“I was able to look out the window to see this incredible sight of the whole circle of the Earth. Oceans were crystal blue, the land was brown, and the clouds and the snow were pure white. And that jewel of Earth was just hung up in the blackness of space” – Charlie Duke
On Saturday evening I watched In the Shadow of the Moon, a documentary about America’s bid to put a man on the moon. Narrated by some of the astronauts involved in the programme, this was powerful viewing. I spent the film saying “wow”, just marvelling at what was undoubtedly the greatest journey/expedition of all time.
These men are some of the only humans in history to have seen the Earth
from space and their perspective makes for powerful viewing. Imagine, imagine, imagine (for imagine is all that we can do) blasting out of the atmosphere! Imagine travelling many times faster than a bullet. Imagine orbiting the Earth. Imagine standing on the moon! WOW. Boldness, courage, positivity, ingenuity and one heck of a big adventure.
After the film finished I crept outside and stared up at the moon. Wow.
An interesting angle to the excellent film was hearing the astronauts describe their thoughts of the Earth when seen from space. None spoke of America triumphing in her race against the USSR. All spoke of their sense of the Earth’s fragility, the smallness of our daily troubles, the fact that we are all one human race together, drifting through the enormity of space together. These men have been granted, literally, perspective.
How I wish I could blast some of the world’s leaders, trouble makers and whiners up into space to give them some perspective. Although perhaps a one-way ticket would also be an idea…
“We learned a lot about the Moon, but what we really learned was about the Earth. The fact that from the Moon you can put your thumb up, and you can hide the Earth behind your thumb. Everything that you have ever known, your loved ones, your business, the problems of the Earth itself, all behind your thumb. And how insignificant we really all are. But then how fortunate we are to have this body, and to be able to enjoy living here amongst the beauty of the Earth itself” – Jim Lovell
Hello Alastair, I have just read your two round-the-world-by-bike books and find them really fantastic and inspiring; however, what I REALLY wanted to know throughout my own long journey through the books was, ‘what happened to Sarah?!!’. Disappointment and frustration when there was no mention at the end, until the very last sentence – that’s classy keeping-the-reader-in-suspense writing!
Now for my question: where is the link to the Hopes and Homes for Children charity on your website? Maybe I haven’t looked thoroughly enough but I can’t find any mention of it. I had hoped to make a small donation.
Many thanks,
Torbjörn Hultmark