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longship

(40,416 posts)

11. Apollo 8. Rounded the moon to see Earthrise.

Fri Nov 21, 2014, 08:58 PM

Nov 2014

It happened in December, 1968, over five years after JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

The funny thing... If Apollo 8 had landed on the moon, there would not have been an Earthrise. The moon is tidally locked to the Earth. That's why we see only one side of the moon. If you stand on the moon on the Earth side, the Earth would be forever in the same spot in the sky. There would never, ever be an Earthrise. The only way to see an Earthrise from the moon is if one was orbiting the moon.

A great, and inspirational photograph. I wish the Apollo 8 astronauts hadn't messed it all up by quoting Genesis in the Bible. They should have quoted Newton, or Galileo, or my favorite, fucking Archimedes (? BCE - 212 BCE): "Give me a place to stand and I will raise the world." Now that quote would inspire well beyond Iron Age legend.

Nevertheless, I remember that day like it was today.

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Since November 22, 1963... [View all] Octafish Nov 2014 OP

So long ago and yet such a vivid memory. Autumn Nov 2014 #1

It was a time when we could do anything we dared imagine. Octafish Nov 2014 #4

Apollo 8. Rounded the moon to see Earthrise. longship Nov 2014 #11

Oswald did it? I don't think so. man4allcats Nov 2014 #58

+1 nationalize the fed Nov 2014 #19

You forgot Dr Hobbitstein Nov 2014 #87

'We have more will than wallet.' -- George Herbert Walker Bush, inaugural address Octafish Nov 2014 #116

And we did it in less than a decade and under budget. LongTomH Nov 2014 #81

I remember Horse with no Name Nov 2014 #2

The American Dream was alive and well. Octafish Nov 2014 #9

I live in Sam Rayburn country and I am perplexed...to say the least...that it is very conservative Horse with no Name Nov 2014 #12

You are the jewel of DU, Octafish. ReRe Nov 2014 #38

Ditto. Octafish, you are the best. n/t 7wo7rees Nov 2014 #48

I concur 100% hifiguy Nov 2014 #111

Octafish is a him? ReRe Nov 2014 #114

thank you for posting this. niyad Nov 2014 #69

They day the music died. Rex Nov 2014 #3

The day the music died.... ollie4 Nov 2014 #36

Well now, that's one way of interpreting McLean's magnum opus. But one could say that KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #42

America was touched by the lowest demons in our nature, setting us on a different course. Octafish Nov 2014 #62

JFK resisted a 'first strike' at least twice: LongTomH Nov 2014 #85

And that's one way they've been able to advance their sick agenda. Lars39 Nov 2014 #5

That brings to mind an INSOC slogan. zeemike Nov 2014 #32

''If it wasn't on tee vee, it didn't happen.'' Octafish Nov 2014 #65

...this country has seen the corruption of our liberties by the MIC become the norm. robertpaulsen Nov 2014 #6

Look who gets ahead these days. Octafish Nov 2014 #66

Scary. The prospect of Jeb in 2016 is nauseating. robertpaulsen Nov 2014 #91

that photo makes me want to ralph grasswire Nov 2014 #101

But he did nothing to curb it during his presidency OnlinePoker Nov 2014 #74

Sadly, I agree. The CIA overthrow of Mossadegh happened on Ike's watch. robertpaulsen Nov 2014 #90

...and Cuba. Ike was president when Dulles hired the Mafia to kill Castro -- 1960. Octafish Nov 2014 #93

I was 14 in 1963. I'd like to think I still have a few years left. scarletwoman Nov 2014 #7

I was watching an old Christmas movie the other night... Frustratedlady Nov 2014 #8

It is remarkable, the moments when it strikes. For me, HBO's ''Nixon by Nixon''... Octafish Nov 2014 #67

What ReRe said: love_katz Nov 2014 #71

Some day, the truth will surely come out. Frustratedlady Nov 2014 #82

It's distressing to see progressives living in/obsessing over the past YoungDemCA Nov 2014 #10

Why? n/t jtuck004 Nov 2014 #17

The clue might be in the word "progressive" YoungDemCA Nov 2014 #22

Since we are discussing people who need clues, perhaps you should spend a few moments jtuck004 Nov 2014 #25

Your history is flawed... YoungDemCA Nov 2014 #27

WHy don't you look up "hungry", which is what the children of the people who have been put and left jtuck004 Nov 2014 #31

I am old enough to have lived that history. zeemike Nov 2014 #35

+1 ReRe Nov 2014 #41

+1 Hekate Nov 2014 #55

+ 1 prairierose Nov 2014 #83

+1 frogmarch Nov 2014 #86

Hey, my friend, please do not confuse 'nostalgia' with 'reactionary.' I can assure you that KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #46

thanks for the lecture olddots Nov 2014 #75

Maybe just maybe we learn from the past that life does not have to suck like it does today. That jwirr Nov 2014 #80

As touchstones go, Camelot still beats 9/11. nt pinboy3niner Nov 2014 #20

Just for the poetry, if nothing else. :) - nt KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #47

