"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," stated Astronaut Neil Armstrong, JULY 20, 1969, as he became the first man to walk on the moon.
The second man on the moon was Colonel Buzz Aldrin.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon's surface before redocking their lunar module Eagle with the command ship Columbia.
Buzz Aldrin earned a Ph.D. from M.I.T. and helped develop the technology necessary for the mission, especially the complicated lunar module rendezvous with the command module.
Buzz Aldrin shared a story, "An Astronaut Tells of a little-known but Significant Event on the Moon," printed in Guideposts Magazine, October 1970), and in his book, Return to Earth, published by Random House, 1973.
Before the two astronauts stepped out of the Lunar Module onto the moon's surface, there was a planned time of rest.
Buzz Aldrin asked for radio silence because NASA was fighting a lawsuit brought by an intolerant atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
She objected to the previous Apollo 8 crew reading the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in their Christmas radio transmission.
During the radio silence, Buzz Aldrin then privately partook of communion, stating:
"For several weeks prior to the scheduled lift-off of Apollo 11 back in July, 1969, the pastor of our church, Dean Woodruff, and I had been struggling to find the right symbol for the first lunar landing.
We wanted to express our feeling that what man was doing in this mission transcended electronics and computers and rockets ...
... Dean often speaks at our church, Webster Presbyterian, just outside of Houston, about the many meanings of the communion service.
'One of the principal symbols,' Dean says, 'is that God reveals Himself in the common elements of everyday life.' Traditionally, these elements are bread and wine-common foods in Bible days and typical products of man's labor.
One day while I was at Cape Kennedy working with the sophisticated tools of the space effort, it occurred to me that these tools were the typical elements of life today.
I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe.
For there are many of us in the NASA program who do trust that what we are doing is part of God's eternal plan for man."
Webster Presbyterian Church is located at 201 W. NASA Road 1, Webster, Texas, and is known nationally as the Church of the Astronauts as John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, Jerry Carr, Charlie Bassett, and Roger Chaffee were active members during their time at NASA.
The flag Buzz Aldrin left on the Moon was designed and built by a member of Webster Presbyterian Church, Jack Kinzler.
The second man on the moon was Colonel Buzz Aldrin.
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon's surface before redocking their lunar module Eagle with the command ship Columbia.
Buzz Aldrin earned a Ph.D. from M.I.T. and helped develop the technology necessary for the mission, especially the complicated lunar module rendezvous with the command module.
Buzz Aldrin shared a story, "An Astronaut Tells of a little-known but Significant Event on the Moon," printed in Guideposts Magazine, October 1970), and in his book, Return to Earth, published by Random House, 1973.
Before the two astronauts stepped out of the Lunar Module onto the moon's surface, there was a planned time of rest.
Buzz Aldrin asked for radio silence because NASA was fighting a lawsuit brought by an intolerant atheist, Madalyn Murray O'Hair.
She objected to the previous Apollo 8 crew reading the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in their Christmas radio transmission.
During the radio silence, Buzz Aldrin then privately partook of communion, stating:
"For several weeks prior to the scheduled lift-off of Apollo 11 back in July, 1969, the pastor of our church, Dean Woodruff, and I had been struggling to find the right symbol for the first lunar landing.
We wanted to express our feeling that what man was doing in this mission transcended electronics and computers and rockets ...
... Dean often speaks at our church, Webster Presbyterian, just outside of Houston, about the many meanings of the communion service.
'One of the principal symbols,' Dean says, 'is that God reveals Himself in the common elements of everyday life.' Traditionally, these elements are bread and wine-common foods in Bible days and typical products of man's labor.
One day while I was at Cape Kennedy working with the sophisticated tools of the space effort, it occurred to me that these tools were the typical elements of life today.
I wondered if it might be possible to take communion on the moon, symbolizing the thought that God was revealing Himself there too, as man reached out into the universe.
For there are many of us in the NASA program who do trust that what we are doing is part of God's eternal plan for man."
Webster Presbyterian Church is located at 201 W. NASA Road 1, Webster, Texas, and is known nationally as the Church of the Astronauts as John Glenn, Buzz Aldrin, Jerry Carr, Charlie Bassett, and Roger Chaffee were active members during their time at NASA.
The flag Buzz Aldrin left on the Moon was designed and built by a member of Webster Presbyterian Church, Jack Kinzler.