I Met Jim Lovell, Apollo Astronaut - A True Story from 1969

"I was born a year after Lindbergh made his historic trip across the Atlantic. Boys like either dinosaurs or airplanes. I was very much an airplane boy."
- Apollo 8 Astronaut Jim Lovell -

Have you ever ditched classes?

I had always hated school anyway.

On that frigid day in January, 1969, there was something far more interesting to do.

Return with me to that thrilling day of yesteryear when I got to meet Captain James A. Lovell,, pilot of the Apollo 8 Command Module.

Jim Lovell, William Anders, and Frank Borman, Apollo 8 Crew.
Image courtesy of NASA via WikiMedia Commons

It's Tuesday, January 14th. The crew of Apollo 8 is in Chicago for the day.

Apollo 8 circled the Moon last month.

Astronauts Borman, Lovell, and Anders are now safely back on Earth, visiting Chicago. They are scheduled to speak to a crowd of 3500 high school honor students in the grand ballroom of the Conrad Hilton Hotel.

I'm no high school student.

I'm a sophomore at Wheaton College, in a Chicago suburb about 25 miles west of the city.

I am also a serious space geek.

When I hear the news that the astronauts are visiting, I determine that — one way or another — I will go see them.

The Apollo Command and Service Module in Lunar Orbit
Image courtesy of NASA via WikiMedia Commons

This morning,

instead of preparing for the day's classes as usual, I gather a few important implements.

I grab my cassette tape recorder, some spare batteries, a small notebook, and a half-frame 35mm camera my mother gave me when she got a newer one.

Dressing as warmly as possible,

I don an overcoat with some large inner pockets, stow my gear in the coat along with an apple and some cheese, and set out for the Wheaton railway station.

Boarding a Union Pacific commuter train, I head into the city.

Chicago commuter railway lines.
Image By Basil D Soufi (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Have you ever faced a Chicago winter?

You may as well be on the dark side of the Moon. Downtown Chicago in winter is not fit for human occupation. Astronaut Anders is quoted in the paper as saying "When people turn out in cold like this, you know who your friends are."

I get off the train and start walking towards the waterfront. It is about a half-hour stroll through the heart of the "Windy City."

The meeting is at the Hilton,

and by the time I arrive there, I am a human popsicle... So, it is with considerable relief that I enter the hotel.

The Chicago Conrad Hilton Hotel.
Image By Zol87 from Chicago CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Inside, my next hurdle is immediately clear.

I see three queues of high school students lined up to enter the ballroom. Dishearteningly, each student has a rather large, conspicuous ticket in hand. I, of course, have none.

Nevertheless, I get into the line headed for the left-hand aisle of the ballroom. In my thoughts, I'm feverishly trying to devise a strategy for what to say when I reach the ticket taker at the door.

"Ticket, please?"

My time is up. It's now or never.

Pulling out my Wheaton College Student I.D. Card, I respond:

"Hi, I'm from Wheaton College, here to cover today's event."

The steely-eyed ticket taker replies, "I'm sorry, but this event is for high school honor students."

"But I'm the only representative of Wheaton College here today. This is a very important event, and no one else from Wheaton is here to cover it."

We go back and forth for a few rounds. I hold my ground.

In the end, I'm sure he lets me in mostly because I've worn him down, and there is still a long, increasingly impatient, line of students behind me.

Chicago Hilton Grand Ballroom.
Image By U.S. Government, via https://www.flickr.com

Gleefully, I walk up the aisle to find a seat.

I sit at the left end of a row, on the right edge of the aisle. Taking off my overcoat, I set up the tape recorder and prepare my camera for action.

I'm seated about where the guy with the camera is standing in the photo above.

The excitement in the room is electric.

After what seems like forever, someone introduces the astronaut crew. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders walk out on stage, to thunderous applause. After a few opening remarks, Borman asks for the lights to be dimmed, and we are treated to a movie of the Moon's surface as seen from lunar orbit, scrolling by below.

A limb view of the moon from orbit.
Image courtesy of NASA via WikiMedia Commons

I am utterly blown away.

I'm seeing views of the moon never before seen by the common man. Detailed images of craters, mountains, ridges and crevasses.

Many of the scrolling images are on the lunar far side.

When I was a child, no one had ever seen the far side at all. I remember staring at extremely blurry newspaper images, returned by a Russian robot spacecraft. This film is orders of magnitude more detailed.

The views are breathtaking.

It is as if I am traveling with the astronauts around the moon, myself present in the Apollo 8 command module.

The Moon from lunar orbit.
Image courtesy of WikiImages and http://pixabay.com

At this moment in history,

I am sharing views that only the three men on the platform and a select few others have seen. I am now one of an infinitesimal fraction of humanity to have enjoyed such detailed views of the lunar surface.

Although the film is perhaps only five minutes long, it is a high point of my life. I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. All thoughts of missed classes have utterly disappeared, lost in the brilliant value these moments hold for me.

When the film finishes,

and I can breathe once again, the astronauts take a few questions from the audience.

Moon and Earthrise from lunar orbit.
Image courtesy of WikiImages and http://pixabay.com

The meeting is over all too soon.

Bidding farewell to the huge auditorium full of students, the three astronauts descend from the platform. Each astronaut takes a different aisle. Jim Lovell heads toward the doors along the aisle where I am seated.

As Captain Lovell passes by, I reach out and shake his hand firmly.

"Thank you for going."

That's all I have time to say to him, but it is an expression of gratitude from the bottom of my heart.

In a sense, Captain Lovell went on my behalf. He experienced something that I have longed to do myself, not only when it happened, but countless times since then. I still very much want to go.

A life experience I will never forget.
Image courtesy of Andrea Reiman and http://unsplash.com

While orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve,

the three crew members collaborated in a reading from the bible. They read the Genesis account of God's creation. I'm grateful that this recording has been preserved for us to listen to today.

Although there is some "spurious" footage in this particular YouTube video, you can see quite a bit of the very footage that I recall from watching the film that day in Chicago.

Here is another excellent YouTube link that includes the "live video" sent to earth during the scripture reading. I greatly admire the crew for sharing their faith with the rest of humanity. They did so despite the risk, later realized, when they were confronted by a lawsuit for having openly read from the bible. The Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the suit for lack of jurisdiction.

Nearly fifty years later,

I think we may all have become somewhat jaded when it comes to photos of the Moon's surface.

I can't now recall all the details of that day.

I don't remember the specific questions asked at the meeting.

But I will never forget the honor of meeting Jim Lovell and shaking his hand.

God bless you, Captain James A. Lovell.

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