+1 Hekate Nov 2014 #49

It's Remembering the past, not obsessing about the past. Dont call me Shirley Nov 2014 #23

Thank you Dont...Shirley. elleng Nov 2014 #28

'twas ever thus hifiguy Nov 2014 #112

Thank you, hifiguy. Dont call me Shirley Nov 2014 #113

It's one sentence! Or are you referring to his posts in the: PAST! johnnyreb Nov 2014 #30

WTF? Historians round the world are shaking their fists at you! :) - nt KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #43

It's even more distressing to see 'progressives' forget what their party is supposed to be about. sabrina 1 Nov 2014 #77

History, if you don't know, repeats. For instance, ''Hairpin Turns''... Octafish Nov 2014 #94

I remember what the world was like then. blue neen Nov 2014 #13

Equality was important to President Kennedy. Ask Abraham Bolden... Octafish Nov 2014 #95

Yep. Cleita Nov 2014 #14

K&R. Overseas Nov 2014 #39

The Day That Shall "ACTUALLY" Live In Infamy... WillyT Nov 2014 #15

Sung to the tune of American Pie ... Martin Eden Nov 2014 #16

I was three. I still remember how upset I was. My mother had the old B & W tv on, I was watching Dont call me Shirley Nov 2014 #18

I wasn't alive then. RedCappedBandit Nov 2014 #21

I don't want to piss in people's nostalgia Cheerios unduly, but JFK and RFK continued to KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #45

People do forget that. Wella Nov 2014 #84

JFK entered office as a 'Cold War hawk' (he even ran to Nixon's KingCharlemagne Nov 2014 #97

That is a misconception repeated over the years. Octafish Nov 2014 #98

JFK's assassination heralded the start of a string of murders of our best and brightest.... Hekate Nov 2014 #50

+1000 pinboy3niner Nov 2014 #53

Thank you for such a well thought out response. RedCappedBandit Nov 2014 #99

I agree. burrowowl Nov 2014 #103

What Cicero said. Octafish Nov 2014 #96

So true! I was 10 Carolina Nov 2014 #24

Been thinking about this today, Octafish, elleng Nov 2014 #26

I turned five earlier that year. Brigid Nov 2014 #29

The day America jumped the shark. Initech Nov 2014 #33

Those weren't really great times for minorities and I really don't see it as craigmatic Nov 2014 #34

Marvellously ignorant statement Hekate Nov 2014 #51

No I've read Dallek's book and seen all the documentaries but I'm not impressed by JFK. craigmatic Nov 2014 #63

JFK appears to be way overrated cpwm17 Nov 2014 #68

Probably it would help understanding if you had actually been there. The Cold War was not one-sided Hekate Nov 2014 #72

And FDR ran as a budget balancer. Smart people learn, grow, and change. RufusTFirefly Nov 2014 #78

Maybe you're right but it all comes back to ideology with JFK for me or rather his lack of one. craigmatic Nov 2014 #79

LBJ had to lie America into War on Vietnam Octafish Nov 2014 #105

Once JFK allowed the Vietnamese military to kill Ngo and his brother we owned Vietnam. craigmatic Nov 2014 #107

Except JFK did not order assassination, despite what E Howard Hunt and CIA want us to believe. Octafish Nov 2014 #108

What is a "Kennedy Democrat"? SleeplessinSoCal Nov 2014 #37

That makes no sense whatsoever applied to O'Reilly Hekate Nov 2014 #52

Jon Stewart said O'Reilly seemed ALMOST a Kennedy Democrat in comparison to RW extremists pinboy3niner Nov 2014 #56

In other words, a humorous exaggeration by a satirist for comic effect. Makes more sense that way. Hekate Nov 2014 #57

Different source SleeplessinSoCal Nov 2014 #59

A Democrat who stands for: Justice. Freedom. Equality. Peace. Prosperity. Octafish Nov 2014 #109

I think it's some kind of conservative Democrat SleeplessinSoCal Nov 2014 #115

It was Christmas day for American fascism nikto Nov 2014 #40

It really has been every warmongers' dream come true ever since. Octafish Nov 2014 #110

I was ten then. It was a good time for my family. Mr.Bill Nov 2014 #44

Not long after Kennedy's "Camelot" came and went SleeplessinSoCal Nov 2014 #60

"Pierre Salinger" "Pierre who? Who is that?" NBachers Nov 2014 #54

It has been downhill since that awful day. n//t Paper Roses Nov 2014 #61

K&R Zorra Nov 2014 #64

K&R bobthedrummer Nov 2014 #70

"You will remember this birthday, HockeyMom Nov 2014 #73

My Mom was a teacher at the time shenmue Nov 2014 #76

Since that day in November 63 heaven05 Nov 2014 #88

I remember. ColesCountyDem Nov 2014 #89

Yes I remember old man 76 Nov 2014 #92

It was a hell of a time to be a white male, that's for damn sure. Orrex Nov 2014 #100

Sure was. Hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. describe what JFK did during the 1960 campaign... Octafish Nov 2014 #104

Try to imagine mainstreetonce Nov 2014 #102

For a time capsule of the transition from the idealism of the late 1950s to GreatGazoo Nov 2014 #106