Moon Poetry (2)

Launch is in less than 8 hours, and a lot of people are anxious about the outcome...not least of whom are the astronauts' families.

Here's a poem by Pat Collins, the wife of astronaut Mike Collins, the Command Module Pilot on Apollo 11.

From an Astronaut's Spouse

I could have sought by wit or wile
Your bright dream to dim. And yet
If I'd swayed you with a smile
My reward would be regret.

So, for once, you shall not hear
Of the tears, unbidden, welling;
Or the nighttime stabs of fear.
These, this time, are not for telling.

Take my silence, though intended;
Fill it with the joy you feel.
Take my courage, now pretended--
You, my love, will make it real.

© written by Pat Collins to her husband, Mike, prior to his launch toward the moon on Apollo 11, from Carrying the Fire
 

Launch!

At this point in the Apollo 11 mission, launch has gone off without a hitch. The Apollo Command Module and Lunar Module are in orbit, and Mission Control and the astronauts are planning for the Trans-Lunar Injection burn which will kick them out of Earth's orbit and send them arrowing towards the moon.

( Watch the launch here, and hear about it in the astronauts' own words. )

(Not really apologetic about spamming the flist with these Apollo 11 posts, because this is something that is too important not to remember.)