What was never reported in the rush of euphoria over the successful landing of Apollo 11 on the moon was the faith of the two modular pilots. Both Armstrong and Aldrin were committed Christians.
An elder in his church back on planet Earth, Buzz Aldrin had authority to conduct an extended serving of the Lord's Supper.
In 1970 Aldrin wrote in the "Guideposts" magazine:
"I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine.
I poured the wine into a chalice provided by our church.
In the one sixth gravity of the moon the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup.
Then I read the scriptures;
'I am the Vine, you are the branches' from the 15th chapter of John's Gospel.
It was interesting for me to think that the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there were the Communion elements"
Why have you never read these things? Because on the previous flight of Apollo 10 Frank Bormann had read from the first chapter of Genesis as they circled the moon. A left wing loony called Madeline O Hare threatened to bring a law suit saying her civil liberties were being breached and NASA buckled. They gave permission for Aldrin to hold his service but asked that he do it in secret because they might get sued.
And there you have the rest of the story.
Jubilate.
Ian
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