In one of the most famous photos in history, Buzz Aldrin – Apollo 11 pilot lunar module – is located on the moon. Credit: NASA
As strange as it may seem, in which the astronauts Sat (or “Sat” – the crew was actually) in the Apollo Lunar module may have deeply influenced the way the experience of walking on the moon has affected them.
The commanders of the mission were in what is indicated in aviation as the position of the “left seat” and the pilots of the lunar module were in the “right seat”, where the co -pilot is traditionally found. The commanders returned from the apparently largely unchanged missions. All except one of the pilots of the lunar module, on the contrary, they underwent deep and lasting personal transformations (some of which were deeply unpleasant) after their moon missions.
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 saw the commander Neil Armstrong on the left seat and the pilot of the Buzz Aldrin lunar module in the right seat. After piloting the lunar module Eagle Until the first landing of the absolute moon, Armstrong emerged to become the first human to set foot on the moon. Shortly thereafter, Aldrin joined him on the surface in the sea of tranquility. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong, Aldrin and the pilot of the Michael Collins command module took part in the Ticker fashion shows, he turned to a joint session of the United States Congress and completed (some could say suffered) a round tour in the world of 22 countries in 38 days.
Armstrong, always a silent and reticent individual, soon retired from the flight status and took an administrative place with NASA in Washington, DC, after a year, left to become a professor of engineering before going to the end to pursue business opportunities e speak. According to the book of the historian James Hansen First manArmstrong has always maintained a low profile, has rarely gave interviews or autographs and (in addition to serving on several high -profile NASA commissions) remained largely out of the limelight until his death in 2012 at the age of 82.
Aldrin, however, has had a rather different post-ovatory experience. As detailed in the book of the historian Andrew Chaikin, A man on the moonand the autobiography of the astronaut John Young Forever YoungAldrin has put pressure hard inside the NASA to be the first person to walk on the moon, but had been put in contact with NASA in contact with no uncertain terms. Aldrin faced his disappointment, the stress of the world tour and his subsequent notoriety through drinking and has gone down in alcoholism, depression, infidelity and divorce from his first wife, Joan. Aldrin wrote about these struggles in two autobiographical books, Return to earth AND Magnificent desolationBy saying: “At the beginning the alcohol calmed the depression, making it at least a little bearable. But the situation has progressed in alcoholic depressive binges in which I would have withdrawn as a hermit in my apartment. “Other weddings and divorces followed. Aldrin made a slow ascent to sobriety and mental health. Aldrin is alive and continues to make public appearances today, at the age of 94.
Apollo 12
Apollo 12, commanded by Pete Conrad with Alan Bean as a pilot of the lunar module, touched in the ocean of storms in November 1969. Conrad, a notorious prankster, maintained his carefree personality and often insisted on the fact that going to the moon Don’t change it. In fact, Conrad told Chaikin that when he was selected as an astronaut in 1962 that he promised his wife Jane who would not change him, and was faithful to his word. Conrad continued to command the first mission of SkyLab to crew. Bean, on the other hand, told Chaikin that he had decided even before returning to Earth to radically change his life and pursue his passions, in particular by painting. After controlling the second mission of SkyLab in crew and having worked in the NASA administration, Bean left to become a full -time artist. Bean said to Chaikin that when he was asked of his perplexed colleagues if he could earn a living by painting, his answer was: “If I could go to the moon, I can learn to be a good artist”.
