Aiming for the Stars

Remembering the Apollo 17 Moon mission, launched 7 December 1972, splashed down (returned to Earth) 19 December 1972.

It was the last Apollo mission to land men on the Moon.
No humans have returned since then.

Apollo 17 lunar rover. NASA photo.

Where were you in December 1972? I was eleven years old, and enraptured by the Apollo Moon missions. I was not alone: many school kids proudly owned models of the “Thunderbirds” space ships (from the TV series of the same name), while I was one of the people who owned an Airfix model of the Apollo vehicles, the Saturn V rocket and the lunar module. One of my classmates filked the song, “Blowing in the Wind” to create a new song with a chorus that broke the rhyme and rhythm of the original song, but aspired towards the lofty ambitions of the times:

“The answer, my friend, is in the vacuum of space.
The answer is in the vacuum of space.”

These were the days of stereotypical heterosexist and patriarchal gender norms, when it was asserted of astronauts: “Every boy wanted to be one, and every girl wanted to marry one”. The blokey male aspects of astronautics could even be found in my local Boy Scouts group: every time they held a concert night to sing “Gang Show”-type songs or to share anecdotes and jokes, they always welcomed the slides I brought along (purchased at the Astronomical Society of Victoria or Space Age Books) showing Apollo astronauts walking on the Moon.

Tracy’s Rock. NASA photo by Eugene A. Cernan
Photomontage by Eric Hartwell – AS17-140-21493 archive copy at the Wayback Machine; AS17-140-21497 archive copy at the Wayback Machine, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=630874

I loved those slides: they showed the Moon’s surface in crystal clear clarity that could not normally be found on Earth-bound slides; and even as a child, I intuited that this was because the vacuum of the Moon lacked dust particles that were common in Earth’s atmosphere. They were images that were as silent as the vacuum, and yet they echoed a cosmic chorus that bespoke of the Moon’s magnificent desolation. Apollo 17 slides even featured Tracy’s Rock, which children pondered: how could a big rock roll so far down a distant hill on the Moon? This was an important aspect of the times: we always deferred to experts for the answers.

Oh how I envy those days – not because of the gender stereotypes, nor from some misplaced sense of nostalgia for “the good old days” – but because I can see our culture and our world today lacks that sense of excitement, an optimism in science, a trust in people who spend their lives doing the hard work to become experts in their field, and the aspiration of reaching literally for the Moon.

Apollo 17 Earthrise (NASA photo)

Reaching for the Stars

The phrase “I aim for the stars” is attributed to German rocket scientist, Werner Von Braun, who later joined NASA and was instrumental in putting men on the Moon. Cynics even back then added an addendum to his phrase as a recognition of his work building V2 rockets for the Nazis during World War 2: “I am for the stars – but occasionally I hit London”.

Such cynicism can be healthy in questioning the whys and wherefores of events, thereby ensuring transparency and accountability when needed. But it can go too far. In recognising the duality and nuances within both individual and collective humans, it can be dangerous to figuratively throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Apollo 17 photo of the Earth (NASA photo).

The Apollo Moon landings were the apex of the Space Age – a form of political and technological Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA. The Moon missions were arguably the largest non-military scientific investment in the history of our species – and we enjoy the spinoffs today. Everything from our automobiles to our electronic devices; everything from climate change mitigation to beaver habitation; virtually every aspect of our modern world owes a debt of gratitude to the space program. Apollo aimed for the Moon – and we found Earth.

And yet, ironically, new generations today use their space age technology – their mobile phones, the Internet, our social media – to spread their uninformed doubts and misinformed conspiracy theories about science and the space program.

Looking at the Gutter, or the Stars?

We live in a culture where everyone is entitled to an opinion, no matter how ignorant, uninformed or misguided, and people expect equal respect for those ideas alongside the informed proclamations of world scientists. Apollo astronauts who risked their lives reaching for the Moon – and some even died on that quest – have been accused of dishonesty and deceit. Half a million Apollo workers (rocket scientists, astronomers, aeronauts and engineers etc) from the USA to Spain, from Africa to Australia, have all been implicitly accused of dishonesty and involvement within a conspiracy which, if true, would rewrite the history of the Cold War and leave open the obvious question: why the USSR never accused the USA of manufacturing a hoax – such an exposé would have changed the course of history and potentially elevated the Soviet Union to world leader above the USA.

As I write this, the nephew of John F Kennedy – the President who launched the Apollo missions to the Moon – is allegedly an anti-vaxxer proponent who was allegedly involved in the preventable measles deaths of children, and seems likely to be elevated to a peak medical position in his nation under an anti-science President. The anti-science, anti-education, pro-narcissist culture that has arisen since the religious zealotry of Ronald Reagan and Ayatollah Khomenei, now threatens scientific and social progress around the world.

