Photo taken from the Apollo 8 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) by the unsteady hands of astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders on December 24, 1968
[image: nasa.gov]
Earthrise
Our moon
Our neighbor of dreams
Our stabilizer of moods
So dependable
She rises from a slumber
And casts soft shadows
Across our landscape
Poets love her
Songwriters adore her
Romantics swoon by her
But what if…
You, we exchanged positions
And we stood on her surface
And watched our world rise
We would you know
But only if we could traverse
Her skies
What a sight we might behold
Out across the distant horizon
The dark of night enclosed upon us
It would happen
First a slim illumination
Would pierce our lunar sky
And with each succeeding moment
As we moved silently
A body would emerge
So familiar
Yet so strange in her new position
Our nighttime would be shattered
And graced with a majesty
No human eye had ever before seen
Behold …
December 24, 1968
Earth arose
In all her glory
And cast her light on us
And our lives were changed
For all time.
It was a pivotal moment in our existence, seeing the earth from the moon, literally, on another planet. Perhaps, the greatest milestone in the history of man. Easily forgotten in the earthly turmoils since. We seem to have lost our resolve to explore as a country. We'd much rather reduce NASA's budget so that entrepreneurs with plundering mentalities can see who "gets there first" so that they can start cashing in on the next "Bonanza."
But looking backward and that "blue marble," can't we see its fragility? It seems that most can't. What a shame.
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Kathy
But looking backward and that "blue marble," can't we see its fragility? It seems that most can't. What a shame.
Ron
Nice thoughts Ed. roseline
Nice write.
Michael D.