I did get to watch the moonrise last night. It was huge and yellow in color against a dark sky. A beautiful sight that I will remember for a while.
While we mostly hear about the astronauts, it was touching to learn about the sacrifices and struggles that their wives had to make. It was nice of you to share about the mental health issues that dotty faced. I hope each person who gets such thoughts of ending their life finds some person to talk to. For many religion indeed has been a solace when all else seems lost.
Hi Satya! Thanks for checking in—always good to hear from you. I'm so glad you got a good gander at the Hunter's Moon, and I'm also glad this dispatch resonated with you. For me, Dotty's path through those Apollo years was just as perilous as Charlie's, and I agree she is a great role model for anyone struggling with mental health. Hope all is well on your end. See you in a few weeks on the Beaver Moon!
Another fantastic post Will. I had the good fortune to meet Charlie Duke once. In the course of making a documentary called Blast Off: True Stories from the Final Frontier, for the Discovery Channel done 20 years ago. I spent the afternoon with him in Death Valley - the most dry and desolate place we could find in North America to do the interview. He is one of the most friendly, giving men I have had the honour to meet and hang out with. There were many fascinating things that he shared, but one in particular has stuck with me all these years - that when standing on the moon he was struck by the fact that it was the brightest, sunniest day he had ever experienced, yet the sky - from horizon to horizon - was pitch black. Now - Every time I see a shot taken on the moon as part of an Apollo mission, I’m struck by that fact. M
Mark, that's a wonderful story. Charlie hasn't changed in 20 years—he was just as friendly and unpretentious and genuine as you describe. I'm going to try to hunt down your documentary because I'd love to see that interview. What an amazing observation from Charlie—the sunlit blackness of lunar day. I wouldn't have thought of that. (Guess you had to be there!) Thanks so much for sharing your experience. See you in a few weeks on the next full moon! Be well.
Hi Will. Hope you have luck finding it. It was a fascinating film to make. To be honest it’s probably nearer to 25/30 years ago that I made it. I have moved on to directing drama now, but back in the day it was one of my favourite films I made as a documentary filmmaker. It was the first ever 2hr documentary that Discovery made and it covered everything from get to, surviving in and return from space. In making it I visited and chatted to both US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts and visited The Cape and Star City (just outside of Moscow) in the process. The film was narrated by legendary actor Ed Harris. I have so many memories from the places I visited and the people I met. I should probably write about it! It’s probably been cut down and repackaged since, but do let me know if you manage to find it. Cheers, M
Will do, Mark. Sounds like a project worth seeking out. I'd especially love to see the footage you captured in Star City. And please do write that memoir if you ever get a break in your director's schedule.
Simon—I'm so glad the Dukes' story landed for you. They're a remarkable team and lovely people. I found their book fascinating and very different from the typical astronaut memoir. I'd be interesting to hear what you think if you do get a copy. Be well.
I have a big hardback book, Full Moon, which I got withdrawn from the library. It's photos taken on (and on the way to and from) the moon, and it includes that photo-of-the-family-photo, a record of an act that struck me as hubristic. A lot of the photos are very beautiful, but strangely, they are informal, candid photos: my understanding is that documentary photography was not an official part of the missions, the early ones at least.
Oh, that sounds like a great book to page through! Very cool, Rosie. As for the Duke family portrait, I agree it's strange to see an item usually reserved for the living room mantle just lying there on the Moon. I'm sure Charlie got NASA's permission, but whether his act was hubristic or disrespectful—that's up to each of us to decide, and I hear your take. See you in a few weeks for the next full moon!
The really interesting thing about the photos taken on the moon is that they look black and white, until you see a bit of colour, gold on the landing craft, say, and realise they're shot on colour film. It's just that it's greyscale on the moon.
Such a good point. That gold foil is so striking in photos. I wonder if the moon's greyscale makes the Earth, seen from the moon, even more striking. Every spacefarer talks about how alive the planet looks—maybe those swirling blues and greens really pop when you're surrounded by grey dust.
Thank you so much, Madhuri. I am in continual awe that readers like you have found my little newsletter! See you in a couple weeks for the next full moon.
will—when i marked it was soon to be a full moon i greeted our dearest sphere in the sky but also thought a new essay by Will! will be soon! and this essay like all your essays does not disappoint. How beautiful it is to read what you find in tandem with the full moon. I’m consistently amazed, delighted and just grateful to know you’re out there thinking and writing this way. Just the best, friend. 💜
Hope my comment about Charlie Duke's quote from Job didn't go astray. I went back to the Latin of the Nova Vulgata and translated what I found, with commentary. If it got lost (bcause Brave, my browser, repels Java Script) let me know and I can reconstruct it.
