Another year to note the first human moon landing. Fifty-two years ago, humans walked on the moon for the first time. Will we return? Promises have been made and plans are unfolding.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
In the final chapter of his book, Rocket Men, tracing the background of Apollo 11, Craig Nelson recalls a conversation with Gerry Griffin, a NASA Flight Director. A group of NASA employees went to Caltech, where the first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, “got up at the blackboard and he drew four curves. They look kind of like mountain peaks.” The titles of the peaks were “Leadership,” “Threat,” “Good Economy”, and “World Peace.” As Griffin recalls, Armstrong said, “My theory is that when all of those curves are in conjunction, when they all line up together, you can do something like Apollo. Apollo, or something like it, will happen. And we happened to be ready for that when all those curves lined up” (p. 348).
Will those curves line up again?
Articles and Summaries
- Venus as an Evening Star
- Venus Evening Star (Summary)
- Mars during 2021 (Summary)
- July Planet Summary 2021 (Summary)
2021, August 9: Evening Moon, Mars
August 9, 2021: After the New moon yesterday morning, the crescent moon appears in the evening sky during bright twilight near Mars.
2021, August 3: Four Evening Planets: Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter
August 3, 2021: Four planets appear in the evening sky. Brilliant Evening Star Venus and dim Mars are in the west after sunset. A little later during the evening, Saturn and Jupiter are easily visible in the southeast.
2021, August 2: Saturn at Opposition
August 2, 2021: Saturn is at opposition with the sun. Earth is between the sun and the planet.
2021: August 1 – 6: Morning Moon, Bright Stars
August 1 – 6, 2021: The morning moon wanes toward its New moon phase in the eastern sky. It passes the bright stars that are prominent in the evening sky during the winter season in the northern hemisphere. The stars have been making their first appearances in the morning sky during summer. At this hour, Procyon and bright Sirius are the last stellar duo to appear.
2021, August 6: Summer’s Midpoint
August 6, 2021: In the northern hemisphere, summer’s midpoint occurs today at 6:27 p.m. CDT.
Categories: Astronomy, Sky Watching
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