Courtesy Photo | Gene Cernan and members of the Legends of Aerospace tour shake hands and greet the men...... read more read more
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – On Oct. 11, Americans celebrate Columbus Day to mark the anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Western hemisphere and a meeting of worlds that brought some civilizations to an end as well as giving rise to new ones. Many centuries later, that new civilization matured and sent explorers of another generation to a new world, the moon.
Neil Armstrong, Capt. Jim Lovell, and Capt. Gene Cernan, astronauts who have been to the moon and back, shared their experiences with service members at Joint Base Balad’s Sustainer Theater, Oct. 11, in a panel discussion moderated by David Hartman, the first host of ABC’s Good Morning America.
Hartman and the three astronauts are participating in the Legends of Aerospace tour, visiting U.S. troops in Europe and Southwest Asia. The astronauts began the discussion with the first Apollo mission, which ended in the tragic loss of the three astronauts on board. Rather than let this tragedy scuttle the mission, these astronauts and the nation drove on to reach President Kennedy’s goal of sending a man to the moon and back by the end of the decade.
“We were the first people to see the earth as it really is, a small body tucked away in a corner of the solar system,” said Lovell.
“Everything we knew on earth was behind your thumb,” he said.
Perhaps this new perspective explains the incredible humility of these great men who achieved so much. Each man talked about building upon the successes and learning from the failures of all the previous missions. Neil Armstrong, the first human to walk on the moon, credits Apollo 8 as the most important of all the Apollo missions.
“I think it made the most significant contribution to progress in space because they, for the first time, escaped the earth’s gravitational pull and they proved that humans were not forever chained to this planet,” said Armstrong.
Lovell is famous not for having walked on the moon, he hasn’t, but for leading the crew of Apollo 13 safely back to earth after an oxygen tank ruptured and severely damaged the electrical system.
“You’d be surprised how quickly you learn in a tough situation,” said Lovell referring to how he and his crew jury-rigged the air system and used the lunar module as a “lifeboat”.
“For that team to do what they did is a real testimony to American ingenuity…to get the job done” when asked, said Cernan.
Cernan is the last man to have ever walked on the moon, but remains optimistic that after 40 years and with no concrete plans, we will return, as long as future generations enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities in education the U.S. offered to his generation.
That is the reason these great American heroes came here to Iraq to thank a new generation for its service.
“This was the highlight of my deployment,” said Spc. Brian Higgins with the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and Wichita, Kan., native.
“I’m not a space guy, but I saw Apollo 13 and the story and their determination grabbed me. I’ve seen other celebrities here, but these guys are the real thing, they made a difference,” said Higgins.
“It was a great honor to meet them,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Ivan Trejo with the 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, and Salinas, Calif., native.
“As they said, it’s not what we’ve done but others have done before us that make our lives possible,” said Trejo.
The lesson we can all take from these men is to never put an artificial ceiling on your dreams and to never stop exploring and never stop looking for answers.
“I did not believe humans would go into space during my lifetime,” said Armstrong, who was born in 1930. “You have to have the courage to accept change and be part of it,” he added.
Though it is unlikely that most of us will ever make it to the moon, or even into space, we can honor these men and our country by keeping alive the spirit of exploration that led to the founding of our country and to the achievements of the astronauts.
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.12.2010 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 57969 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 269 |
| Downloads: | 19 |
This work, Legends of Aerospace Tour, by SFC Zane Craig, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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