Now to the Isaiah quote:
"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22)
This once again is a trope - as with Job, it is one of the brags about the Lord (who's a much more powerful god than the gods of the pagans, which are essentially lumps of wood or, at best, metal). There's a lot of that in Second isaiah for reasons I explained briefly in my Job message (the author of second Isaiah is trying to encourage the Children of israel to leave their comforable exile in Babylon and travel south, back to Israel, a more arid and tougher place, now that king Cyrus has told them they are free to go).
In the Nova Vulgatum (the Vulgate text plus additional textual scholarship and better texts from the last 100 years) it reads:
22 Qui sedet super gyrum terrae,
et habitatores eius sunt quasi locustae;
qui extendit sicut velum caelos
et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum;
He who sits above the Earth's gyres,
and its inhabitants are like locusts;
he who spread out the heavens like a curtain
and stretched them like a tent over the Earth's inhabitants
The 'gyres' are interesting. That's a Greek idea - from Fifth and Fourth century BCE - that the author of Isaiah has picked up, probably in Babylon, which had great astronomers and mathematicians. Students of Yeats will recall his use of it in the poem 'The Second Coming', written in the shadow of fascism in Europe: 'Turning and turning in the widening gyre...'But he misunderstood the Greek idea because he was more interested in mysticism than astronomy.
The word 'tabernaculum' I translated as 'tent'. I think modern Bible readers think of it more as a built structure, but in the Exodus time in the desert it was literarally a tent, and the reference is referring the hearers of the scroll (when it was read to them by the priest) back to the exodus from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering. The intention is to give the hearers confidence that the Lord will protect them on the way back from Babylon, just as he protected them on that first journey - because they are under the tent of the heavens, which God placed there. (Note the tent and the gyres are inimical images.) I'll bet none of this was in Charlie Duke's mind when he reflected on the passages.
I shall now make my enquiry of my friend in Galilee about the Hebrew for this and the beautiful Job image of God's protecting wings. Fortunately he likes my questions!
I love this translation and your excellent commentary! Really wonderful to put this verse in its historical context. Thank you for your hard work. It is much appreciated.
I'm afraid I did not spot your Job translation. If it's too laborious to reconstruct, please do not feel obligated.
I think I was a klutz in Substack, trying to post without being signed in, and it was lost to the aether.
It’s Sunday morning here and I’d like to take a quick look at the music before heading off to sing, but I’ll do a quick version of my Job translation while I make a pot of tea.
Fascinating story, Will, engagingly told, as always. Makes me wonder how much variety exists in the psychological and spiritual lives of people who’ve returned to earth from space. Astronauts, at least stereotypically, seem a somewhat homogeneous group in certain ways: exceptionally intelligent, fit, brave people with laser-focused dedication. Years of mission preparation seem to further unify them, teaching each to function with the others as parts of a single machine. But everyone who touches back down on earth must then find their own way through the uniqueness of their lives. Whether alone or within a family, everyday mundane life must seem like chaos compared to existence within a superstructure governed entirely by reason. Thanks for unearthing and exploring another rare perspective on how we live.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Rob, which I think are penetrating and true. One thing Charlie Duke said that struck me: he felt at home on the moon. Almost, it seems, more at home there than on Earth at that point in his life. I think you're absolutely right that all the moonwalkers are changed in some fundamental way by their experience and have to find their own way back into their daily lives. We think their story ends with the splashdown, but that's really the midpoint on their individual odysseys. Really appreciate hearing your perspective. Much to think about.
That's an incredible compliment. Thank you, Clary. I'm so glad the Moon brings us all together each month, even if it's just for a few minutes. Wishing you a happy waning crescent 🌙!
Hi Will,
I did get to watch the moonrise last night. It was huge and yellow in color against a dark sky. A beautiful sight that I will remember for a while.
While we mostly hear about the astronauts, it was touching to learn about the sacrifices and struggles that their wives had to make. It was nice of you to share about the mental health issues that dotty faced. I hope each person who gets such thoughts of ending their life finds some person to talk to. For many religion indeed has been a solace when all else seems lost.
Looking forward to your next month’s post 😊🙌🏼
Hi Satya! Thanks for checking in—always good to hear from you. I'm so glad you got a good gander at the Hunter's Moon, and I'm also glad this dispatch resonated with you. For me, Dotty's path through those Apollo years was just as perilous as Charlie's, and I agree she is a great role model for anyone struggling with mental health. Hope all is well on your end. See you in a few weeks on the Beaver Moon!
