Email from the Moon, Landing Day, Fiction

Dear Laura:

Well, I’ve experienced my first Landing Day here on the moon. It was intense.

It’s a much bigger deal up here than it is down there, as you can imagine. Does anyone on earth even bother to remember what happened on July 20, 1969?

We do. I can tell you. At 20:17 UTC, the whole place stops. Doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’re doing. If you are on the moon at that moment, you pause to think about what we, as humans, have accomplished.

The Tranquility Base History Center stages a live landing of the Apollo Lunar Module. Crowds gather in the indoor viewing areas. A tricked-out hopper flies in. The loudspeaker plays the radio communication.

In the normal course of things, when I when see the mock-up of the LM inside the History Center, it reminds me of a line from an old movie. ‘You came in that thing? You’re braver than I thought.’

Then you see a very convincing repro dropping out of the sky. It’s hard not to be awed.

We copy you down, Eagle. I get chills.

Houston, Tranquility Base here. I’m not crying; you’re crying

The Eagle has landed. The crowd roars.

Go ahead, read this and tell me you are not amazed, NASA: Apollo Expeditions to the Moon, CHAPTER 11.4

One thing you might not expect, up here, we are really big on celebrating Collins. You know the guy who DIDN’T get to walk on the moon. He made the trip and then got to stay in orbit.

Life on the moon is impossible without teamwork. You rely on other people to keep you alive. Every component of a team is important. We also serve who sit and circle.

“In his autobiography he wrote ‘this venture has been structured for three men, and I consider my third to be as necessary as either of the other two’ “. Wiki: Michael Collins (astronaut)

Rock on, Dude!

Yours from the Lunar Landing site,
Liz

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