, Hornet, this God stuff is “silly hyperbole”? Really? By the way, we used the USPS “Holy Family” stamp this Christmas. There are no words written on the stamp, certainly not “God”. Nor is “God” written on the Hanukkah stamp. A thought for this season… don’t be the Dog in the Manger. http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-dog-in-the-manger.htm

Former altar boy here (still practicing), and it's been a lot of years since I went to CCD but that really nice looking Holy Family stamp didn't need labels on it for me to know it was Joseph, Mary, and the baby Jesus. (And I'm just a simple infantry officer, not a graphic designer, but the stamp looks great with no additional words on it.)

In a more serious vein, after several tours in Afghanistan I feel more grateful than ever that the founders went in for the separation of Church and State. As they taught us in one of my USNA history courses, it's generally accepted that one of the reasons the U.S. has the highest rate of religious observance in the Western world is because there has never been an attempt by the government to sponsor or control religion or even to designate an official religion. I like the current balance -- postage stamps with the Holy Family, chaplains in the military, 'in God we Trust" on the coins, but that's it. Maybe partially that's because although Catholics are the single largest religious denomination in the U.S., there are still more Protestants overall and if the government goes in for more promotion of religious messages it is more likely it will be Protestant and/or evangelical. (At USNA I had a number of fellow mids tell me I wasn't a "Christian" because I was Catholic, which was a good way of giving me some insight into how religious minorities might feel.)
 
Back
Top