Another fantastic post Will. I had the good fortune to meet Charlie Duke once. In the course of making a documentary called Blast Off: True Stories from the Final Frontier, for the Discovery Channel done 20 years ago. I spent the afternoon with him in Death Valley - the most dry and desolate place we could find in North America to do the interview. He is one of the most friendly, giving men I have had the honour to meet and hang out with. There were many fascinating things that he shared, but one in particular has stuck with me all these years - that when standing on the moon he was struck by the fact that it was the brightest, sunniest day he had ever experienced, yet the sky - from horizon to horizon - was pitch black. Now - Every time I see a shot taken on the moon as part of an Apollo mission, I’m struck by that fact. M
Mark, that's a wonderful story. Charlie hasn't changed in 20 years—he was just as friendly and unpretentious and genuine as you describe. I'm going to try to hunt down your documentary because I'd love to see that interview. What an amazing observation from Charlie—the sunlit blackness of lunar day. I wouldn't have thought of that. (Guess you had to be there!) Thanks so much for sharing your experience. See you in a few weeks on the next full moon! Be well.
Hi Will. Hope you have luck finding it. It was a fascinating film to make. To be honest it’s probably nearer to 25/30 years ago that I made it. I have moved on to directing drama now, but back in the day it was one of my favourite films I made as a documentary filmmaker. It was the first ever 2hr documentary that Discovery made and it covered everything from get to, surviving in and return from space. In making it I visited and chatted to both US astronauts and Russian cosmonauts and visited The Cape and Star City (just outside of Moscow) in the process. The film was narrated by legendary actor Ed Harris. I have so many memories from the places I visited and the people I met. I should probably write about it! It’s probably been cut down and repackaged since, but do let me know if you manage to find it. Cheers, M
Will do, Mark. Sounds like a project worth seeking out. I'd especially love to see the footage you captured in Star City. And please do write that memoir if you ever get a break in your director's schedule.
Beautiful story telling !
Thank you, Rishika! 🙏🌔
What a great post. Such wonderful stories. I might have to get that book.
Simon—I'm so glad the Dukes' story landed for you. They're a remarkable team and lovely people. I found their book fascinating and very different from the typical astronaut memoir. I'd be interesting to hear what you think if you do get a copy. Be well.
I have a big hardback book, Full Moon, which I got withdrawn from the library. It's photos taken on (and on the way to and from) the moon, and it includes that photo-of-the-family-photo, a record of an act that struck me as hubristic. A lot of the photos are very beautiful, but strangely, they are informal, candid photos: my understanding is that documentary photography was not an official part of the missions, the early ones at least.
Oh, that sounds like a great book to page through! Very cool, Rosie. As for the Duke family portrait, I agree it's strange to see an item usually reserved for the living room mantle just lying there on the Moon. I'm sure Charlie got NASA's permission, but whether his act was hubristic or disrespectful—that's up to each of us to decide, and I hear your take. See you in a few weeks for the next full moon!
The really interesting thing about the photos taken on the moon is that they look black and white, until you see a bit of colour, gold on the landing craft, say, and realise they're shot on colour film. It's just that it's greyscale on the moon.
Such a good point. That gold foil is so striking in photos. I wonder if the moon's greyscale makes the Earth, seen from the moon, even more striking. Every spacefarer talks about how alive the planet looks—maybe those swirling blues and greens really pop when you're surrounded by grey dust.
Fantastic! Of all the places to lose (and find) your wedding ring!
Truly a wild tale. It makes the ring-down-the-bathroom-sink look like a pretty minor inconvenience by comparison. 😆 Thanks for reading, Wendy!
Just brilliant. Thank you for sharing this.
My pleasure! It was so fun to write.
What a delightful read! These are incredible stories and you weave them together beautifully. Looking forward to the next one already.
Thank you so much, Madhuri. I am in continual awe that readers like you have found my little newsletter! See you in a couple weeks for the next full moon.
What a story Will. Thank you.
Thank YOU for reading it. I'm so glad it resonated with so many people. Hope you have a good lunar month!
will—when i marked it was soon to be a full moon i greeted our dearest sphere in the sky but also thought a new essay by Will! will be soon! and this essay like all your essays does not disappoint. How beautiful it is to read what you find in tandem with the full moon. I’m consistently amazed, delighted and just grateful to know you’re out there thinking and writing this way. Just the best, friend. 💜
I'm grateful to know you're out there, thinking and writing in the way you do. Forever thankful to have you as a reader. Be well, friend.
Hope my comment about Charlie Duke's quote from Job didn't go astray. I went back to the Latin of the Nova Vulgata and translated what I found, with commentary. If it got lost (bcause Brave, my browser, repels Java Script) let me know and I can reconstruct it.