Apollo 14
After the landing of the moon almost disasters and aborted of Apollo 13, Apollo 14 (1971), he saw the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, as a commander with and Mitchell as a pilot of the lunar module. Shepard, notoriously severe and serious, returned home from his visit to the Lunar Highlands of Fra Mauro to return to his old place as head of the NASA astronaut office. Joking on how little the journey had changed it, Shepard said: “Before going to the moon, I was a rotten sob now I’m just a Mitchell hiccup, already interested in the paranormal, conducted notoriously secret psychic experiments during the Apollo 14 Mission. Mitchell has Declared: “I had a knee with columns where I could randomize the numbers and symbols, the so -called zinner symbols and order them randomly and think for 15 seconds. [to Earth] And let people on the ground who were receiving it in declared times send me their answers. “During the mission, Mitchell had a powerful spiritual experience and declared:” The presence of divinity became almost palpable and I knew that life in the universe was not only an accident based on random processes.. After the mission of the Moon, he left Nasa to pursue his interest in paranormal arguments. He founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences to study parapsychology, he experienced psychedelic drugs, he publicly declared that the UFOs with extraterrestrials were visiting the earth regularly and have written widely on the psychic phenomenon. Many of the astronauts moved away from Mitchell for these activities, but remained still in his beliefs until his death in 2016.
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (1971), commanded by Dave Scott with Jim Irwin as a pilot of the lunar module, found the crew involved in a scandal on their return to Earth. The couple, together with the pilot of the Worden command module, was accused of having conspired to sell postal covers that had brought to the moon. The resulting survey seriously damaged the reputation of all three men. However, Scott continued to have a successful career as an NASA administrator and businessman, later turning to advice. Irwin, who experienced a serious cardiac arrhythmia on the moon, has undergone a profound religious experience during the mission. Irwin said he was a “silent Christian” before his lunar mission, but he told the author Hurry (For all humanity) that “he felt the presence of the Lord on the moon”. Irwin became a deeply attentive Christian after the mission. He founded an evangelical Christian organization, High Flight, wrote a book on life centered on Christ, and later he made more shipping on Mount Ararat in Türkiye looking for pieces of Ark of Noah.
Apollo 16
Apollo 16 (1972) was commanded by John Young with the pilot of the Lunar Charlie Duke module. Called “the astronaut of the astronaut” by the curator of Emerita Valerie Neal of the Department of the History of the National Air and Space Museum space, Young returned from the mission to be the head of the Astronaut office, became the first person to command a mission of space shuttle and remained an active astronaut until he finished his second shuttle flight in 1983. Duke felt a marked sense of emptiness after the mission of the moon and began to try to fill the void. Leaving the NASA, he found wealth in the business world, but he did nothing for him emotionally. Duke found religion and committed his life towards Jesus, who heard saving his marriage and relationships with his children. Duke said that his time on the moon “lasted for three days. But a walk with Jesus lasts forever. “Now 89 years old, Charlie Duke still attended the church regularly.
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (1972) broke the mold a little. Gene Cernan commanded the mission and Harrison “Jack” Schmidt, a geologist and the only scientist to fly to Apollo, was the pilot of the lunar module. Unlike the other 11 Moonwalkers, Schmidt was not a military pilot before becoming an astronaut. After Nasa, Cernan had a career in the oil sector and was a frequent space flight commentator for the media. Schmidt then ran for and won, a seat in the Senate in New Mexico and worked widely as a consultant. Schmidt, only among the pilots of the lunar module, seems not to have suffered a radical transformation after his flight. This may be due to the fact that, as a geologist on the moon, it has been totally immersed in the work of analyzing and collecting lunar rocks and soil champions and, like the commanders of the mission, could have simply been too mentally engaged during his moon arms For emotionally influenced. In his autobiography, The last man on the moonCernan underlines Schmidt’s total commitment for geology.
Many theories
So why did the experiences of astronauts seem so determined by their place (or rather by their role) after the moon? Perhaps the commanders, with much more work to do and with most of the responsibility for landing, were simply too busy with all their duties to sink the experience and influence them. The pilots of the lunar module, although busy, had much less to do and perhaps they simply had more time to look out the literal (and metaphorical) window, thus experimenting with the landing of the moon and the lunar in a deeper way and more as much as it could be deep this experience.
There is no way to know with certainty, of course, but collectively, these crews and their experiences on the moon show how transformative and deeply an impact can be this experience, if you leave it.
