Buzz Aldrin - The First Man to Communion in Space
The moon was visited by many unusual items delivered by the astronauts of the Apollo mission. Golf clubs and balls, family photos, gold medals with the names of astronauts (Gagarin is among them). But Buzz Aldrin decided to go even further.
Mission Apollo 11
The Apollo 11 spacecraft was launched in 1969. It was one of the most significant missions for space exploration, because Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were assigned to be the first to step onto another cosmic body and it is desirable to survive.
The astronauts successfully coped with the task, set the American flag, collected lunar samples (almost 22 kg!) And returned to Earth as real heroes. The flight was broadcast to the whole world, so that earthlings could hear the famous phrases, such as “The Eagle Moored” or “A small step for ....”.
However, another interesting ceremony performed by Baz Aldrin remained behind the scenes.
Faith in Space
Alexey Leonov said that one cannot do without faith
Despite the fact that astronauts and astronauts are supporters of science, they all rely on physics and in fact constantly rise to the heavens, among them there are many religious people. For example, the Soviet cosmonaut Alexey Leonov said that it is impossible to do without faith. Any person in orbit must believe that he will be protected, and he will return alive. This is confirmed by NASA astronaut Jeff Williams. He said that space flight expanded his understanding of faith and creator. He sees no reason for the conflict of faith and science. Buzz Aldrin thought the same thing. This is a follower of Presbyterian, in which baptism and the sacrament play a crucial role.
First Communion
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin and US President Donald Trump, 2017. Source: https://www.gazeta.ru
Even before the flight to the moon, Aldrin decided to consult with pastor and find out how to conduct the ceremony. Then he prepared a special container with wine and gave a little bread for the participle. All this went to the earth satellite with the Apollo 11 mission.
After the moon landing, the astronauts had little time to recover and relax. At this point, Buzz Aldrin and decided to bring the idea to life. Previously, people had already prayed in space (previous missions), but no one had received communion before.
Aldrin offered Armstrong to join, but Neil was an atheist, so he refused. It should not be forgotten that this mission was incredibly important. This is the result of cohesive work of about 400,000 people and many victims. So intoxication no one would allow. In the bubble was a little more than a sip of wine.
In preparation for the next stage, Buzz turned on the communication system and addressed the team on Earth. He said that he would like to ask for a few minutes of silence, and that everyone should thank for the successful landing on the moon. After that, he took communion.
Not everyone liked this
NASA did not conceal that Aldrin was going to take communion on the Moon, but refused his request to broadcast this event to the whole world. There was concern about activists and a recent event with Apollo 8. The astronauts of that mission decided to read a couple of chapters from Genesis during Christmas near the Moon in 1968.
This provoked a protest action, where Maladin Murray O'Hare, which always advocated the separation of the state from the church, manifested itself most actively. She even sued the agency, but lost. Despite this, NASA feared that the woman would head large-scale actions, especially since there were people besides her talking about their atheistic rights not to listen to religious sermons during space missions.
Postscript
Buzz Aldrin did not become the first person to set foot on the moon, but he was the first to take communion in space. Only Neil Armstrong and representatives of NASA became a witness, but we do not think that this would bother him much. At press conferences, he tried not to develop this topic and said only that the sacrament was limited to the framework of the spacecraft.