Now to the Isaiah quote:
"It is He who sits above the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22)
This once again is a trope - as with Job, it is one of the brags about the Lord (who's a much more powerful god than the gods of the pagans, which are essentially lumps of wood or, at best, metal). There's a lot of that in Second isaiah for reasons I explained briefly in my Job message (the author of second Isaiah is trying to encourage the Children of israel to leave their comforable exile in Babylon and travel south, back to Israel, a more arid and tougher place, now that king Cyrus has told them they are free to go).
In the Nova Vulgatum (the Vulgate text plus additional textual scholarship and better texts from the last 100 years) it reads:
22 Qui sedet super gyrum terrae,
et habitatores eius sunt quasi locustae;
qui extendit sicut velum caelos
et expandit eos sicut tabernaculum ad inhabitandum;
He who sits above the Earth's gyres,
and its inhabitants are like locusts;
he who spread out the heavens like a curtain
and stretched them like a tent over the Earth's inhabitants
The 'gyres' are interesting. That's a Greek idea - from Fifth and Fourth century BCE - that the author of Isaiah has picked up, probably in Babylon, which had great astronomers and mathematicians. Students of Yeats will recall his use of it in the poem 'The Second Coming', written in the shadow of fascism in Europe: 'Turning and turning in the widening gyre...'But he misunderstood the Greek idea because he was more interested in mysticism than astronomy.
The word 'tabernaculum' I translated as 'tent'. I think modern Bible readers think of it more as a built structure, but in the Exodus time in the desert it was literarally a tent, and the reference is referring the hearers of the scroll (when it was read to them by the priest) back to the exodus from Egypt and the 40 years of wandering. The intention is to give the hearers confidence that the Lord will protect them on the way back from Babylon, just as he protected them on that first journey - because they are under the tent of the heavens, which God placed there. (Note the tent and the gyres are inimical images.) I'll bet none of this was in Charlie Duke's mind when he reflected on the passages.
I shall now make my enquiry of my friend in Galilee about the Hebrew for this and the beautiful Job image of God's protecting wings. Fortunately he likes my questions!
Hi Anne,
I love this translation and your excellent commentary! Really wonderful to put this verse in its historical context. Thank you for your hard work. It is much appreciated.
I'm afraid I did not spot your Job translation. If it's too laborious to reconstruct, please do not feel obligated.
Excited to hear from your friend in Galilee.
Best,
Will
I think I was a klutz in Substack, trying to post without being signed in, and it was lost to the aether.
It’s Sunday morning here and I’d like to take a quick look at the music before heading off to sing, but I’ll do a quick version of my Job translation while I make a pot of tea.
The imagery is beautiful, so I cannot resist!
Fascinating story, Will, engagingly told, as always. Makes me wonder how much variety exists in the psychological and spiritual lives of people who’ve returned to earth from space. Astronauts, at least stereotypically, seem a somewhat homogeneous group in certain ways: exceptionally intelligent, fit, brave people with laser-focused dedication. Years of mission preparation seem to further unify them, teaching each to function with the others as parts of a single machine. But everyone who touches back down on earth must then find their own way through the uniqueness of their lives. Whether alone or within a family, everyday mundane life must seem like chaos compared to existence within a superstructure governed entirely by reason. Thanks for unearthing and exploring another rare perspective on how we live.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Rob, which I think are penetrating and true. One thing Charlie Duke said that struck me: he felt at home on the moon. Almost, it seems, more at home there than on Earth at that point in his life. I think you're absolutely right that all the moonwalkers are changed in some fundamental way by their experience and have to find their own way back into their daily lives. We think their story ends with the splashdown, but that's really the midpoint on their individual odysseys. Really appreciate hearing your perspective. Much to think about.
So wonderful, Will, as ever. I eagerly anticipated this all week. You give me so much more to look forward to on the full moon.
That's an incredible compliment. Thank you, Clary. I'm so glad the Moon brings us all together each month, even if it's just for a few minutes. Wishing you a happy waning crescent 🌙!
And here it is: Their story. I've been watching the moon and thinking of you. The moon is a new creature to me now.
And I'll never look at paper in quite the same way! Your art is an inspiration. Substack is so lucky to have The Hush and the Howl!
What an absolutely beautiful and fascinating read. ❤️ Thank you!
Glad it landed for you! See you in a few weeks on the Beaver Moon 🦫🌕
I would like to become a paid subscriber
But it won’t allow me to do so
The Lunar Dispatch is a free newsletter, but what a nice offer! Thank you, truly.