From December 5, 2009.
The inspiration for the title of this astronomy blog is a chapter from Craig Nelson’s Rocket Men. In the final chapter of this book tracing the background of Apollo 11, 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).
RECENT ARTICLES

2022, June 30: Planet Racetrack, Green Star
June 30, 2022: The gap between the four morning planets continues to widen. In the evening sky a green star may lie among the stars of Scorpius that is in the south as twilight ends.
Keep reading
2022, June 29: Last Call, Mercury, Night Sky, Black Hole
2022, June 29: Sagittarius A star, the Milky Way’s suspected black hole, is in the south during the midnight hour.
Keep reading
2022, June 28: Morning Planets
June 28, 2022: Four bright morning planets are easy to spot before sunrise. Mercury is a challenge to spot, making it five worlds if you can see it.
Keep reading
Leave a Reply