Earth from Space

Saturn has its' many rings
We both share the same sun.
And Jupiter has its' many moons
While poor old Earth has only one.

Now, Mars might look good in red,
And Venus has its' clouds.
But when I see the Earth from space,
It makes me very proud.

We've got greens and blues and reds.
It's colorful, what we are.
So, why at night when I go to bed,
Do I wish upon a Star?

"Houston, We've Got a Problem."

These are the worst words you can hear from the commander of a space capsule. More importantly, these are the worst words that commander will ever have to utter. The cold, harsh reality of space takes over at a time like that. You realize, possibly for the first time, that in spite of the team on the ground; essentially; you’re alone. Everybody else gets to go home for dinner, but not you.

Thursday was the anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13. If you, or your children, have never seen one of these blast-offs before- it’s worth watching for that alone. But the real meat of the story is told using clips of both the ground crew, and the astronauts themselves, as they rack their brains for a solution to the problem, which is carefully explained in the video. That problem occurred in the early hours of April 14^th when an oxygen tank ruptured.

Ron Howard did an exceptional job with Tom Hanks in chronicling the Apollo 13 flight and it’s near disaster. But nothing can compete with the actual events, as evidenced in this short film from NASA, and available on you tube. Only some duct tape and a ballpoint pen saved the day for the crew. The ground support team worked long and hard to devise the “fix” that would allow the crew of Apollo 13 to return to Earth safely.

For several days the world watched and waited as the Apollo capsule got closer and closer to its scheduled splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.  Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert may not have made it to the Moon as planned, but they achieved something far greater in their victory over technology gone wrong almost 200,000 miles from the nearest repair facility. That they did so with an improvised solution, under such arduous conditions, made the feat all the greater. We had already been to the Moon and back. But this was a real “cliffhanger”, as the whole world watched and waited for their safe return.

Space Race

Yesterday's final launch of the space shuttle reminded me of the first space launch with a manned capsule by the United States. It was in May of 1961, a mere 3 weeks after the Soviets had put their first man in space with Yuri Gagarin's flight. Both flights were breakthroughs. Literally.

The idea was to see if a man could ride a rocket, puncture the atmosphere, and then return to earth alive. This was really an intense moment for our nation as we tried to catch up to the Soviets in a race to put the first man on the moon. With the score at 1-0, in favor of the Soviets, this was a riveting event. With 2 explosions of Redstone rockets already behind us, no one knew just what would happen that morning when Alan B. Shepard took off for his 15 minute flight.

I was on a "split" session for 1st grade, meaning that the school was overcrowded, making it necessary to have a morning class, and then an afternoon one. I was lucky. I had the afternoon class, which meant that I got to watch the liftoff, as well as the subsequent recovery of the capsule at sea.

For the next 8 years we watched with bated breath as the rockets kept going up; bigger and better rockets, carrying bigger and better capsules. There was the first orbit by John Glenn in a single man Mercury capsule, followed by the 2 man Gemini program, which gave us the first "space walk", proving that a man could perform simple tasks in a weightless environment. Then came the 3 man Apollo program, our final stage in reaching the moon.

Who can ever forget that 1968 Christmas Eve orbit of the moon, with the reading of Genisis? And 7 months later, in July of 1969, we walked the surface of that planet. As I watched yesterday's lift off of the last shuttle I was filled with mixed feelings. I'm not sure what real benefits we actually derived from the space program. But I'm sure glad we did it.

Two Poems

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to put these two poems on here. It's risky. They deal with my own struggles concerning religion. They are not emblematic of my system of beliefs. They are, rather, questions that I have posed to myself many times over the course of my life. They contain no insights, and draw no conclusions. It is my hope that they offend no one, and that you will enjoy them simply for what they are.


My Prayer

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
It's not like I was using it right now.

And late at night I lay awake
And pray the Lord my soul to take
I had no plans for it anyhow.

Sometimes I get on my knees
Say hear me Lord and help me please
And bless this food that I eat today-
I'm gonna have to eat it anyway...

Hear O Israel, God is One.
And let thy Holy will be done.
Down here on earth as well as in the sky,
But mostly I just pray that I'll get by...


Salvation

It’s hard to visualize it
when you’re trying to survive out
In the wind and the thunder and the rain.
Lightning can be frightening
and there’s not too much inviting
When you’re frozen with fear and numb with pain.

But you keep on believing
that someday you’ll be receiving of
The thing that you’ve been chasing for so long.
Don’t let up on trying
and you’ll find yourself arriving at a place
Call it heaven – call it home.

In the sense of what is beautiful
I prefer unusual,
Once gotten used to - doesn’t feel so strange.
The things that seemed impossible
and even implausible
Can suddenly seem not so out of range.

Some find it inconceivable–
and other's say believable
Otherwise He only died in vain.
If you think He wasn’t anointed
Then you can’t be disappointed, in someone
Who only tried to ease your pain.

And I find it quite amusing
And a little bit confusing
That relief can be found in a song,
While prayers can be chanted
The relief that gets granted
Don’t last long.

You may feel you’re forsaken
For the liberties you’ve taken
And you've hoped to be forgiven for your wrongs.

So therein lies the lesson-
that the ones you were impressing
With the shortcuts you have taken for their trust,
Can not leave you complaining of the
ones that you’ll remain with
When it all- turns to dust...