Some things just have to be blogged!

Not much to do with cycling I grant you but I had to blog about Commander Chris Hadfield’s video from the International Space Station.

There is a vague connection in terms of my book as I mention the Apollo Programme a few times, drawing parallels between my experiences of solitude compared to the astronauts’.  I think there is a lot more going on in the video than just solitude; I was struck by a sense of finality and sadness; maybe even hopelessness at the state of planet due to human activity. Whatever the driver for this, you just have to watch it and immerse yourself in the general hugeness of it; as Douglas Adams said, ‘Space is big, really big…’ and he was probably right!

Apollo provided a launch pad for science and engineering at a time when technology was stagnant, it also kick-started a flagging economy and gave Americans something else to think about instead of bombing jungles with Napalm. But the reason for setting foot on the Moon was never for science as an end in itself.  Harrison Schmitt, a proper geologist/scientist finally flew on Apollo 17, the last of 6 flights all crewed by test pilot jocks that had been schooled by scientists to collect data and samples. Apollo was more a game of political posturing during the cold war, if you could be the first to land safely on the Moon, you had somewhere to launch bombs from; plus it meant your technology was superior and you were ready for war.  Thankfully, we live in a slightly different world these days but maybe without such a threat hanging over us.

One thing the politicians of the day may not have expected was a realisation by many people that our planet appears fragile when viewed from a long way away, in fact some go as far as to say that it kick started the environmental movement of the early 70’s. At crucial times in the missions, powered descent to the lunar surface or re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere for example, people came together as a human race. Borders were not important, colour and creed didn’t seem to matter, there was a feeling of awe and concern for the 3 fragile humans in a ‘tin can’ breaking new ground in space exploration. Kind of a nice feeling, well, better than wanting to bomb the crap out of each other.

For me, there are two striking images from Apollo: Earthrise taken from Apollo 8 in December of 1968 and a picture taken from Apollo 17 (December 1972) during transit to the moon looking back at the Earth as a whole disk in space.  Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and Commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13) said that when you can cover the entire Earth with your thumb, occluding everything and everyone you have every known, it makes you think about what we have; it also makes you think that maybe we should look after it a bit more. He did this from lunar orbit on Apollo 8 and would have done the same from the lunar surface had Apollo 13 not experienced issues with a thermostat in one of the two oxygen tanks in the Service Module.

Some of the Apollo astronauts report spiritual experiences on their coast between the Earth and the Moon. I guess they asked themselves the question ‘why are we here?’ and ‘what is it all about?’ Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14) was particularly affected by his trip, he went on record as saying that UFO’s were real and he has a deep understanding of the paranormal. Feelings of inner peace were not uncommon but only spoken of years afterwards; test pilots don’t do emotion and if they did, they would probably have been binned from their next flight assignments. I have no faith, but resting in a silent church after miles on the road brings a sense of peace and renewed strength. As far as I know, this is not a religious experience but there certainly is a tangible effect.

So, what is all the fuss about this video shot on the ISS….take a look and see for yourself bearing in mind all the preamble above. I thought it was something amazing, emotional and noteworthy, I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-final-epic-act-of-the-departing-commander-of-the-international-space-station-truly-rocked-2?g=5

Further reading…..

If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!