But for me, another of the greatest tragedies of anti-science proponents and Moon conspiracy theorists is what they are missing: the grandeur of science and adventure, the optimism and excitement of taking footsteps into history, the achievement of working hard and honestly in order to learn and to uncover new discoveries, creating opportunities to make a difference and change the world.

Science will Win

Apollo 17 holds symbolic as well as scientific implications for us all. It was the only Apollo mission launched at night, yet it brought science to the space program by taking a geologist to the Moon, whose contributions are still making a difference today. As we face the dusk of dark times ahead, we can feel confident that science will survive and succeed: even luddites need modern scientific technology to sustain their lifestyles; no matter how insular their views, they dare not dismantle their own life support systems. As Stephen Hawking observed: “Science will win because it works”.

And we can find inspiration in science. One of history’s greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton, stated that, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.” Despite his flaws as a human being, he advanced science and acknowledged the greatness of those who had preceded him – and of those who would follow. Science does more than create opportunities for a better world; it embiggens the human soul and allows us to dream (and achieve) bigger and better and nobler than before.

We see that promise every time we cast our eyes skyward at the Moon.

“And as the Moon shines down
On the shattered launching ground,
I remember Apollo,
Who flew the chariot of the Sun.
And I wonder of the legends they will tell
A thousand years from now.”

– from “Legends” © 1980 Bill Roper
sung by Julie Ecklar, “To Touch the Stars” (Prometheus Music, 2004)

©2024 Geoff Allshorn

United for Hope

United for Hope: The World AIDS Day Pledge

Today, we stand beneath the solemn sky,
To honour lives lost, and never let them die.
HIV/AIDS, a shadow we cannot ignore,
Still claiming lives, still knocking at the door.

To every soul, regardless of name,
This is a fight we all must claim.
Keep off the networks where danger may lie,
Protect your heart, your body—don’t let dreams die.

To my queer family, bold and true,
This battle is ours; we must see it through.
For too many loved ones, we’ve had to say goodbye,
Let’s stay vigilant, let’s not let hope die.

Let education be the shield we wield,
Knowledge a weapon, a formidable field.
Empower the youth with facts so clear,
To conquer ignorance, dispel the fear.

International voices, hear this call:
Lend your hand, for this fight affects us all.
To refugees, the displaced, those in war-torn lands,
Palestine, and beyond, let’s extend our hands.

To NGOs, with hearts so grand,
Support the vulnerable; let them stand.
Medication, care, and hope to renew,
For the LGBTIQ, and the broken too.

HIV/AIDS is real, a foe we all face,
Let’s combat it together, with love and grace.
On this World AIDS Day, let unity shine,
For a future of health, for a brighter design.

Composed by Joseph K (He/Him)

This blog ©2024 Geoff Allshorn. All rights hereby returned to the poet.

In Solidarity with Palestine

Commemorating International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,
commenced by the United Nations in 1977.

By Orionist, previous versions by Makaristos, Mysid, etc. – Own work using: Law No. 5 for the year 2006 amending some provisions of Law No. 22 for the year 2005 on the Sanctity of the Palestinian Flag, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=433206

“We are witnessing a genocide in real time”
Spokesperson for the Defense for Children International – Palestine

I’m sorry Ahmed, Ibrahim, Sarah and Jana, Mohamad and Jusuf, and all the other 17,400 children killed by Israel in Gaza since 7 October 2023, along with possibly 20,000 of your mothers, fathers, and other family members.

On behalf of the civilised world, I am sorry for the deaths and genocide across Palestine, I apologise that many international leaders are ignoring the catastrophe (or looking the other way for political reasons), or providing military equipment to the aggressor nation in order to empower this genocide.

I am sorry that a national political and military machinery that purports to represent the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, is itself enacting a new Holocaust. This does NOT reflect the wishes nor morality of many Jewish people in Israel and around the world.

Anti-Semitism

Please understand, kids, that some adults state that your murder is part of a response to a terrible attack on 7 October 2023, during which 38 Jewish children and 1101 other people were also killed. The 7 October atrocity deserved a firm response (one example being the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for the Hamas leadership responsible), but the Israeli response has killed over 40,000 Palestinian civilians and elicited a similar ICC arrest warrant.

We must be careful to avoid inflaming passions on either side of this catastrophe. The hate speech and negative behaviours connected to antisemitism have traditionally focussed upon Jewish people, but Arab people (including Palestinians) should also be protected from antisemitic words and behaviours. Within both Israel and within the diaspora communities of all the world, including Australia, there are strong voices speaking against the war crimes committed against tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians. “Antisemitism” is criminal because it tars all Jews with the brush of genocide, without differentiating. For the same reason, Islamophobia is a crime, because it tars all Muslims as terrorists.

