Vatican astronomer says moon landing milestone offers lesson in hope
18 July 2019
Fifty years ago this month, millions around the world were glued to the sky as Apollo 11 blasted into orbit, carrying the astronauts who would become the first humans to set foot on the moon.
Commander Neil Armstrong was the first to step onto the moon’s surface on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Crew member Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, followed Armstrong onto the moon’s surface and carried with him a communion host from his Presbyterian church.
Watching from earth on live TV was St Pope Paul VI, who was among various heads of state to send a “goodwill message” into space on a special disc carried by the Apollo 11 crew. Calling the moon the “pale lamp of our nights and our dreams,” Paul VI urged the astronauts to “bring to her, with your living presence, the voice of the spirit, a hymn to God, our Creator and our Father.”
Now in 2019, and the Vatican’s top astronomer, Jesuit Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, reflects on the moon landing.
Crux Now: Pope’s astronomer says moon landing milestone offers lesson in hope
Astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, beside the US flag on the lunar surface during the Apollo 11 mission, 20 July 1969. (Credit: CNS photo/courtesy NASA.)