This evening, 56 years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, I spoke with the astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Together we shared the memory of a historic feat, a testimony to human ingenuity, and we reflected on the mystery and greatness of Creation.
— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) July 20, 2025
I remember that night like it was yesterday. I’d go out and look at the moon. The echo of the broadcast and flicker of light from TV screens came from every house. Then I’d go back inside and watch more.
UPDATE:
WHOA! I did not know this.
Not to forget that an American born in Rome, Michael Collins, was one of the three men on the first visit to the moon.#SPQR https://t.co/ncWGBwH4iL pic.twitter.com/QORcXUOi3o
— Rorate Caeli (@RorateCaeli) July 20, 2025
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When I look on the moon and the stars,
And consider the works of Your fingers,
What is man that You are mindful of him?
I also remember the day and the broadcast, which was playing on the loudspeaker at what was then Cam Ranh Bay airbase, as we did our in-country processing into the late Republic. Now the same site is the Cam Ranh-Nha Trang Airport in the DRV, as we saw on return in 2008.
Met Buzz once.
Very unpretentious down to earth gentleman.
Great hoaxes of our time….
The shooting of Archduke Frans Ferdinand didn’t cause World War 1…. it was the excuse used to kick off hostilities.
World War 2 was the replay of WW 1…. Hitler was very naughty but the war was about cutting down the economic impact of Germany and Japan…. naughty politicians are always with us and we don’t always remove them by war…. some times we install them by use of war.
Moon landings…. beggining to unravel… we all believed that they landed on the moon at the time. Looking a bit dodgy now.
The Twin Towers…. we sent money to the American Embassy in London to help the cause. Watch …. The Unspeakable… families of Americans killed in the Towers who like us believed in the official narative… but now…. complete hoax…. inside job to nudge America in to forever wars.
Covid…. please…..!!!
The Unspeakable is free on You Tube….
Thanks Fr Z for permitting of the wall views on Great Hoaxes…..
When can we expect you this side of the pond…. perfidious Angleterre…. side for a blog nick….. it’s been a while….???
Hey, Robbie. If you are willing to take the heat on this, have at. Frankly, we need a definition of “hoax”. And I am going to simply laugh out loud about landing on the Moon being a “hoax” (read: “faked”). For one thing, there were a couple of ham radio operators who aimed a directional antenna at the Moon during the mission and they could pick up the astronauts radio comms. They knew it was from the moon because as the Moon moved away from the sight of the antenna the signal faded until the antenna was redirected. Also, spacecraft/satellites orbiting the Moon have spotted the lunar landers, etc.
Moreover, I think it is necessary to very careful about discussion of 9/11.
When shall I cross the pond? I’d really enjoy that.
I was a toddler during that time, but I am old enough to remember watching splashdowns of Skylab missions (I might have seen bits and pieces of Apollo 17 as a kid) and I remember watching the launch of Apollo for the Soyuz link up because it was summer and my dad woke me up to watch it with him. I was a young teen in 1981 and remember the first Space Shuttle launch like it was yesterday.
Today, I just found out from seeing a photograph of Buzz Aldrin that two years ago he was promoted to an honorary brigadier general. He retired from the Air Force as a full bird. He is the last living member of the Apollo 11 crew. Out of the astronauts who flew Apollo missions (including Skylab and Apollo Soyuz) something like six or seven are still alive.
My dad worked on programs that put men on the moon. He worked on ships that tracked the astronauts in their capsules. He was a consultant on the first space shuttle. If the moon landing was a hoax, it was the biggest, most complex, most expensive, most convincing – even to those working on it – ever perpetrated. The mental gymnastics needed to deny certain realities like the moon landing and terrorists blowing up the Twin Towers are impressive, though.
In February/March 1969 I was in AFROTC and our squadron made a trip to Cape Canaveral, flying down in an ANG prop transport from Allentown PA to Patrick AFB (Now Patrick Space Force Base) where we were put up for the night and breakfasted the next morning at the swanky Officers Club overlooking the ocean. We toured the space complex which featured Apollo 9 on the launch pad being prepared for its mission, plus Apollo 11 being worked on in the VAB. I guess 10 was in there also. We also toured the older Gemini and Mercury sites, so primitive by comparison.
For some reason my Dad was against the space program and insisted we go fishing the day of the moon landing, but grudgingly allowed us to bring a portable radio so we could at least hear the landing.