The USA's Apollo program of exploration of how to get to the moon and finally land upon it mesmerised many people of the world throughout the '60s and '70s, as it did me as a young lad, but notwithstanding the immensity of that human achievement little change for humankind sprang from it.
Apart from one thing,
One single photograph, taken by the lunar module pilot of Apollo 8, Bill Anders, encapsulated emotions and knowledge never before experienced by practically the whole human race. A single photograph, possibly the most awe inspiring ever taken, shows the graceful beauty and visual fragility of Earth as never before; a now totemic image, still able to generate reverence and contemplation, which inspired in many an awareness of global fragility and the need for "greener" global policies.
The barren landscape of the moon accentuates the vivid blue of Earth's cosmic presentation, showing a pristine planet which we know is no-longer the truth. It inspires and yet reminds us only of what was, for humankind is ruining it. To put it bluntly, we are pissing in our own pot for a multitude of evolutionary and despotic reasons and will probably continue to do so until Earth says, "no more!".
Leaving aside that thought, I wish to note the passing of its creator, astronaut Bill Anders, a space pioneer who died as he had lived: on the dramatic edge of life where only those with "the right stuff" survive, of which a film was made.
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