Carl Sagan, a distinguished American astronomer, eloquently observed, “The cosmos is within us. We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.” The Earth appears very huge. With numerous states, billions of living beings, faiths, and ideologies, this orb is actually very small. Smaller than any guess. Let’s take wings on the journey of the vastness of the universe. Our odyssey will start at our first station, 0.384 million kilometers away. It is the Moon, the nearest heavenly body to the Earth, where we can land. So near that a spacecraft can take us there in 3/4 days. But it is so distant that all planets in the solar system—the Earth and the Moon—can be accommodated in this gap. As many as 30 earths can be put at this distance.
This round-shaped stone has been the most beautiful dream of man for millions of years. In our childhood, an old lady on the moon was weaving on a spindle. But no old lady was found when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon on July 24, 1979. Rather, the following six missions to the Moon also did not find any. Thus, science took away from us a beautiful story of ancient times.
In China, the goddess Chang’e ascended to the Moon after consuming an elixir of immortality rewarded to her spouse, Hou Yi, to forestall it from evil hands. Hou Yi safeguarded the earth by shooting down nine of the ten suns who were parching the cradle of life. Chang’e indwells the moon to this day, often accompanied by jade rabbits. In western folktales, a man was banished to the moon for eons, burdened with a bundle of sticks as a penalty for working on Sabbath (the original seventh day on which God rested after creating the universe).
In Hindu mythology, Chandra (the God of the Moon) was the spouse of twenty-seven daughters of Sage Daksha and was cursed to wane by the Sage for favoring only one better half, Mohini. The curse was revised after the forfeit so that he would wax again, explaining the moon’s phases. In the tapestry of our tales, remember the acclaimed American poet Muriel Rukeyser’s words: “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”
Still, a large number of people imagine the “man in the moon” feature as per their choice. But what image is this, in fact? Factually, it is lava and ashes spread all over the moon. The team of Neil Armstrong 50 years ago had in fact brought pieces of the same lava from the moon. Scientific research on the lava revealed the eruption of countless volcanoes on the Moon 3.5 billion years ago, and their lava spread thousands of miles. The congealed lava appears like spots from the earth. Scientists called it Seas of the Moon, or Maria. They have named every sea, like the Sea of Knowledge, the Sea of Crises, the Sea of Cold, etc.
The area of black marks that is much brighter on the moon may be called deserts. This, in fact, is the ash that the explosion of lava produced and fell on the hills like snow. When the sun sheds light on the ashes, they reflect and illuminate in every direction. Neil Armstrong also happened to land on the same soft ashes on the moon. That is why his footprint was so clear and deep. Man had landed on the moon half a century ago. But his footprints on the moon are intact to date. They appeared to have been printed just a day ago.
The reason is the absence of air, clouds, and rain on the moon. Because the Moon does not have an atmosphere or a circle of air and gases as we do on Earth. For that matter, the human footprint on the moon will stay intact for millions or billions of years. The prints of another 12 astronauts would also stay intact. They had landed on the moon after Apollo XI through Apollo XII, XIII, XIV, XVI, and XVII. The Moon also bears the prints of Alan Shephard’s smashes when he played golf on the lunar surface.
A name also goes with them all. A person had printed the name of a beautiful girl on the moon surface. In fiction, lovers promise their beloveds fetching moons and stars, which is actually not possible. Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 mission, promised his daughter to write her name on the moon, and he made his promise true. He stayed at the Moon for 3 days in 1972, and on his return, he leaned down and wrote ‘Tracy’, the name of his daughter, on the bright land of the Moon. It was an everlasting gift to his daughter. He was certainly quite happy about it. But it also had a mellow grief. Till his death, he regretted not taking the picture of Tracy’s name on the Moon surface. When the camera was available and video recording was also on.
Apollo XVII was the last mission Eugene took to the Moon. After that, no man had landed on the moon. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, and the last one, Eugene Andrew Cernan, are no more. But history is going to take a big turn. Man is once again preparing to reach and set up a permanent station on the moon. It may become a reality within the next 10 to 15 years. A permanent base on the moon would mean research to take advantage of the lunar resources.
We can see only one beautiful side of the moon. Yes, only one side. The moon not only moves around the earth but also revolves on its axis. It takes equal time to complete one round of the earth and move on its axis. That is why humans on Earth cannot see the other side of the moon. This process is called face lock. But the man has made much progress. He has also traced out the second side of the moon. A man pictured the second side, called the “far side of the moon,” years ago. Now, a robotic mission from China has also landed on the other side of the moon. Possibly, man can get further information regarding the creation of the earth and the moon. The other side of the moon is extremely beautiful and bright. Because here, the black spots are much smaller. Had the poets seen the mysterious and beautiful unseen far side of the moon, they would have imagined their beloved in that context.
Possibly, our love for the moon has a scientific history. Because the moon was once part of our earth. And that part was separated from the Earth some thousands of years ago due to the impact of a huge meteor. And according to the universal law of gravitation, it began to move around the bigger body, the Earth. And with the passage of time, it is also gradually moving away. The process is continuing to date. The Moon is distancing itself from the Earth by 3.8 centimeters every year.
But hold on for a moment and think, how do we know this fact? The first two astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, did their last job before returning to Earth from the Moon. They placed a retro-reflector on the moon sand (ashes). It was a mirror that reflected the laser light from the Earth back to it. It was like you shed light on a mirror or a wall that reflected back to you. Reflectors were also installed at different points by the astronauts on the other two missions. The reflectors are still there, helping us to know how distant the moon is from us. They also helped us know the moon is distancing itself from us by 3.8 centimeters every year.
The moon will not be sighted after 50 billion years if it continues to disperse at this ratio. But don’t worry; 45 billion years before that, the sun would also become chill after completing its age. And life on Earth will also become an untold and unheard tale by that time.
To avoid the dire fate of mankind, the holy grail must be aspiring to the stars instead of creating weapons of mass destruction. The maladaptive behavior of residents threatens to devastate the only home we’ve ever known. However, there exists a strength more potent than any weapon—love. By embracing love, the irresistible and ultimate conqueror, man can transcend his disastrous instincts, secure his future, and truly thrive.
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