Astronomy

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 35

everything strictly cut and
dried... but here is something
that relates itself to the first

lunar landing. It’s well promi-
nent there, it’s really not

named as part of the moun-
tain range Secchi.... But then
they all agreed that they

should name it Mount
Marilyn. So from that day on,
in perpetuity, looking down at

me long after I’m gone, will be
this little triangular mountain

named Mount Marilyn.

Astronomy: That seems

appropriate. Seven months
after Apollo 8 you were on the
beach with Charles Lindbergh

watching Apollo 11 lift off.
Could you tell us what it was
like to spend that time with a

fellow space pioneer or avia-
tion pioneer?

Lovell: Charles Lindbergh
was my idol during my

growing-up days in the
1930s. I wanted to be [an
aviator like he was]. And

so as we were getting ready
for Apollo 11, I was asked

as backup commander to
Neil... to escort Charles
Lindbergh out to the beach.

So I did. And we were talking
about the upcoming f light
and I told him, “Look at that

spacecraft on top of that big
rocket, the Saturn V.” I said,
“This is a very ostentatious

moment; I mean that space-
craft is going to land on the

Moon.”
He looked at it, and he
kind of thought for a while,

and he said, “You know
something? Yeah, it’s going
to be quite significant. But

Apollo 8, that’s the flight that
I will remember.” Because I

think in his mind, he was
thinking about the 34 hours
from New York to Paris, that

long journey the first time to
go there. And he said Apollo
8 was the first one to make

that 240,000-mile voyage to

the Moon. Their landing

there is only the last 60 miles.

And so I thought that was

pretty nice of him.

Astronomy: I know you’ve

done thousands of interviews.

Is there any question that you

haven’t been asked that you’ve

always wanted to answer?

Lovell: No, I think that I have

a different perspective on a lot

of things from Apollo 8. It’s

not a question, it’s something

in my own mind, because

you know normally, our

world is only as far as the eye

can see. Out in the country,

maybe mountains or hills or

trees really express how far

we [can see] because we’re a

small body on a huge planet.

And in cities, our world is

defined by buildings. When

you walk down the streets of

Chicago, your world is really

only as far as your eyes ref lect

off of the buildings. And in

buildings, for instance, the

building we’re in right now,

our world is solely within

these walls.

But on Apollo 8, when I

looked out at the Earth for the

first time, 240,000 miles away,

my world suddenly expanded

to infinity. I could put my

thumb up — and I say this

many times and in thousands

of talks — I could put my

thumb up to the window

and completely hide the

Earth. And I suddenly real-

ized that behind my thumb,

on this little planet, was about

5 billion people. Everything I

ever knew was behind my

thumb, and I suddenly got a

different perspective of my

position in life. Because when

I look back at the Earth and I

realize it was only a small

planet, one of nine inside the

solar system, it was a mere

speck in the Milky Way

Galaxy, and it was lost to

oblivion in the universe. And

so it gave me a feeling of,

“How do I get here,” that God

must have really given man-

kind a stage upon which to

perform, and how that play

turns out is up to us.

Senior Editor Richard Talcott

watched with rapt attention as

Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and

Bill Anders made humankind’s

first journey to the Moon.

Above left: The Apollo 8 command

module floats in the Pacific Ocean

as swimmers from the USS Yo rk t ow n

ready it to be hoisted onto the ship.

Above right: The command module

rests on the deck after it had been

pulled from the ocean.

Left: Navy personnel greet the

Apollo 8 astronauts as they step

on the deck of the Yo rk t ow n after

their historic mission.