We must be careful that accusations of antisemitism are not trivialised, nor distorted to shut down valid criticism; nor can we ignore the reality of antisemitism and thereby allow hatreds to manifest during this time of division. It must be emphasised that we are all humans with dignity and nobility, and if we want to see humane and just behaviour by those on all sides, then we must set the example.

People in both Israel and Palestine have an equal and inalienable right to live peacefully, freely, autonomously and safely.

Solutions

The genocide against children (and their parents) must stop.

How?

In Humanism and Democratic Criticism, Palestinian-born Edward Said argues:

“Humanism is the only and the final resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history…

“The essence of humanism is to understand human history as a continuous process of self-understanding and self-realization, not just for us, as white, male, European, and American, but for everyone…

“A fair degree of my own political and social activism has assured me that people all over the world can be and are moved by ideals of justice and equality.”(cited in Zakarriya, 2015, 198 – 199).

Israelis and Palestinians must be assisted to sit down together at the negotiation table. It must be made clear that hostilities cannot continue. The ghosts of the Holocaust, and of the genocide in Gaza, demand it.

Palestinian-born poet Mahmoud Darwish has written of Palestine and Israel as a place of both terrible tragedy and incurable optimism:

“This land absorbs the skins of martyrs.
This land promises wheat and stars.”
(Diary of a Palestinian wound)

US President Jimmy Carter has previously called for peace:

“Down through the years, I have seen despair and frustration evolve into optimism and progress and, even now, we need not give up hope for permanent peace for Israelis and freedom and justice for Palestinians if three basic premises are honoured: Israel’s right to exist – and to live in peace – must be recognised and accepted by Palestinians and all other neighbours; the killing of innocent people by bombs or other acts of violence cannot be condoned; and Palestinians must live in peace and dignity, and permanent Israeli settlements on their land are a major obstacle to this goal.”

The Larger Genocide

Palestine is not the only genocide that is being ignored by the world. Other children named Celine, Farah, Ibrahim, Khalid, Sarah and Tala are also dying in Sudan and Yemen and Syria; meanwhile Daniel, Joseph, Marie and Sarah are dying in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One predominant feature of these nations is that the main religion is often Islam (with Christianity as a runner-up); another common feature is the racial/cultural demographics of these children. Either way, our world leaders need to consider why these children (like the children in Gaza) apparently do not currently matter. When seeking to focus on the killings in Gaza, we must not ignore these other deaths. Genocide everywhere must end; the killings must stop.

The world (and the judgement of world history) are watching and judging us all. As Mahmoud Darwish writes about Israelis and Palestinians alike:

“Then what? A woman soldier shouted:
Is that you again? Didn’t I kill you?
I said: You killed me … and I forgot, like you, to die.”
– from In Jerusalem, Mahmoud Darwish, 2007.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Jimmy Carter, 2006. “Jimmy Carter Op-Ed: Colonization of Palestine Precludes Peace, 12 March, Carter Center.

Mahmoud Darwish, 1969. Yawmiyyat jurh filastini (Diary of a Palestinian wound). (Poetry Foundation)
– – – – – – – – -, 2007. In Jerusalem, from The Butterfly’s Burden, (Copper Canyon Press). (Poetry Foundation)

Jihan Zakarriya, 2015. “Humanism in the autobiographies of Edward Said and Nelson Mandela: memory as action”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 1 (2015), pp. 198-204.

©2024 Geoff Allshorn

Edited 30 November 2014 to expand and clarify some points, particularly about antisemitism.

Voices of the Silenced

Voices of the Silenced: A Call for Justice

Commemorating 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence.

STAND WITH LGBTIQ PEOPLE
END GBV, STOP THE HATE

In shadows they hide, in fear they stand,
LGBTIQ hearts, crushed by hate’s hand.
Fleeing the violence, they seek refuge and light,
Yet still, they endure the darkest of nights.

On this journey of 16 Days we rise,
To see through their pain, to hear their cries.
For love is not a crime, and neither is their truth,
Their fight for equality begins with their youth.

We stand with the brave, those torn apart,
Who suffer in silence, yet speak from the heart.
The scars they bear, the tears they’ve shed,
Are the stories of warriors who’ve fought and bled.

In every corner, on every shore,
Their struggle for freedom is worth fighting for.
They, too, fall under this banner of change,
As we call for an end to the violence and rage.

The world must listen, it’s time to act,
For love is love, and it’s a simple fact.
During these 16 Days, let our voices be clear,
That no more shall LGBTIQ lives live in fear.

Together, we rise, together we fight,
For a world where all hearts shine bright.
#16DaysOfActivism #LGBTIQRights #EndGBV #StopTheHate

Composed by Joseph K (Him/They)

I am proud to publish this poem by Joseph today, in honour of recognising queer violence and in solidarity with recognising and challenging other forms of GBV.

This blog ©2024 Geoff Allshorn. All rights hereby returned to the poet.