“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” With those words spoken on this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon. Those words were transmitted 240,000 miles from the lunar module, Eagle, to the listening ears of millions of Americans as well as many more across the globe.
While walking on the moon seems pretty significant, the icing on the cake to Americans was that they had beat the Russians to the moon. “The American effort to send astronauts to the moon has its origins in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.””1 This goal was picked up by President Lyndon Johnson and President Richard Nixon. Nixon had only been in office for six months when the goal was accomplished.
The Apollo program was costly! Bragging rights to be the first on the moon cost in excess of $24 billion ($205.38 billion today). While on the moon, more than 100 objects were left behind.2 “They leave [sic] behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of Eagle’s legs. It reads, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.””3 They also left the “tube containing the US flag, a TV camera, tools for
collecting moonstones and dust, and hygiene items, various containers, canisters and packages.”4
Seems like we didn’t leave the moon as neatly as we found it. It gets worse. From the six Apollo missions, 96 bags of human excrement and waste were left on the moon’s surface.5 Now that’s disgusting!
There are 51 direct mentions of the moon. On day four of creation week, the moon is mentioned indirectly and was created according to Genesis 1:14-16. “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: (15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (16) And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
Armstrong and others like him have certainly had a unique experience. You would think that every astronaut who has orbited the earth or stepped foot on the moon would have been compelled to acknowledge God as the Divine Creator as they were overwhelmed with the magnificence of the universe. You would think every person in humanity would have the same reaction as we stood outside on a cloudless night, looking up into the dark expanse illuminated by the stars and the moon.
Full moons, harvest moons, and blood moons are some of the most colorful displays. There are times when they seem to be so close that we could reach out and touch them. And, yet they are still 240,000 miles away.
The Psalmist was overwhelmed by this sight. We can only imagine how he looked up one evening as he watched over the sheep. His breath was taken away by what he saw and how it struck his heart. Under the hand of God’s inspiration, he wrote Psalms 8:3-4, something we should express from our hearts to our Mighty God. “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; (4) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
1https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/armstrong-walks-on-moon
2https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2019/07/15/7-things-apollo-11-astronauts-left-moon-flag-reflector-armstrong-aldrin-lander/1251813001/
3https://www.nasa.gov/history/july-20-1969-one-giant-leap-for-mankind/
4https://orbitaltoday.com/2023/02/07/the-earthlings-were-here-did-neil-armstrong-leave-his-daughters-bracelet-on-the-moon-and-what-else-did-we-leave-there/
5https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2019/07/15/7-things-apollo-11-astronauts-left-moon-flag-reflector-armstrong-aldrin-lander/1251813001/
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